Friday, June 8, 2012

Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel

Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel

 

Dearly, Departed (Gone With the Respiration, #1) 
Pages: 470
Publisher: Del Ray
Release Date: October 18, 2011
Raing: 4/5
 
 
Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel is a neo-Victorian, or Steampunk novel about, well, zombies.

Nora Dearly is living with her aunt after both her mother and father passed away. Where the novel starts, she and her best friend, Pamela, are coming home from their school.

On her way home, Nora encounters this myterious man with white eyes. He tells her that she is in danger and should leave with him. Like the good little girl she is, she tells him he is nuts and calls for help.

A few days later, a horde of zombies invade her house. To her rescue comes the mysterious men and his army of...zombies. They defeat the evil zombies and take her to their military base. It is here that Senor Miserioso reveals himself as Abraham "Bram" Griswold.

To Nora, he is gorgeous, perfect. Well, save for the fact that he's dead (Oh, but who pays attention to detail?)!

First and formost, the most irritating thing about this book is that is has five points-of-view. Five! That's a whole hand's worth! Out of these five, only two, maybe three, were needed.

The three that make sense being Nora, Bram, and (maybe) Pamela. The only reason I say Pamela was because I liked seeing what was going on in town. It was the only parts of the story I remember that it is a steampunk novel, as I quickly forget it is a Victorian era while reading about Nora and Bram with their guns.

The other two would be spoiler-y if I were to say.

Now, somewhere along the lines, zombies became sexy. Well, one did, anyway. In the story, Bram was the only zombie who wasn't torn or broken. He looked human (as was described). I felt this to be a little hard to believe, especially since he is in the army. A GENERAL in the army, no less. He could at least be missing an ear or something.

I really liked the main character, Nora. Unlike most of today's heroins, her tough persona is believable. The stands up for herself, and doesn't take shit from anyone (not even a zombie!).

The writing was incredible. There was one typo I found towards the end, but other than that, it was just beautiful.

This was my first steampunk novel, and it SO wasn't a let down. I can't wait until I can get my hands on the second!

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