I want to thank Netgalley.com and Marshall Cavendish for letting me review an e-arc of this book.
Title: The Weepers: The Other Life (#1)
Author: Susanne Winnacker
Published by: Marshall Cavendish
Released: May 12, 2012
Summary: Sherry has spent the last 3 years and some odd months living in a bunker, under her house, with her family. She hasn't seen sunlight, hung out with her best friend Izzy, or eaten chocolate for 3 years. The country went into emergency mode because of a rabies like virus that spread through the population causing everyday people to turn into monsters. Sherry and her family are fine in the bunker, until they run out of food. It's now up to Sherry and her father to find some food and save her family by going topside. On their very first adventure into the outside world, Sherry's father gets captured by the Weepers and she is saved by a young man named Joshua. Sherry and Joshua team up to send her family to Safe Haven and rescue her father before the Weepers make him their next meal.
My Thoughts: Well, this definitely isn't the best zombie novel I've ever read. I was mostly disappointed by this book because it had the potential to be fantastic, but just never quite got there. But, it's still a scary, pulse pounding book with that hope and fight for human survival.
One thing I did like about this novel were the Weepers. They were a very interesting monster. I came into this book thinking it was a zombie novel, but the Weepers were more beast than human. Instead of the walking dead, we are introduced to "the infected," people who have come to resemble beasts with an intelligent, predatory nature. I also liked the thought put behind the name of Weepers because of their weepy, milky eyes. I guess, I liked how there was more back-story put in to how the world ended up being overrun by this virus.
I also liked the character of Joshua. He was cool, he was tough, and he had the ability to take care of himself in the dangerous world he lived in. And, as with all post-apocalyptic books, I found the setting of a completely abandoned world fascinating. Just imagining such a barren world with decaying, crumbling buildings with danger at every corner and the quest for survival really interests me.
Now my reasons of dislike for this book are simple. First, it's too short. It's like everything happens so quickly and there is not enough meat to the story or development of it. The book also didn't contain an actual ending, just a set up for the next book which I found sort of annoying.
I really found the character of Sherry to be just useless. I like my heroines in novels to be kick-butt characters capable of taking care of themselves, and while that was tried with Sherry, it didn't succeed. If you're in a world with limited resources, then anything useful you find should be guarded and used carefully. So when Sherry is so hungry, but breaks a jar of pickles, it annoyed me. If she really was starving, she would have held onto that jar as if her life depended on it. And two, she's a terrible shot. She wastes ammunition like there's no tomorrow. If I was Joshua, I would not have brought her along on a rescue mission simply because she was more hindrance than help.
One other aspect that annoyed me about the book was all the counting. 1,141 days since she'd seen sunlight. 2,841 minutes since she'd had a peanut butter sandwich. Those sections just got dull and repetitive.
Overall, I thought this book could have been better. It had some good bits, and then some not so good bits. Not my go to zombie novel.
BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.2/5
Didn't hate it, but didn't love it. The Weepers are terrifying though.
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