Review & DVD Giveaway: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
Publisher: Atria
Publication date: April 26th 2011
My rating:  4 stars

R is a young man with an existential crisis--he is a zombie. He shuffles through an America destroyed by war, social collapse, and the mindless hunger of his undead comrades, but he craves something more than blood and brains. He can speak just a few grunted syllables, but his inner life is deep, full of wonder and longing. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse. Just dreams.

After experiencing a teenage boy's memories while consuming his brain, R makes an unexpected choice that begins a tense, awkward, and strangely sweet relationship with the victim's human girlfriend. Julie is a burst of vibrant color in the otherwise dreary and gray landscape that R lives in. His decision to protect her will transform not only R, but his fellow Dead, and perhaps their whole lifeless world...

Scary, funny, and surprisingly poignant, Warm Bodies is about being alive, being dead and the blurry line in between.

I read Warm Bodies not long after it released back in 2011, so it’s been quite some time ago. When I heard there was going to be a movie I was really excited because I enjoyed it so much. I watched the movie just a few days ago.  So I thought this would be a perfect time to do a mini review mash up of both the book and the movie. 

The movie as far as book adaptations was surprisingly good.  I’m always waiting to be disappointed by movie adaptations, but this was not the case here.  There were some omissions in the movie, like R having his zombie wife and kids, but to be honest I didn’t care for that part of the story anyhow, so I was good with that.

When the story opens up we’re introduced to R and the story is told through his eyes, as a zombie barely remembering anything of his past when he was living. We’re not sure what exactly brought about this post apocalyptic world because R can’t remember, and we only get what comes through his perspective, which at first is pretty limited being a zombie and all!  His “life” is basically monotonous and he’s finding it harder and harder to form coherent thoughts. This all changes when on R’s on a hunt for “food” (yes, unfortunately we’re talking about brains) and he comes in contact with Julie, a human trying to survive.  Julie and her group are looking for provisions when R’s group attacks.  As soon as R sees Julie something wakes up in him that causes him to save her.  The more he’s around her the more his mind clears and the more he falls for her.

I remember when I first heard Warm Bodies was a zombie love story I was skeptical because, I mean gross, right?  Who wants to think of kissing a corpse?  But trust me, this works. It’s a wonderful build of romance, filled with longing and sweetness.

As with any zombie tale there were some frightening scenes and those were provided by the zombies but mostly from the creatures called the Boney’s; zombies that have descended far past humanity. Horrifying, fast, and intent on one thing: eating flesh!  These were excellently portrayed in the movie and provided exciting suspense filled scenes. 

All in all, I felt the film adaptation of Warm Bodies was satisfying and pretty true to the book.  

Today we’re giving away a DVD copy of Warm Bodies.  Entries open to US residents only.  Just fill in the rafflecopter below for a chance to win.  Good luck and thanks for visiting The Readers Den.

 
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