Eat Slay Love

Sarah and David have been through a lot together: the zombie apocalypse, bionic zombies, mad scientists, backstabbing people, killing their zombie therapist, the list goes on. David was actually bitten by a zombie, but they administered a cure in the nick of time and he seepyms fine. They still have a vial of the cure and hope to take it over the fabled Wall in the east. Things are going along as normal as can be in the zombie apocalypse until David starts behaving strangely. He suddenly has superhuman strength. He needs less sleep and when he does, he breathes really strangely. Sarah doesn't know what to make of it, but definitely doesn't want to alarm him. Then comes new (not always welcome) additions to their group: a "journalist" (read stalkerazzi) intent on recording every minute of the apocalypse and an aging, drugged up rock star. Can this rag tag group get the cure over the Wall? Does it even exist and what will they find when they get there?

This is the third book in the Living with the Dead series that follows Sarah and David. The first book works out their relationship problems through zombie slayage. The second features their successful zombie killing business (plus some more relationship problems). The third is harder to classify and much less comedic than its predecessors. Eat Slay Love is the best book in the series so far. The complaints that I had about the zombies either having emotion or physical feelings are finally fixed in this book. No zombies running away in fear or flinching at super important moments that save a major character from a big bite. Our characters are in real danger throughout the novel and the intensity doesn't let up. Sarah and David are constantly fighting for their lives through zombies and crazy rednecks bend on making an example out of them for other outsiders. The best thing is that it evolves from silly fluff to more serious, sustainable dystopic plots.

Sarah and David are always a joy to read about. Their ability to find humor in just about every situation is fun and even brings this more emotional installment of the series much needed levity. The new characters are much better than the previous books' minor characters. Nicole, the stalkerazzi, was initially very annoying and kind of creepy, but as the story went on, her intelligence and real personality came through. She isn't just a creepy reporter that would do anything to get ahead or get a story, but proves to be a real friend to Sarah and David McCray, the drugged out musician, also proves to be more than just an inconvenient hindrance. I loved these characters and can't wait to see more from them.

The only criticism I have is the ending of the book. I had to finish it because I was so engaged in the story, but the ending threw off the momentum a bit. There is a huge reveal near the end and I feel it would have been more effective to stop there and continue the story in the next book. I still very much enjoyed this novel and I will definitely be looking forward to the next book in the series.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins