Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Zombie Romance?

Breathers: A Zombie's Lament is a zombie romantic comedy. Yes, you read that right. There are zombies. They have been around since the Great Depression. No, not the flesh-eating, mindless, Night of the Living Dead type of zombies; they are just like everyone else, except they decompose. Humans do not like the living dead. Just ask Andy. He can't talk, he's decomposing, and he killed his wife and himself falling asleep at the wheel. All he wants is for zombies to be treated like humans, but it's hard to rally when you have absolutely no rights. Zombies are ridiculed, looked down upon, and a burden on their families. There are routine dismemberments of zombies by stupid frat boys just for fun. Zombies can seek solace in Undead Anonymous, a zombie support group. After Andy and his friends meet Ray (and his delicious venison), they start to be much more pro-active and assertive. I wonder why.

I loved this novel. It is a zany comedy, but it takes on some serious social satire. There are people in our own society whose rights are in question and who aren't treated with the respect they deserve. The novel shows our flaws wrapped in zany zombie humor, hopefully it will be more palatable to those who instigate these wrongs. Fans of Daniel Waters' Generation Dead would see a lot of parallels between the two books. Another thing I liked about this book was the romantic aspects. Before reading this, I had never, ever read a zombie romance. It toes the line between sweet and disgusting very well, making you alternately say “eww” and “aww” (sometimes in the same scene).

Breathers is an extremely unique zombie novel that I couldn't put down. I can't wait to see what Scott Browne will do next.

5/5

1 comment:

vvb32 reads said...

glad to hear you liked it. i'll be reading it sometime next week to add to my zombie reads. as the undead anonymous say zombies are people too.