Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Doubleday Childrens (2011), 464 pages
Description
Fantasy. Science Fiction & Fantasy. Young Adult Fiction. HTML:A classic romance, suspense thriller, rip-roaring adventure, and macabre comedy all at once, Dearly, Departed redefines the concept of undying love. CAN A PROPER YOUNG VICTORIAN LADY FIND TRUE LOVE IN THE ARMS OF A DASHING ZOMBIE? The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria�??a high-tech nation modeled on the mores of an antique era. Sixteen-year-old Nora Dearly is far more interested in her country�??s political unrest than in silly debutante balls. But the death of her beloved parents leaves Nora at the mercy of a social-climbing aunt who plans to marry off her niece for money. To Nora, no fate could be more horrible�??until she�??s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses. Now she�??s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting a fatal virus that raises the dead. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and thoroughly deceased. But like the rest of his special undead unit, Bram has been enabled by luck and modern science to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there�??s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire. BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Lia Habel's Dearly, Beloved. �??Heart-pounding . . . Nora and Bram�??s touching and tender relationship, with its emphasis on equality and living in the moment, feels particularly special.�?��??Publishers Weekly �??Absolutely spellbinding . . . full of ingenious inventions and dynamic characters.�?��??RT Book Reviews �??A zombie romance? You b… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member BookAddictDiary
What first drew me to Dearly, Departed, other than the incredibly intriguing cover, was the unique story behind its publication and where the story originally came from. The story goes that Lia Habel started writing the book as a form of cheap entertainment for her friends. It got to a point where
Dearly, Departed takes place in the year 2195 in a country known as New Victoria, a kind of futuristic, semi-dystopian-like world steeped in classic Victorian clothing, decor and mentality. Young Nora is a teen in high society, who prefers military history and political discourse to traditionally feminine things. Nora tries to fight the strangely antiquated social mores of the time, but her world is turned upside down when her parents die and she is kidnapped by zombies. It turns out that the zombie "disease" is very real in Nora's world, and Nora must now learn how to fight the disease, as well as the zombies. And it doesn't help when she falls in love with Bram, a zombie.
Where do I start with Dearly, Departed? This books has just about everything going for it. The writing was quirky, smooth and well-done. The world was fascinating and fresh, and unlike any other world I've ever read about. The somewhat strange tension between the futuristic technology and the antiquated Victorian world were incredibly well depicted and really enjoyable. The characters were amazing, each one with a unique voice and fabulous dialog that made them come alive.
For me, the characters were the high point of Dearly, Departed. They all felt so real, and their conflicts, some of which are a little out there, were easy to understand and relate to and, despite the zany zombies and other items in the book, at their core the characters dealt with very real issues that readers understand. These are the kinds of characters that I want to read more about.
Quirky and fun, Dearly Departed has it all -everything that I enjoy about reading, and that was probably as much fun to write as it was to read. Excellent, excellent book that I'd recommend to everyone.
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Lia's friends told her the story was so good that she had to find an agent. Not only after, Dearly Departed was sold to Del Ray after a heated auction.Dearly, Departed takes place in the year 2195 in a country known as New Victoria, a kind of futuristic, semi-dystopian-like world steeped in classic Victorian clothing, decor and mentality. Young Nora is a teen in high society, who prefers military history and political discourse to traditionally feminine things. Nora tries to fight the strangely antiquated social mores of the time, but her world is turned upside down when her parents die and she is kidnapped by zombies. It turns out that the zombie "disease" is very real in Nora's world, and Nora must now learn how to fight the disease, as well as the zombies. And it doesn't help when she falls in love with Bram, a zombie.
Where do I start with Dearly, Departed? This books has just about everything going for it. The writing was quirky, smooth and well-done. The world was fascinating and fresh, and unlike any other world I've ever read about. The somewhat strange tension between the futuristic technology and the antiquated Victorian world were incredibly well depicted and really enjoyable. The characters were amazing, each one with a unique voice and fabulous dialog that made them come alive.
For me, the characters were the high point of Dearly, Departed. They all felt so real, and their conflicts, some of which are a little out there, were easy to understand and relate to and, despite the zany zombies and other items in the book, at their core the characters dealt with very real issues that readers understand. These are the kinds of characters that I want to read more about.
Quirky and fun, Dearly Departed has it all -everything that I enjoy about reading, and that was probably as much fun to write as it was to read. Excellent, excellent book that I'd recommend to everyone.
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LibraryThing member VictoriaStrauss
Sexy teenage zombies? Yeah, I was skeptical too. But in Dearly, Departed Lia Habel just about made me believe it.
This is a fun adventure/romance with an intriguingly unusual take on the zombie theme. Yes, there's a zombie plague, with hordes of ravening flesh-eaters--but some zombies wake up with
This YA debut novel is well-plotted and paced, with exciting action scenes and a host of appealing characters (and, of course, some pretty horrible bad guys). The romance between the living heroine and the zombie hero develops believably, even if it sidesteps a number of important questions (um, sex? He's dead, after all). The story is told from multiple first-person points of view--and that's my only major quibble, because the narrative voices really aren't distinct from one another (always a danger with this sort of narrative structure). If I stopped reading in the middle of a chapter, I often had to check the chapter heading to see whose head I was in.
Overall, an extremely promising start to a cool new series. I can't wait for the next installment.
This is a fun adventure/romance with an intriguingly unusual take on the zombie theme. Yes, there's a zombie plague, with hordes of ravening flesh-eaters--but some zombies wake up with
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their minds intact and are able to refrain from gobbling flesh. Of course they require a lot of medical and mechanical intervention by sympathetic living people to keep them from, well, rotting away--Habel comes up with some ingenious steampunkish scenarios for zombie maintenance--but otherwise they can live pretty much like normal people.This YA debut novel is well-plotted and paced, with exciting action scenes and a host of appealing characters (and, of course, some pretty horrible bad guys). The romance between the living heroine and the zombie hero develops believably, even if it sidesteps a number of important questions (um, sex? He's dead, after all). The story is told from multiple first-person points of view--and that's my only major quibble, because the narrative voices really aren't distinct from one another (always a danger with this sort of narrative structure). If I stopped reading in the middle of a chapter, I often had to check the chapter heading to see whose head I was in.
Overall, an extremely promising start to a cool new series. I can't wait for the next installment.
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LibraryThing member Stewartry
I first heard of Dearly, Departed - probably on Goodreads – in a context of absolutely aghast disgust. A story telling about a girl who falls in love with a zombie?! Horrors – and not in a good way. And it's true, on surface it's another one of those ideas which Should Not Work (I should create
But Lia Habel and her zombie hero Bram recognize this. And heaven knows her living heroine, Nora, recognizes this. That makes a difference. The well-written and interesting description combined with the gorgeous cover art made me put it on my wishlist despite any qualms (are you listening, self-published authors?), and when it became available on Netgalley I requested it with fingers crossed. With most books I request from there it's a click-and-forget proposition; I'll request almost anything that sounds interesting, and if I get I get it, if I don't I don't. But this one I wanted. So – thank you very much, Netgalley and Lia Habel. Out of the books I've read through the site there are a handful whose authors I will follow from now on, and maybe two whose digital galleys I enjoyed enough that I'll seek them out and buy them. Dearly, Departed fits both of those categories.
The world where this book (this series) takes place is beautifully built. It's our future, 2195, and there has been an ice age; needing to rebuild their society, they decided to take the best parts of the Victorian age (and, inevitably, some of the not-best) and pattern themselves on it. There has been terraforming, and mass migration and lots of adjustment – and fighting. In fact, one of my favorite things about the beginning of the book was that zombie attacks caught on film by the press are passed off as simply more brutal fighting between the Victorians (called, derisively, the royals) and the Punks – those who prefer to carry on an almost Luddite tradition as opposed to the New Victorians' new gaslit digital age. Lia Habel created a believable, enjoyable steampunk fusion of parasols and laptops, high-power weapons and crinolines.
Bram Griswold is – was – a Punk. That is, they were his people; he did not join the military until after he was dead. No one knows quite how or when or where the Laz – the zombie infection – began, but it's as is usual in zombie invasions: if you're bitten, you will die of it before long, but you might not stay dead. And in an attack on the mines where he worked Bram was bitten. Most of the victims wind up mindless and ravening: grays. Through luck, and early intervention, and (usually) not having eaten human flesh despite the body's craving, some few manage to keep their minds and their humanity intact and learn to function as if still human. And Bram did have intervention – he was saved by someone very important to the "good" zombies, as well as to Nora Dearly.
Now Nora herself is immensely valuable to all of them, both sides of this hidden zombie war. And she's also very important to the people she left behind – well, if not particularly her remaining family, a chilly aunt, then to her best friend, Pamela, who is a terrific character (and an even better friend).
I don't do horror. I tried to watch AMC's "The Walking Dead" when it premiered, having heard great things. I didn't even make it to the first zombie; the tension got me. I'm a wimp. I can't manage zombies. Which makes this all the more fascinating, in a way.
I think I can handle this denomination of zombie, though. There is a healthy dose of classic zombie horror here – not all the zombies have personalities, and in fact not all of them have working limbs, leading to what they call "Worms", which … *shudder*. The descriptions of the zombie hordes are terrifying – it's obvious why zombies are such a horror staple.
But a lot of the element of horror comes from the insight into Bram, and through him his comrades: he is a formerly healthy young man, good-looking and smart and funny, trapped in a body he himself finds appalling and which he knows will fail him in just a few years at most. The psychology of it is impressive, and fascinating, and honestly moving. I like this character; even apart from the deadness he's not the usual PNR Hero. He's a fairly ordinary kid (yes, attractive, but not devastatingly so) who has landed in a situation that would break most people.
And I like Nora. Again, attractive without making men swoon, trying to adapt to horrific circumstances. She's terrified, but neither stupid about it nor ridiculously courageous; uncomfortable and afraid of becoming comfortable among zombies; longing to be anywhere but where she is, yet strangely happy. And it's perfectly plausible.
Pamela, Nora's good friend from school, is another wonderful character. She knows Nora has gone missing, but not what the circumstances are, and meanwhile she has problems of her own as the zombies come to her neighborhood. As the zombies become her neighborhood. Like her friend, she is a clever and resourceful young woman; she is fighting the strictures, sometimes completely unreasonable given the circumstances, of her extremely proper and conventional family (and annoying brother), and is longing to fall in love herself, whatever the circumstances.
So – another book on the "This should NOT work" shelf. It does work. It really, really works. And I want more.
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a shelf for those). Although it does occur to me that there's a fine, fine line between all those "I Loved a Vampire" PNR's and this – undead is undead. Still, undead but whole and able to heal is rather different from undead but possibly missing bits that won't grow back and liable to rot without maintenance. But Lia Habel and her zombie hero Bram recognize this. And heaven knows her living heroine, Nora, recognizes this. That makes a difference. The well-written and interesting description combined with the gorgeous cover art made me put it on my wishlist despite any qualms (are you listening, self-published authors?), and when it became available on Netgalley I requested it with fingers crossed. With most books I request from there it's a click-and-forget proposition; I'll request almost anything that sounds interesting, and if I get I get it, if I don't I don't. But this one I wanted. So – thank you very much, Netgalley and Lia Habel. Out of the books I've read through the site there are a handful whose authors I will follow from now on, and maybe two whose digital galleys I enjoyed enough that I'll seek them out and buy them. Dearly, Departed fits both of those categories.
The world where this book (this series) takes place is beautifully built. It's our future, 2195, and there has been an ice age; needing to rebuild their society, they decided to take the best parts of the Victorian age (and, inevitably, some of the not-best) and pattern themselves on it. There has been terraforming, and mass migration and lots of adjustment – and fighting. In fact, one of my favorite things about the beginning of the book was that zombie attacks caught on film by the press are passed off as simply more brutal fighting between the Victorians (called, derisively, the royals) and the Punks – those who prefer to carry on an almost Luddite tradition as opposed to the New Victorians' new gaslit digital age. Lia Habel created a believable, enjoyable steampunk fusion of parasols and laptops, high-power weapons and crinolines.
Bram Griswold is – was – a Punk. That is, they were his people; he did not join the military until after he was dead. No one knows quite how or when or where the Laz – the zombie infection – began, but it's as is usual in zombie invasions: if you're bitten, you will die of it before long, but you might not stay dead. And in an attack on the mines where he worked Bram was bitten. Most of the victims wind up mindless and ravening: grays. Through luck, and early intervention, and (usually) not having eaten human flesh despite the body's craving, some few manage to keep their minds and their humanity intact and learn to function as if still human. And Bram did have intervention – he was saved by someone very important to the "good" zombies, as well as to Nora Dearly.
Now Nora herself is immensely valuable to all of them, both sides of this hidden zombie war. And she's also very important to the people she left behind – well, if not particularly her remaining family, a chilly aunt, then to her best friend, Pamela, who is a terrific character (and an even better friend).
I don't do horror. I tried to watch AMC's "The Walking Dead" when it premiered, having heard great things. I didn't even make it to the first zombie; the tension got me. I'm a wimp. I can't manage zombies. Which makes this all the more fascinating, in a way.
I think I can handle this denomination of zombie, though. There is a healthy dose of classic zombie horror here – not all the zombies have personalities, and in fact not all of them have working limbs, leading to what they call "Worms", which … *shudder*. The descriptions of the zombie hordes are terrifying – it's obvious why zombies are such a horror staple.
But a lot of the element of horror comes from the insight into Bram, and through him his comrades: he is a formerly healthy young man, good-looking and smart and funny, trapped in a body he himself finds appalling and which he knows will fail him in just a few years at most. The psychology of it is impressive, and fascinating, and honestly moving. I like this character; even apart from the deadness he's not the usual PNR Hero. He's a fairly ordinary kid (yes, attractive, but not devastatingly so) who has landed in a situation that would break most people.
And I like Nora. Again, attractive without making men swoon, trying to adapt to horrific circumstances. She's terrified, but neither stupid about it nor ridiculously courageous; uncomfortable and afraid of becoming comfortable among zombies; longing to be anywhere but where she is, yet strangely happy. And it's perfectly plausible.
Pamela, Nora's good friend from school, is another wonderful character. She knows Nora has gone missing, but not what the circumstances are, and meanwhile she has problems of her own as the zombies come to her neighborhood. As the zombies become her neighborhood. Like her friend, she is a clever and resourceful young woman; she is fighting the strictures, sometimes completely unreasonable given the circumstances, of her extremely proper and conventional family (and annoying brother), and is longing to fall in love herself, whatever the circumstances.
So – another book on the "This should NOT work" shelf. It does work. It really, really works. And I want more.
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LibraryThing member krau0098
I got an advanced reading copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program. This is the first book in a trilogy. The second book (Dearly, Beloved) should be released some time in 2012. This was an incredibly creative book, for the most part I enjoyed it a lot.
It is the year 2195 and Nora lives in
This is one of the most creative books I have read for a while. You have a science fiction world where Victorian principle reign supreme. There are different types of Zombies using steampunk technology; and a government cover-up to rival Watergate. There are shot-guns, there are parasols, there are airships, and there is bioengineering. Pretty much everything one could ask for. Lots of action, some romance, and politics.
This book has some complicated politics going on and to be honest it was a tad confusing in the beginning. You have the New Victorians and the Punks (two living competing factions), then you have the good zombies and the bad zombies (Bram's group and the Greys). The different groups of people believe different things to be true and there are some traitors thrown into the various groups just to mix things up. I enjoyed the complexity of it all, but did have a bit of trouble following for the first part of the story.
Nora is an excellent character, as was Bram. Both are noble, caring, tough, and very likable. There were a number of awesome side characters as well. While the majority of the story switches between Nora and Bram's points of view, a large portion of the story is also told from Pamela's point of view (this is Nora's best friend). Some is told from Wolfe's point of view (Bram's commander) and some is told from Victor's point of view (Nora's father).
The changing point of views is an area where I had some problems with the story. All of the point of view switching was a bit much, it broke up the story and drew things out. I liked hearing from Pamela and Nora/Bram. I think we should have just heard things either from Bram or Nora's point of view, not switched between both. Pamela had a very distinct voice. Bram and Nora sounded a lot alike, in fact I kept having to page back and check the beginning of the chapter to see whose point of view I was reading from...they just sounded identical and I wish they would have had more independent voices or styles.
The point of view switching and the fact that Nora and Bram sound identical to each other made the story feel a bit sloppy. So, while I liked the book overall, I wish it had been cleaned up a bit more (especially for the first half of the book). The pace of the book was great, especially in the second half of the book. There is a lot going on and it is an absolutely wonderful read. Things wrap up nicely but are also set up for the next book Dearly, Beloved.
Overall this was an absolutely amazingly creative book. I loved the complexity of the politics, the inclusion of crazy and wonderful things, and the likable characters. There were some flaws to the story too; the beginning of the book is a bit sloppy and hard to follow, the constant switching of viewpoints broke up the story, and Nora and Bram sounded so much alike that I had to constantly go back and check to see whose POV I was reading from. Honestly although I enjoyed the world and characters I had a bit of trouble with the first half of the book, the second half was awesome though. If I could grade parts of the book I would give the first half 3 stars and the second half 5 stars. A great read for those who love steampunk/zombie novels with some Victorian romance; just be prepared to slog through some terminology and politics in the beginning. I would also recommend Cherie Priest's Clockwork Century series for those who love steampunk/zombie combos (although that series doesn't really have any romance in it).
It is the year 2195 and Nora lives in
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New Victoria, a place that is a strange mix of the Victorian era and science fiction. Nora lives with her somewhat evil Aunt and her brother, her parents have both perished. Unexpectedly Nora finds herself gunning down mysterious killer zombies and kidnapped by some men in black. The men who kidnap Nora just happen to be affected by the Laz, basically they are dead. Among her kidnappers is the brave, handsome, and dead Bram. Bram tries to help Nora adjust to her surroundings but finds himself strangely drawn to her...and not in a "I am going to eat you for dinner" kind of way. Bram and Nora find themselves pulled into a plot that is part of a large government cover-up. When the news about the Laz gets out into the general public there is hell to pay and zombies are roaming the streets. Bram knows his time is limited, the dead can only "live" for so long, can him, his crew, and Nora save New Victoria before the whole population is zombified?This is one of the most creative books I have read for a while. You have a science fiction world where Victorian principle reign supreme. There are different types of Zombies using steampunk technology; and a government cover-up to rival Watergate. There are shot-guns, there are parasols, there are airships, and there is bioengineering. Pretty much everything one could ask for. Lots of action, some romance, and politics.
This book has some complicated politics going on and to be honest it was a tad confusing in the beginning. You have the New Victorians and the Punks (two living competing factions), then you have the good zombies and the bad zombies (Bram's group and the Greys). The different groups of people believe different things to be true and there are some traitors thrown into the various groups just to mix things up. I enjoyed the complexity of it all, but did have a bit of trouble following for the first part of the story.
Nora is an excellent character, as was Bram. Both are noble, caring, tough, and very likable. There were a number of awesome side characters as well. While the majority of the story switches between Nora and Bram's points of view, a large portion of the story is also told from Pamela's point of view (this is Nora's best friend). Some is told from Wolfe's point of view (Bram's commander) and some is told from Victor's point of view (Nora's father).
The changing point of views is an area where I had some problems with the story. All of the point of view switching was a bit much, it broke up the story and drew things out. I liked hearing from Pamela and Nora/Bram. I think we should have just heard things either from Bram or Nora's point of view, not switched between both. Pamela had a very distinct voice. Bram and Nora sounded a lot alike, in fact I kept having to page back and check the beginning of the chapter to see whose point of view I was reading from...they just sounded identical and I wish they would have had more independent voices or styles.
The point of view switching and the fact that Nora and Bram sound identical to each other made the story feel a bit sloppy. So, while I liked the book overall, I wish it had been cleaned up a bit more (especially for the first half of the book). The pace of the book was great, especially in the second half of the book. There is a lot going on and it is an absolutely wonderful read. Things wrap up nicely but are also set up for the next book Dearly, Beloved.
Overall this was an absolutely amazingly creative book. I loved the complexity of the politics, the inclusion of crazy and wonderful things, and the likable characters. There were some flaws to the story too; the beginning of the book is a bit sloppy and hard to follow, the constant switching of viewpoints broke up the story, and Nora and Bram sounded so much alike that I had to constantly go back and check to see whose POV I was reading from. Honestly although I enjoyed the world and characters I had a bit of trouble with the first half of the book, the second half was awesome though. If I could grade parts of the book I would give the first half 3 stars and the second half 5 stars. A great read for those who love steampunk/zombie novels with some Victorian romance; just be prepared to slog through some terminology and politics in the beginning. I would also recommend Cherie Priest's Clockwork Century series for those who love steampunk/zombie combos (although that series doesn't really have any romance in it).
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LibraryThing member yabotd
Hold onto your pants people. Your mind is about to be blown. We're talking about a freaking zombie romance, for Tod's sake.
And that's exactly why I picked up this book (the beautiful cover doesn't hurt). I heard "zombie romance" and thought, "Huh?" Curiosity more than anything else made me pick up
Lia Habel is a genius meets mad scientist meets hopeless romantic. How she was able to conceive the idea for this book and carry it out so elegantly is far beyond my measly brain powers. If I were a zombie, her brain is the first I'd eat because there's obviously some good stuff going on up there.
Okay, enough build-up. Let's get to it.
I loved this book. It combined the best elements of several different types of stories. The Victorian angle gave it a great historical feel. But we're not in the Victorian era. We're in the New Victorian era complete with new technology and enough gadgets to make sci-fi readers smile. Plus, there's zombies, so fantasy and horror fans get their fill of flesh-eating undead creating havoc and mayhem all over the place. But then there are the zombified humans who keep their personalities and brain power. The ones that are kind and concerned and would never want to eat someone. The kind that can produce a good romance, though there won't be a lot going on physically (and, since it's an age of modesty, this is all very fitting).
And you know what makes this book really great? It combines all those elements flawlessly with terrific writing and engaging storytelling. There is so much going on, from all the elements described above to the intricacies of the actual plot (which I'm not even going to begin to try to explain), yet, the book flows. Even with all the little pieces to put into place, I never felt lost. I also could never quite anticipate what was coming next either.
Using several points of view can either make or break a book. Dearly, Departed proves just how effective this technique can be. We're not just in Bram and Nora's head either. We get into a whole slew of characters, which provides for richer storytelling. We can see what's going on with the rest of the world while Bram and Nora are where they are (no spoilers here people).
I think I need to stop gushing now or I'll never be able to stop.
Overall, I didn't know what to expect, but Dearly, Departed knocked my socks off. I can't wait for Dearly, Beloved.
Final thoughts: Buy it. Now.
And that's exactly why I picked up this book (the beautiful cover doesn't hurt). I heard "zombie romance" and thought, "Huh?" Curiosity more than anything else made me pick up
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Dearly, Departed and I can't even begin to tell you how glad I am that I did (though, you know, this is a review, so I'll try).Lia Habel is a genius meets mad scientist meets hopeless romantic. How she was able to conceive the idea for this book and carry it out so elegantly is far beyond my measly brain powers. If I were a zombie, her brain is the first I'd eat because there's obviously some good stuff going on up there.
Okay, enough build-up. Let's get to it.
I loved this book. It combined the best elements of several different types of stories. The Victorian angle gave it a great historical feel. But we're not in the Victorian era. We're in the New Victorian era complete with new technology and enough gadgets to make sci-fi readers smile. Plus, there's zombies, so fantasy and horror fans get their fill of flesh-eating undead creating havoc and mayhem all over the place. But then there are the zombified humans who keep their personalities and brain power. The ones that are kind and concerned and would never want to eat someone. The kind that can produce a good romance, though there won't be a lot going on physically (and, since it's an age of modesty, this is all very fitting).
And you know what makes this book really great? It combines all those elements flawlessly with terrific writing and engaging storytelling. There is so much going on, from all the elements described above to the intricacies of the actual plot (which I'm not even going to begin to try to explain), yet, the book flows. Even with all the little pieces to put into place, I never felt lost. I also could never quite anticipate what was coming next either.
Using several points of view can either make or break a book. Dearly, Departed proves just how effective this technique can be. We're not just in Bram and Nora's head either. We get into a whole slew of characters, which provides for richer storytelling. We can see what's going on with the rest of the world while Bram and Nora are where they are (no spoilers here people).
I think I need to stop gushing now or I'll never be able to stop.
Overall, I didn't know what to expect, but Dearly, Departed knocked my socks off. I can't wait for Dearly, Beloved.
Final thoughts: Buy it. Now.
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LibraryThing member sithereandread
DEARLY DEPARTED, by Lia Habel, is a really fantastic mashup of steampunk and zombie horror. This book takes place in New Victoria where a zombie-like takeover is imminent. The general public has no idea what is to come, and our heroine is unwillingly thrust into the thick of it. Habel weaves a
At almost 500 pages this book is a little daunting at first, but once I started reading I flew right through it. Habel tells the story from multiple POV's that give a wide overlook of the bigger story. I obviously loved Nora and Bram's POV because I loved their relationship. I found myself scratching my head and wondering how I could like a living person (Nora) and dead-zombie (Bram) as a couple, but the technology in Habel's world that brought the consciousness back to some of the bitten made it always seem that they were both on the same level emotionally and physically. I'm interested to see where their relationship goes in the next book.
Habel created a pretty awesome supporting cast too. I loved the banter between the other zombies Chas, Ben, and Tom. They all took in Nora as if they'd been friends for life and I found that quite unique. Also, Nora's living friend, Pamela had the greatest character development leap of everyone. She strived to be everything Nora was but when the zombies attacked she stepped up in other ways that made her a really fantastic person and fighter for humanity. I cheered for her the whole time!!
Overall, this book was a great intro to the series. There was passion, horror, action, and nail-biting suspense that make this almost 500 page book seem like it was only 100 pages, it's that good! Can't wait for number two!
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romantic and dystopic tale that will leave you dying for more.At almost 500 pages this book is a little daunting at first, but once I started reading I flew right through it. Habel tells the story from multiple POV's that give a wide overlook of the bigger story. I obviously loved Nora and Bram's POV because I loved their relationship. I found myself scratching my head and wondering how I could like a living person (Nora) and dead-zombie (Bram) as a couple, but the technology in Habel's world that brought the consciousness back to some of the bitten made it always seem that they were both on the same level emotionally and physically. I'm interested to see where their relationship goes in the next book.
Habel created a pretty awesome supporting cast too. I loved the banter between the other zombies Chas, Ben, and Tom. They all took in Nora as if they'd been friends for life and I found that quite unique. Also, Nora's living friend, Pamela had the greatest character development leap of everyone. She strived to be everything Nora was but when the zombies attacked she stepped up in other ways that made her a really fantastic person and fighter for humanity. I cheered for her the whole time!!
Overall, this book was a great intro to the series. There was passion, horror, action, and nail-biting suspense that make this almost 500 page book seem like it was only 100 pages, it's that good! Can't wait for number two!
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LibraryThing member Annesanse
“I can't even describe how much I loved this book!!! It was just amazing! This is the second zombie book I've ever read, and I'm extremely surprised to have loved them both. This one however may be my new favorite book. This was also my first foray into the steampunk genre, and I think I'm going
I loved every one of the characters; I loved the mix of old-fashioned propriety and super advanced technology; I loved the science behind everything; I loved the humor; I loved the dialogue; I loved the emotion; I LOVED BRAM!! It was just. so. good.
The romance was sweet and sexy, and all of the other relationships were wonderful as well. Like all books, it was slightly predictable in a few spots, but I didn't mind at all. Awesome story!
Based on the ending, I'm guessing there will be a sequel. If so, I can't wait to read it! I listened to Dearly, Departed via Audiobook, and the narrators were amazing. I think each of them captured their characters perfectly. I'm actually thinking about going out and buying a hard copy just so I can have it on my shelf. Definitely one of my top 2 favorite books if not my number 1. I will read everything Lia Habel writes. :)
P.S. Before I started this book, I read an interview by Lia Habel telling who she would cast in a movie version. I went into it picturing these people (I highly recommend this) as the characters and they were all perfect in my minds eye. She said that she would cast it like this:
Nora Dearly - Emily Browning
Bram Griswold - Gaspard Ulliel
Renfield Merriweather - Matthew Gray Gubler
Vespertine Mink - Gemma Ward
Dr. Victor Dearly - Michael Caine
Dr. Baldwin Samedi - John Hamm ”
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to be a fan. I loved every one of the characters; I loved the mix of old-fashioned propriety and super advanced technology; I loved the science behind everything; I loved the humor; I loved the dialogue; I loved the emotion; I LOVED BRAM!! It was just. so. good.
The romance was sweet and sexy, and all of the other relationships were wonderful as well. Like all books, it was slightly predictable in a few spots, but I didn't mind at all. Awesome story!
Based on the ending, I'm guessing there will be a sequel. If so, I can't wait to read it! I listened to Dearly, Departed via Audiobook, and the narrators were amazing. I think each of them captured their characters perfectly. I'm actually thinking about going out and buying a hard copy just so I can have it on my shelf. Definitely one of my top 2 favorite books if not my number 1. I will read everything Lia Habel writes. :)
P.S. Before I started this book, I read an interview by Lia Habel telling who she would cast in a movie version. I went into it picturing these people (I highly recommend this) as the characters and they were all perfect in my minds eye. She said that she would cast it like this:
Nora Dearly - Emily Browning
Bram Griswold - Gaspard Ulliel
Renfield Merriweather - Matthew Gray Gubler
Vespertine Mink - Gemma Ward
Dr. Victor Dearly - Michael Caine
Dr. Baldwin Samedi - John Hamm ”
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LibraryThing member bluesun1218
Think you've read one Zombie book you've read them all? Well guess again, Lia Habel has created a completely new world full of Zombies!
Months ago I seen this book in the book store, I thought to my self, Wow I love the cover of that book! I had never heard of Lia Habel before and I ended up buying
This is a fast paced book, being 467 pages that will literally fly by. I love Nora and Pamela, as well as Bram and his crew. This in my opinion is the best book I've read yet this year! Anxiously awaiting book 2 in the series called Dearly Beloved which will be released later this year.
Months ago I seen this book in the book store, I thought to my self, Wow I love the cover of that book! I had never heard of Lia Habel before and I ended up buying
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the book without reading what it was even about. I do that a lot, am I the only one? Anyway, the book has been on my bookshelf while I got caught up on other books on my pile and the other day I was looking on my shelf for the next book to read and I thought YES I can finally read this one. I dove right in and was immediately transported into a Victorian futuristic world. The main Character's Nora and Pamela are best friends, Nora is just coming out of mourning for the death of her Father and the girls are on their way home for break at school. Nora has a run in with a strange man that says he new her Father and that he was there to help her. Avoiding that situation she heads home where she lives with her Aunt. Days later Nora is ambushed by Zombies, she fights her way to the roof where she fights for her life until these men in black uniforms show up and kidnap her. She later finds out that one of her kidnappers is Bram, a zombie that hasn't lost his humanity.This is a fast paced book, being 467 pages that will literally fly by. I love Nora and Pamela, as well as Bram and his crew. This in my opinion is the best book I've read yet this year! Anxiously awaiting book 2 in the series called Dearly Beloved which will be released later this year.
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LibraryThing member krystal_osmond
It took me a while to get into this book I must say. The cover is gorgeous and it has a very interesting and original premise, but every time I took it out to read, I just found myself reading the same sentence over and over and just wanting to read something else. But I kept at it, and I'm pretty
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happy that I did. It ended up not taking too long for me to get into the book once I got started.The whole human and zombie romance is very new to me, actually, the whole zombie thing is new. (I haven't been able to get into the zombie books out there, for some reason they don't appeal to me that much) But this zombie book had more of a storyline to it, instead of just fighting, blood, guts, and gore so that maybe helped keep things lively for me. Who knows, this may be the start of a whole new genre for me to read! The year is 2195, and the way that Lia Habel describes it is very unique. Her future world, called New Victoria is basically just as it sounds, a Victorian, antique era mixed with crazy new technology and cell phones. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book, I think it was very intruiging and had me wondering what it would be like to live like that. (The only thing I couldn’t wrap my head around was the fact that in Dearly, Departed women were just objects basically. They were married into money and status and told to sit and look pretty and don’t say a word unless invited. I think (we) women would have a hard time going back to those ways again in the future.)The main characters in Lia Habels Dearly, Departed are Bram and Nora. Nora being the human girl and Bram being the zombie. I instantly connected with Nora, she a strong character who perseveres through so much and she doesn't give a hoot about what people say in the long run. With her being a "young lady" in the New Victorian age, she has rules to follow and standards to live up to. But she follows the beat of her own drum, and she is witty! She had me laughing out loud a few times while reading. And Bram, whodathunk!? A zombie who is respectful, charming and good-looking? He was the point of view that I enjoyed reading the most. The way he tells the story was to me what made the book as good as it was. Dearly, Departed is read through five different narratives, and at first that was challenging but proved to be fine later on. I really enjoyed reading Nora and Bram's POV's. I couldn't get into Victor's point of view, but that was just a minor detail in the grand scheme of things in my opinion. Habel's writing is enjoyable and descriptive. I was able to paint the story in my head which to me is a huge deal. Habel is able to take this zombie love story and make it work somehow. You may even forget that Bram is a zombie and not some laid back alive human!Dearly, Departed was a good read, after I was able to really get into it, it was worth it. I cannot wait to see what’s instore for Nora and Bram in Dearly, Beloved Show Less
LibraryThing member novelgoddess
It is 2195 in New Victoria. New Victoria is a post-apocalyptic nation that has modeled itself on the manners and fashions of the “original” Victorian era.
Nora Dearly is just through her year of mourning her father’s passing. She lives with her aunt, whom she isn’t terribly fond of, goes to
One day, a stranger approaches her and tells her she is in danger. Unbeknownst to Nora, she’s been targeted for kidnapping. But the good guys get her first. So who are the good guys? They are a military group that has been infected by the Lazarus virus and who hold Nora’s father in the highest esteem and will do anything to protect her.
This was a fantastically fun roller coaster ride!
I absolutely LOVED the juxtaposition of the New Victorian era based on the original Victorian era. How the writer eschewed the more “modern” options for just about everything in favor of a slightly modernized version of the antique. Futuristic Steam-Punk! It was great!
I have to say I was cringing at the possibility of “Zombie-Love”…wasn’t sure if I could deal with it and all it implied…thankfully, the author handled that with gentility and grace! I loved when Bram knocked on Chas’s door and found Tom in bed with her and Bram explained that love between zombies equated to snuggling and basically being there for each other. Bram and Nora were rather chaste which really helped keep my skeeve level down. And having been skeeved out by many a zombie book, this one was refreshing in comparison! Having said that though, Bram was definitely swoon-worthy!
I loved all the characters! I had such high hopes for Pamma and Alister, but she put him right where he belonged! The banter between the characters was so witty and laugh-out-loud funny! Lots of action scenes here which I think would translate to the “big screen” beautifully. Overall, I can’t praise this book enough! And I can’t wait to see what Lia Habel does in the next installment. I hope she can maintain bar she has set for herself!
Nora Dearly is just through her year of mourning her father’s passing. She lives with her aunt, whom she isn’t terribly fond of, goes to
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school with her best friend, and scholarship student, Pamela Roe. And has an obsession with watching war documentaries.One day, a stranger approaches her and tells her she is in danger. Unbeknownst to Nora, she’s been targeted for kidnapping. But the good guys get her first. So who are the good guys? They are a military group that has been infected by the Lazarus virus and who hold Nora’s father in the highest esteem and will do anything to protect her.
This was a fantastically fun roller coaster ride!
I absolutely LOVED the juxtaposition of the New Victorian era based on the original Victorian era. How the writer eschewed the more “modern” options for just about everything in favor of a slightly modernized version of the antique. Futuristic Steam-Punk! It was great!
I have to say I was cringing at the possibility of “Zombie-Love”…wasn’t sure if I could deal with it and all it implied…thankfully, the author handled that with gentility and grace! I loved when Bram knocked on Chas’s door and found Tom in bed with her and Bram explained that love between zombies equated to snuggling and basically being there for each other. Bram and Nora were rather chaste which really helped keep my skeeve level down. And having been skeeved out by many a zombie book, this one was refreshing in comparison! Having said that though, Bram was definitely swoon-worthy!
I loved all the characters! I had such high hopes for Pamma and Alister, but she put him right where he belonged! The banter between the characters was so witty and laugh-out-loud funny! Lots of action scenes here which I think would translate to the “big screen” beautifully. Overall, I can’t praise this book enough! And I can’t wait to see what Lia Habel does in the next installment. I hope she can maintain bar she has set for herself!
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LibraryThing member danisnell
When I first heard of Dearly, Departed, I was incredibly intrigued by the concept of a girl falling in love with a…zombie? I mean, I’ve gotten on board with the whole falling for the undead thing before (Twilight, anyone?), but typically, you don’t think of zombies — slow-moving,
The world Habel has created is one of the most interesting I’ve come across in a while. The year is 2195 and the place, South America. A global ice age and a second American Civil War (that wasn’t so civil) caused a mass migration southward into the countries of South America. In this post-apocalyptic environment, the survivors began to rebuild their civilization, modeling it after what they considered to be the epitome of refinement, success and etiquette — the Victorian era. The Victorian era, but with nifty gadgets such as phones, computers, digitized tablets, and holographic emitters. While not fitting the traditional category of steampunk where technology is advanced yet runs on steam, Habel’s neo-Victorian world is definitely a fascinating blend of the past and present. All in all, the world-building that has been done for Dearly, Departed is complex, rich in history, and boasts incredible depth. It’s a world I happily lost myself in for several hours, and can’t wait to immerse myself in again.
While the citizens of New Victoria have successfully revived their society from the ashes of war and natural disaster, while their achievements are truly a wonder, they have unfortunately regressed in other areas. Particularly that of civil rights. In adopting Victorian styles and ideals, the people of New Victoria have also adopted the class system that was so prevalent in that era. They shun those considered “beneath” them, and treat women as delicate creatures whose virtue and fragility of mind must be upheld and protected at all times. It’s interesting to see this shift in mindset, and to note that the women survivors – who undoubtedly fought just as hard as the men for the opportunity to live and rebuild – apparently decided to acquiesce to these archaic feminine ideals. However, not everyone agreed with the new civilization that was being constructed and those individuals, labeled Punks, left to live on their own and have been at odds with the New Victorian government ever since.
I went into Dearly, Departed with the preconception that this book was Nora’s story, and while largely it is, it is not hers alone. As with many other books I’ve read of late, Habel does not only tell the story from Nora’s perspective but employs multiple narrators – five in all. Each of the five narrators tell their story from a first person perspective, which makes for a an interesting and rounded-out view of events, characters and the world at large. While juggling five unique viewpoints could potentially be very confusing for a reader, Habel does a good job of clearly differentiating between narrators, and never once did I find myself confused. And who are these five narrators, you may ask? The three primary points of view comes form Nora Dearly, Capt. Abraham (Bram) Griswold, and Pamela Roe — Nora’s best friend. The two others appear less regularly and for the sake of the story, I’ll let you, Dear Reader, discover those on your own.
Nora Dearly, while raised to a life of privilege due to her father’s esteemed service to the government, is – internally if not externally – the antithesis of the ideal New Victorian woman. Of an age where securing a good marriage for better social status and future financial security should be her primary focus, Nora is instead more interested in news about the home front where the “royal” (aka – New Victorian) troops hold off the ever-invading Punk army. She’s more interested in watching war holos recounting long-ago battles, and more interested in her marksmanship with a firearm than taking tea with the more-affluent-than-thou. Despite her diminutive size, Nora is spunky, clever, courageous, outspoken, has an incredible presence of mind, a quick temper and is not afraid to stand up for herself. In short, she’s a fantastic heroine.
Nora first meets Bram when he’s sent to rescue her from an evil, undead kidnapping attempt. A victim of the Laz, the disease that causes the zombie-fication of humans, Captain Abraham Griswold is indeed a card-carrying member of the walking, mostly functioning dead… and coincidentally my favorite character. A testament to the fact that a change in state does not have to mean a change in the qualities that truly make a person a person no matter how “alive”, Bram is a true leader, intelligent, loyal, honest, kind, extremely patient with amazing self-control. He’s a man who’s accepted his reality and his sense of humor about his current state-of-being demonstrates a peace about his situation which in turn demonstrates a wonderful maturity and perspective. For a guy who should be six-feet under, he’s one dreamy zombie and it’s not hard to understand why Nora would be drawn to him.
Pamela Roe, though I wasn’t to sure about her in the beginning, completely surprised me and quickly grew to be one of my favorite characters. Where Nora is all fire and spunk, Pamela is the more calming influence that balances out their friendship. When we’re first introduced, it appears as though Pamela is more concerned with etiquette and all those things a lady should be concerned with – fashion, tea, and marriage prospects. However, as events in the book unfold, she displays a quiet inner strength that I’m not sure she even knew she possessed. She’s practical, observant, kind, protective of her family and friends and willing to do the right thing even when it’s inconvenient, dangerous or potentially unladylike. She is perhaps the character that undergoes the most change in this novel, and I found myself eagerly looking forward to her turns at narration.
The plot itself was very tight and constantly moving with surprising twists and turns; the mystery well-woven. In addition to the three characters I’ve introduced in this review, Habel has given her story a large, wonderful and diverse cast of characters who populate the world of New Victoria and its outlying territories. Her character development is very well done, and even minor characters are marked by depth and uniqueness. The romance between Nora & Bram is built at a satisfying and believable pace. Their feelings have a real foundation, which I always appreciate. And the detail and descriptions throughout the novel are vivid, lovely and sometimes chillingly gruesome. In addition to the excellent plot and character development, the thing that makes Dearly, Departed really work is that Habel successfully walks that fine line between not taking her story too seriously but also taking it just seriously enough and it just works.
Overall, despite my initial reservations, Lia Habel’s Dearly, Departed, is in my opinion one of the best young adult debuts of 2011 and has found a permanent spot on my all-time favorites shelf. A definite must-read.
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mindlessly-grunting, brain-eating, flesh-rotting zombies — as a potential love interest. Let’s face it. Zombies are all kinds of gross and decidedly NOT sexy. So I was really curious as to how Lia Habel was going to win me over to her particular brand of undead leading man. But she did it. She totally did it, and Dearly, Departed has found a place on my favorites shelf. And zombies? Well, zombies… perhaps they’re not so bad or so gross after all.The world Habel has created is one of the most interesting I’ve come across in a while. The year is 2195 and the place, South America. A global ice age and a second American Civil War (that wasn’t so civil) caused a mass migration southward into the countries of South America. In this post-apocalyptic environment, the survivors began to rebuild their civilization, modeling it after what they considered to be the epitome of refinement, success and etiquette — the Victorian era. The Victorian era, but with nifty gadgets such as phones, computers, digitized tablets, and holographic emitters. While not fitting the traditional category of steampunk where technology is advanced yet runs on steam, Habel’s neo-Victorian world is definitely a fascinating blend of the past and present. All in all, the world-building that has been done for Dearly, Departed is complex, rich in history, and boasts incredible depth. It’s a world I happily lost myself in for several hours, and can’t wait to immerse myself in again.
While the citizens of New Victoria have successfully revived their society from the ashes of war and natural disaster, while their achievements are truly a wonder, they have unfortunately regressed in other areas. Particularly that of civil rights. In adopting Victorian styles and ideals, the people of New Victoria have also adopted the class system that was so prevalent in that era. They shun those considered “beneath” them, and treat women as delicate creatures whose virtue and fragility of mind must be upheld and protected at all times. It’s interesting to see this shift in mindset, and to note that the women survivors – who undoubtedly fought just as hard as the men for the opportunity to live and rebuild – apparently decided to acquiesce to these archaic feminine ideals. However, not everyone agreed with the new civilization that was being constructed and those individuals, labeled Punks, left to live on their own and have been at odds with the New Victorian government ever since.
I went into Dearly, Departed with the preconception that this book was Nora’s story, and while largely it is, it is not hers alone. As with many other books I’ve read of late, Habel does not only tell the story from Nora’s perspective but employs multiple narrators – five in all. Each of the five narrators tell their story from a first person perspective, which makes for a an interesting and rounded-out view of events, characters and the world at large. While juggling five unique viewpoints could potentially be very confusing for a reader, Habel does a good job of clearly differentiating between narrators, and never once did I find myself confused. And who are these five narrators, you may ask? The three primary points of view comes form Nora Dearly, Capt. Abraham (Bram) Griswold, and Pamela Roe — Nora’s best friend. The two others appear less regularly and for the sake of the story, I’ll let you, Dear Reader, discover those on your own.
Nora Dearly, while raised to a life of privilege due to her father’s esteemed service to the government, is – internally if not externally – the antithesis of the ideal New Victorian woman. Of an age where securing a good marriage for better social status and future financial security should be her primary focus, Nora is instead more interested in news about the home front where the “royal” (aka – New Victorian) troops hold off the ever-invading Punk army. She’s more interested in watching war holos recounting long-ago battles, and more interested in her marksmanship with a firearm than taking tea with the more-affluent-than-thou. Despite her diminutive size, Nora is spunky, clever, courageous, outspoken, has an incredible presence of mind, a quick temper and is not afraid to stand up for herself. In short, she’s a fantastic heroine.
Nora first meets Bram when he’s sent to rescue her from an evil, undead kidnapping attempt. A victim of the Laz, the disease that causes the zombie-fication of humans, Captain Abraham Griswold is indeed a card-carrying member of the walking, mostly functioning dead… and coincidentally my favorite character. A testament to the fact that a change in state does not have to mean a change in the qualities that truly make a person a person no matter how “alive”, Bram is a true leader, intelligent, loyal, honest, kind, extremely patient with amazing self-control. He’s a man who’s accepted his reality and his sense of humor about his current state-of-being demonstrates a peace about his situation which in turn demonstrates a wonderful maturity and perspective. For a guy who should be six-feet under, he’s one dreamy zombie and it’s not hard to understand why Nora would be drawn to him.
Pamela Roe, though I wasn’t to sure about her in the beginning, completely surprised me and quickly grew to be one of my favorite characters. Where Nora is all fire and spunk, Pamela is the more calming influence that balances out their friendship. When we’re first introduced, it appears as though Pamela is more concerned with etiquette and all those things a lady should be concerned with – fashion, tea, and marriage prospects. However, as events in the book unfold, she displays a quiet inner strength that I’m not sure she even knew she possessed. She’s practical, observant, kind, protective of her family and friends and willing to do the right thing even when it’s inconvenient, dangerous or potentially unladylike. She is perhaps the character that undergoes the most change in this novel, and I found myself eagerly looking forward to her turns at narration.
The plot itself was very tight and constantly moving with surprising twists and turns; the mystery well-woven. In addition to the three characters I’ve introduced in this review, Habel has given her story a large, wonderful and diverse cast of characters who populate the world of New Victoria and its outlying territories. Her character development is very well done, and even minor characters are marked by depth and uniqueness. The romance between Nora & Bram is built at a satisfying and believable pace. Their feelings have a real foundation, which I always appreciate. And the detail and descriptions throughout the novel are vivid, lovely and sometimes chillingly gruesome. In addition to the excellent plot and character development, the thing that makes Dearly, Departed really work is that Habel successfully walks that fine line between not taking her story too seriously but also taking it just seriously enough and it just works.
Overall, despite my initial reservations, Lia Habel’s Dearly, Departed, is in my opinion one of the best young adult debuts of 2011 and has found a permanent spot on my all-time favorites shelf. A definite must-read.
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LibraryThing member bookwormygirl
A Steampunk - Zombie - YA novel?! Be still my heart. I was thrilled to see three genres that I enjoy all rolled up into one. Even more interesting than the genre mix, I also found it surprising that although the year is 2195, society is living in a Victorian society while using technology that we
There were many things I liked about Dearly, Departed.... the earlier paragraph for instance. I enjoyed the world building, the zombies, the characters, etc. I liked Nora and Bram - and their unique romance. You know, it is a first for me to find a girl in love with a zombie. I even enjoyed reading of the war with the Punks. But it took me almost 200 pages to actually get into the story. The first chapter was awesome but I had a hard time fully getting immersed in the story... I'm not really sure why, I just felt that I had to try to hard. I think the main problem might have been the oh-so-many points-of-view. Even more disconcerting was the fact that they are told in the first person. And although the characters differ in age and sex, I still found myself wondering several times whose chapter it was that I was reading. While I do enjoy a book told using various perspectives, I found that five different narrators (Bram, Nora, Pam, Wolfe, and Victor) may have been a bit much. The Wolfe and Victor chapters quite frankly felt unnecessary. I found that those story lines could have been told using other methods and cutting down on the constant character changes and possibly in my confusion.
All in all, I found Dearly, Departed to be a good start to the series. While I didn't love it and most likely will not run out to immediately buy the next installment in the series, I will undoubtedly get around to reading it.
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can only dream of having.There were many things I liked about Dearly, Departed.... the earlier paragraph for instance. I enjoyed the world building, the zombies, the characters, etc. I liked Nora and Bram - and their unique romance. You know, it is a first for me to find a girl in love with a zombie. I even enjoyed reading of the war with the Punks. But it took me almost 200 pages to actually get into the story. The first chapter was awesome but I had a hard time fully getting immersed in the story... I'm not really sure why, I just felt that I had to try to hard. I think the main problem might have been the oh-so-many points-of-view. Even more disconcerting was the fact that they are told in the first person. And although the characters differ in age and sex, I still found myself wondering several times whose chapter it was that I was reading. While I do enjoy a book told using various perspectives, I found that five different narrators (Bram, Nora, Pam, Wolfe, and Victor) may have been a bit much. The Wolfe and Victor chapters quite frankly felt unnecessary. I found that those story lines could have been told using other methods and cutting down on the constant character changes and possibly in my confusion.
All in all, I found Dearly, Departed to be a good start to the series. While I didn't love it and most likely will not run out to immediately buy the next installment in the series, I will undoubtedly get around to reading it.
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LibraryThing member RtB
Reviewed by Sabrina
Review copy was an ARC won at Goodreads
Warning, mild spoilers ahead
I started SUPER liking this book. The characters were great and the dialogue was believable. I was totally sucked into the book. I even developed a little crush on Bram. Until I found out he was already dead. He
Anyway, the characters were great. Really great. And all very different from each other. The dialogue wasn't forced. At all. It seemed very natural. The plot was crazy and well thought out. There were a couple scenes where I was a little confused as to what was going on. She was also in quite a few people's heads so sometimes it wasn't completely cohesive, but I got the early copy so maybe future prints will have cleared that up. All in all, not a bad book. The cover is even gorgeous. Read it. Let me know if you can get over the dead aspect.
Review copy was an ARC won at Goodreads
Warning, mild spoilers ahead
I started SUPER liking this book. The characters were great and the dialogue was believable. I was totally sucked into the book. I even developed a little crush on Bram. Until I found out he was already dead. He
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wasn't dying, or alive and then bitten later in the book. No. He was dead. Already dead for about a year. Put the book down and didn't pick it up for a week. I could not get over it. I am still not really over it. I don't know what it is. Otherwise I TOTALLY would have given it a higher rating. This was my personal issue with the book. I doubt other people will be the same way. There's nothing overly gross about it. It just.. weirded me out. Anyway, the characters were great. Really great. And all very different from each other. The dialogue wasn't forced. At all. It seemed very natural. The plot was crazy and well thought out. There were a couple scenes where I was a little confused as to what was going on. She was also in quite a few people's heads so sometimes it wasn't completely cohesive, but I got the early copy so maybe future prints will have cleared that up. All in all, not a bad book. The cover is even gorgeous. Read it. Let me know if you can get over the dead aspect.
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LibraryThing member mimi-vee
I've actually never been the biggest fan of zombies before. But when I first found out that this wasn't just any zombie book -- but one that took place in a futuristic world with Victorian era elements -- I just had to check it out. And it was nothing short of awesome! :)
The whole idea of mixing
I'll admit that Dearly, Departed started off a little slow for me, but once the action picked up, I'm so glad I stuck with it! I adored Nora and Bram with all my heart, and how sweet and "awww!"-worthy their romance was. And even though five different first-person narratives seemed like too much at times, it helped to fill in the gaps and I really loved seeing Nora through Bram's eyes -- so sweet!
PLUS: The zombies weren't all evil. Loved them!
Overall, Dearly, Departed was a great edition to the zombie, dystopian, and Victorian era genres! It was cool and original and had some absolutely HILARIOUS one-liners at the most surprising times. I can't wait to read the next book in the series!
BUY or BORROW?: Gorgeous cover + original story + a kick-butt heroine with a gun = a book you totally want to have on your shelf! ;)
The whole idea of mixing
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together so many cool elements was genius on Lia Habel's part! She incorporated cool futuristic technology with the walking dead and poofy dresses perfectly. There was something about how she built her world that made me want to live there but not at the same time.I'll admit that Dearly, Departed started off a little slow for me, but once the action picked up, I'm so glad I stuck with it! I adored Nora and Bram with all my heart, and how sweet and "awww!"-worthy their romance was. And even though five different first-person narratives seemed like too much at times, it helped to fill in the gaps and I really loved seeing Nora through Bram's eyes -- so sweet!
PLUS: The zombies weren't all evil. Loved them!
Overall, Dearly, Departed was a great edition to the zombie, dystopian, and Victorian era genres! It was cool and original and had some absolutely HILARIOUS one-liners at the most surprising times. I can't wait to read the next book in the series!
BUY or BORROW?: Gorgeous cover + original story + a kick-butt heroine with a gun = a book you totally want to have on your shelf! ;)
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LibraryThing member Zoey_Talbon
Zombies! I love zombies, whether they're the eat-your-brain kind of way or the misunderstood way. (Though I will admit that I like the eat-your-brain type a little better.)
I will also admit that while the prologue was amazing, when I started the first chapter, I didn't think I was going to like
But then it got better. The world that Dearly, Departed is set in is fantastic - and it's something fairly new, too, so I wasn't bored with it at all. The writing, most of the time, was great. It wasn't full of unnecessary details, but at the same time, it didn't leave anything out.
The place I really had a problem with was with the conflicting narrations. Most of the book is narrated by Nora and Bram, the two main characters, but there are a few other characters in there, too. It's simply too many people narrating for me. I really think most authors should just stick with two as a maximum, maybe three if they can pull it off, because it's too easy for characters to blend together. It was fairly easy to distinguish the difference between Nora and Bram's narrations, but when you add in the others, their narrations started to sound the same.
And the ending did not make sense to me. At all. >_>
Despite that, I still really liked the book. It didn't have a totally futuristic feel to it, and I liked that because we weren't overwhelmed by new technologies or other unfathomable things, but you could still tell that it wasn't definitely in this time period. I also loved the relationships in this book - not just the romance between Nora and Bram, but the friendship between Nora and Pamela and some of the negative relationships between some of the characters.
Ah, the romance. FINALLY, NO INSTA-LOVE. Well, there may have been insta-love, but it wasn't all "OMG FIRST-SIGHT I MUST HAVE HIM/HER." The pace of the romance was nice. Very nice, especially considering some of the books I've been reading lately. Sometimes Nora was a bit too innocent/shy for my tastes, but her and Bram have some adorably-awkward moments that I absolutely loved.
Also, this book gets an extra star just because Bram was not an acts-tough-and-has-slept-with-every-girl-but-is-actually-really-sweet character like Noah Shaw. Remember when I asked where all the sweet and innocent virgin boys are? Well, Bram comes pretty close to that. YAY.
Overall: While I was not a fan of the beginning and I wish the amount of narrators had been cut down, the plot was fantastic, the characters even more so, and Dearly, Departed was fairly original. 4 1/2 stars.
I will also admit that while the prologue was amazing, when I started the first chapter, I didn't think I was going to like
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this novel. I was just too confused - I had no idea what anyone was talking about, and I had no idea if Mink and Vespertine were the same person. It made my brain hurt. And then the entire beginning of the second chapter was basically just the info-dump. So I really thought I wouldn't like it.But then it got better. The world that Dearly, Departed is set in is fantastic - and it's something fairly new, too, so I wasn't bored with it at all. The writing, most of the time, was great. It wasn't full of unnecessary details, but at the same time, it didn't leave anything out.
The place I really had a problem with was with the conflicting narrations. Most of the book is narrated by Nora and Bram, the two main characters, but there are a few other characters in there, too. It's simply too many people narrating for me. I really think most authors should just stick with two as a maximum, maybe three if they can pull it off, because it's too easy for characters to blend together. It was fairly easy to distinguish the difference between Nora and Bram's narrations, but when you add in the others, their narrations started to sound the same.
And the ending did not make sense to me. At all. >_>
Despite that, I still really liked the book. It didn't have a totally futuristic feel to it, and I liked that because we weren't overwhelmed by new technologies or other unfathomable things, but you could still tell that it wasn't definitely in this time period. I also loved the relationships in this book - not just the romance between Nora and Bram, but the friendship between Nora and Pamela and some of the negative relationships between some of the characters.
Ah, the romance. FINALLY, NO INSTA-LOVE. Well, there may have been insta-love, but it wasn't all "OMG FIRST-SIGHT I MUST HAVE HIM/HER." The pace of the romance was nice. Very nice, especially considering some of the books I've been reading lately. Sometimes Nora was a bit too innocent/shy for my tastes, but her and Bram have some adorably-awkward moments that I absolutely loved.
Also, this book gets an extra star just because Bram was not an acts-tough-and-has-slept-with-every-girl-but-is-actually-really-sweet character like Noah Shaw. Remember when I asked where all the sweet and innocent virgin boys are? Well, Bram comes pretty close to that. YAY.
Overall: While I was not a fan of the beginning and I wish the amount of narrators had been cut down, the plot was fantastic, the characters even more so, and Dearly, Departed was fairly original. 4 1/2 stars.
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LibraryThing member highflyer
OK, I have to admit, I was really skeptical about reading this book and liking it. This was a completely different book concept, one that I'm not really used to. I have read zombie novels before, but this one, this one is completely different. We have a world that is far beyond ours, where the
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people have gone back to the Victorian way of living with extremely advanced technology and a world where zombies exist. The thing is, these zombies may or may not want to eat your flesh. The amazing thing about this zombie virus is that some zombies are still capable of living without acting aggressively or violently. I did enjoy the world of New Victoria. I'm fascinated by all things Victorian so I thought it was a really interesting concept to see the world go back to a different way of living. There is also a bit of steam punk within this book too so if you're a steam punk fan you may enjoy this novel. I fell in love with our main character Nora. She's not entirely enamored with the ways of New Victoria, but she follows them enough. She has a good personality, and her back story is painfully sad and it makes you very angry when you find out a lot more about what lead her to where she is. Bram, a coherent non-violent zombie is also a wonderful character as well. We actually open with his story and we meet up with him again later once Bram rescue's Nora from an attack. These characters are all so wonderfully written, I almost hated to read the ending for fear that something would happen to these characters that I've become fond of. This was wonderfully written even if it was still a bit hard to wrap my mind around the story. I grew to love it and I would like to know more about this world. Show Less
LibraryThing member highflyer
OK, I have to admit, I was really skeptical about reading this book and liking it. This was a completely different book concept, one that I'm not really used to. I have read zombie novels before, but this one, this one is completely different. We have a world that is far beyond ours, where the
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people have gone back to the Victorian way of living with extremely advanced technology and a world where zombies exist. The thing is, these zombies may or may not want to eat your flesh. The amazing thing about this zombie virus is that some zombies are still capable of living without acting aggressively or violently. I did enjoy the world of New Victoria. I'm fascinated by all things Victorian so I thought it was a really interesting concept to see the world go back to a different way of living. There is also a bit of steam punk within this book too so if you're a steam punk fan you may enjoy this novel. I fell in love with our main character Nora. She's not entirely enamored with the ways of New Victoria, but she follows them enough. She has a good personality, and her back story is painfully sad and it makes you very angry when you find out a lot more about what lead her to where she is. Bram, a coherent non-violent zombie is also a wonderful character as well. We actually open with his story and we meet up with him again later once Bram rescue's Nora from an attack. These characters are all so wonderfully written, I almost hated to read the ending for fear that something would happen to these characters that I've become fond of. This was wonderfully written even if it was still a bit hard to wrap my mind around the story. I grew to love it and I would like to know more about this world. Show Less
LibraryThing member Ani36ol
What an awesomely, wonderful first novel for Lia Habel! It grabs you from the first page and refuses to let go until the final period. The characters are so well fleshed out and their backgrounds slowly revealed that you end up loving every one of them...okay most of them! The format, short
One of the things I really enjoyed was how Ms. Habel defined the relationships between characters in much the same way relationships were defined during the Civil War between blacks and whites, North and South. Some overcame as does the Punks and some Royals in the book....to be continued of course (I hope)!
This is an amazing book and I can't wait for more from Lia Habel!
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chapters, each written in the voice of an individual character, make it so easy to read that I ended up reading the whole book in just two sittings. One of the things I really enjoyed was how Ms. Habel defined the relationships between characters in much the same way relationships were defined during the Civil War between blacks and whites, North and South. Some overcame as does the Punks and some Royals in the book....to be continued of course (I hope)!
This is an amazing book and I can't wait for more from Lia Habel!
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LibraryThing member booknerdcanada
Reading the book description I thought it would be a sappy romance novel, but I was surprisingly happy to realize it wasn’t all just about romance. There’s action, adventure, romance, and even humour. I’m not one to read novels about zombies, but I definitely changed my mind, after reading
Five stories are intricately woven with the point of views of Nora, Pamela, Bram, Wolfe and Victor. You would think it would be hard to comprehend five different story lines, but Lia writes with great pacing and tone. You get a great understanding of each of the character’s personalities and thoughts. Normally when authors tend to do this, I get confused, but I wasn’t, which I definitely liked.
Nora Dearly is a 17 year old orphan who lives in New Victoria who lives with her insufferable aunt. I love Nora Dearly’s porcelain like features yet her personality is strong and courageous. She knows how to use a gun because her father Victor taught her. It makes sense he taught her how to defend her because he was in the army.
Bram is such a nice dead zombie that you can’t help but like him a lot. His thoughts made me laugh when’re his racy teenage thoughts crept up on the page. He’s a zombie and still thinks of sex like any normal teenage boy!
I love the scenes between Nora and Bran. Their cute flirtations make for a heavy climax. And when they tell each other how they feel well..let’s just say it was pretty steamy ;)
Pamela Roe, of Indian heritage, average looks with black eyes and long hair the colour of chocolate is probably my favourite character. Can she get anymore kick-ass than this? Sporting her bow and arrow to kick some zombie ass just made me whoop with joy.
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Dearly, Departed. Go check it out! You won’t be sorry for reading this YA novel. Five stories are intricately woven with the point of views of Nora, Pamela, Bram, Wolfe and Victor. You would think it would be hard to comprehend five different story lines, but Lia writes with great pacing and tone. You get a great understanding of each of the character’s personalities and thoughts. Normally when authors tend to do this, I get confused, but I wasn’t, which I definitely liked.
Nora Dearly is a 17 year old orphan who lives in New Victoria who lives with her insufferable aunt. I love Nora Dearly’s porcelain like features yet her personality is strong and courageous. She knows how to use a gun because her father Victor taught her. It makes sense he taught her how to defend her because he was in the army.
Bram is such a nice dead zombie that you can’t help but like him a lot. His thoughts made me laugh when’re his racy teenage thoughts crept up on the page. He’s a zombie and still thinks of sex like any normal teenage boy!
I love the scenes between Nora and Bran. Their cute flirtations make for a heavy climax. And when they tell each other how they feel well..let’s just say it was pretty steamy ;)
Pamela Roe, of Indian heritage, average looks with black eyes and long hair the colour of chocolate is probably my favourite character. Can she get anymore kick-ass than this? Sporting her bow and arrow to kick some zombie ass just made me whoop with joy.
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LibraryThing member edspicer
It (has) a great plot, as a ton of deatiles but has one to many narrators. Q5P5 AHS/Olivia B.
LibraryThing member momgamerwriter
Dearly, Departed is one of those books that came from the middle of nowhere and ROCKED my world. No seriously, it made me want to get up, fight, and later on hook-up with a really sweet zombie. I am a big fan of the Steampunk Victorian era, although I have never read (that I can recall) a Steampunk
Who would have thought zombies could be anything more than creatures that fed on flesh and terrorized a group of people? Well certainly not me; a craver of all things that deal with zombie apocalypses. In Dearly, Departed, zombies are not your average monsters. They think, feel, have histories, and ongoing lives. Except for the few that go mad, but hey, it happens. Habel’s worldbuilding is something to marvel over. She has the ability to convey a likeable, sweet, honest, courageous zombie that fans can definitely root for. The leading man Bram is probably my favorite hero/main character thus far in 2011. Many times I could picture myself falling in love with him. Even now I can imagine lying in his cold dead arms. Ha, don’t you just love it when a book does that to you? Makes you fall in love with someone who should absolutely disgust you. This novel is that GOOD.
Told in the first person perspective, we get to dive inside just about all the characters heads. Usually multiple POV’s drive me nuts, but I think in this case it only made me want more. Our smart and witty heroine is Nora Dearly. I must say I loved Nora just as much as I loved Bram. Their interactions and conversations were both amusing and very touching. And as their relationship progressed from friendship to something more, the tension Habel created left me on the edge of my seat page after page. Nora’s best friend Pam was also a well likeable character. Pam was thrown into the zombie world without warning, and the way she handled it was brilliant, slightly comical, and a lot of fun to read. The characters ARE what makes Dearly, Departed a remarkable read.
New Victoria here I come. It’s unfortunate to say that some authors do not know how to create their world leaving it lacking and unimaginative. Gena Showalter is one of the best at imagery (try Lords of the Underworld), and I think Lia Habel could be on her level. Or at least close to it. If anything you should read Dearly, Departed just so you can go to New Victoria. It’s a GEORGEOUS place, filled with motorized carriages, digital media, an underground city, and of course parasols. I want to go there, I want to live there; heck I want to visit the Punk territory too. It was all majestic, realistic. Something I can’t really describe without sounding like a crazy fangirl.
Overall, if you don’t read this book you are really missing out on a great YA title. Actually, this book didn’t feel very YA because of the intense emotional rollercoaster Habel took the characters on. We didn’t really get any “skin” however, something about this novel screams mature. I just haven’t been able to put my finger on what that is.
Dearly, Departed has charm, a rocking adventure, loveable (albeit mostly dead) characters, and memorable moments. This is a great start to a new series and I can’t wait to read Dearly, Beloved.
Originally Reviewed On: MotherGamerWriter.com
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novel. I am so glad I decided to read this book. Not only was it filled with futuristic Steampunky goodness, but it was also full of zombies!Who would have thought zombies could be anything more than creatures that fed on flesh and terrorized a group of people? Well certainly not me; a craver of all things that deal with zombie apocalypses. In Dearly, Departed, zombies are not your average monsters. They think, feel, have histories, and ongoing lives. Except for the few that go mad, but hey, it happens. Habel’s worldbuilding is something to marvel over. She has the ability to convey a likeable, sweet, honest, courageous zombie that fans can definitely root for. The leading man Bram is probably my favorite hero/main character thus far in 2011. Many times I could picture myself falling in love with him. Even now I can imagine lying in his cold dead arms. Ha, don’t you just love it when a book does that to you? Makes you fall in love with someone who should absolutely disgust you. This novel is that GOOD.
Told in the first person perspective, we get to dive inside just about all the characters heads. Usually multiple POV’s drive me nuts, but I think in this case it only made me want more. Our smart and witty heroine is Nora Dearly. I must say I loved Nora just as much as I loved Bram. Their interactions and conversations were both amusing and very touching. And as their relationship progressed from friendship to something more, the tension Habel created left me on the edge of my seat page after page. Nora’s best friend Pam was also a well likeable character. Pam was thrown into the zombie world without warning, and the way she handled it was brilliant, slightly comical, and a lot of fun to read. The characters ARE what makes Dearly, Departed a remarkable read.
New Victoria here I come. It’s unfortunate to say that some authors do not know how to create their world leaving it lacking and unimaginative. Gena Showalter is one of the best at imagery (try Lords of the Underworld), and I think Lia Habel could be on her level. Or at least close to it. If anything you should read Dearly, Departed just so you can go to New Victoria. It’s a GEORGEOUS place, filled with motorized carriages, digital media, an underground city, and of course parasols. I want to go there, I want to live there; heck I want to visit the Punk territory too. It was all majestic, realistic. Something I can’t really describe without sounding like a crazy fangirl.
Overall, if you don’t read this book you are really missing out on a great YA title. Actually, this book didn’t feel very YA because of the intense emotional rollercoaster Habel took the characters on. We didn’t really get any “skin” however, something about this novel screams mature. I just haven’t been able to put my finger on what that is.
Dearly, Departed has charm, a rocking adventure, loveable (albeit mostly dead) characters, and memorable moments. This is a great start to a new series and I can’t wait to read Dearly, Beloved.
Originally Reviewed On: MotherGamerWriter.com
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LibraryThing member callmecayce
I quite like zombie novels, but I wasn't sure what to expect with Dearly, Departed. What I found was a truly fantastic mix of steampunk, dystopia, and zombies, along with one of the most compelling YA supernatural love stories I've read in a long time. I absolutely adored this book, the characters
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(with all their flaws) and the story itself. Zombies have been portrayed sympathetically before (Handling the Undead and the Generation Dead series), but there's something about Habel's zombies that makes them far more interesting. I found myself caring quite deeply for Bram, his friends and his relationship with Nora. I cannot wait for the next book in this series! Show Less
LibraryThing member Jibar
So, why did I want to read this book? It should be obvious. Steampunk, the future and zombies in one novel? It honestly seemed too good to be true. Never mind the fact that I normally really don't like "busy" novels. I think this is a busy novel to be completely honest.
But it totally works in its
I just recently really got into Steampunk as a genre, and generally zombies have not been my favorite supernatural creature. However, I think it works very well together in this book. It does have a touch of dystopian as well, I think. It starts with a general rundown of Nora's recent life (her father's death, etc) and what society's like as well. Actually, I'm not quite sure right now, but I think after a nuclear catastrophe only a handfull of people survive and after surviving more or less rage a war, which forges the two camps: New Victorians and Punks. The New Victorians (or Royals as they are called by the Punks) rely on technology for the better part of their life. They have embraced the customs of the Victorian Era, because it seemed to be an era filled with virtue. The Punks say that technology was their ancestors downfall and are against it. Although to be honest this conflict is not really the center of the novel, it takes place on the sidelines.
Because after Nora is kidnapped, she discovers that there is more to her society than she thought. The living dead exist, in fact some of them even fight in the ongoing conflict between the Punks and the New Victorians. I'm not going to go into detail, because that would be taking way too long at this point. I am, however, going to say that I love how the world was constructed. It seems very believable to me, the decisions that were made in the past I can actually see happening, and most of the characters were very likeable. In fact, I liked everyone except maybe Pamela, although I have no idea what she did (or didn't do) to make me dislike her.
During the course of the novel, the reader understands the different kinds of zombies better I think, how the disease works and how Nora learns to deal with every new piece of information she gets. It's a really ... interesting process I think. I mean, it seems very well thought out, no (living) character is suddenly like "Oh, there are zombies? How cool!" because that is not how the general public would react, I'm sure. I'm still a little astonished at the believability, because a novel like this shouldn't be believable, but it is!
The only problem I had was the beginning. The rundown of Nora's life, what she does and how people (have to) behave. It actually bored me a little. I'm not quite sure how long that lasted. Maybe fifty pages? But once Nora was kidnapped and all the action (which is extremely well written I'd like to point out) starts ... Well, let's just say I couldn't put it down and shed a few tears at the end!
But it totally works in its
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favor. I just recently really got into Steampunk as a genre, and generally zombies have not been my favorite supernatural creature. However, I think it works very well together in this book. It does have a touch of dystopian as well, I think. It starts with a general rundown of Nora's recent life (her father's death, etc) and what society's like as well. Actually, I'm not quite sure right now, but I think after a nuclear catastrophe only a handfull of people survive and after surviving more or less rage a war, which forges the two camps: New Victorians and Punks. The New Victorians (or Royals as they are called by the Punks) rely on technology for the better part of their life. They have embraced the customs of the Victorian Era, because it seemed to be an era filled with virtue. The Punks say that technology was their ancestors downfall and are against it. Although to be honest this conflict is not really the center of the novel, it takes place on the sidelines.
Because after Nora is kidnapped, she discovers that there is more to her society than she thought. The living dead exist, in fact some of them even fight in the ongoing conflict between the Punks and the New Victorians. I'm not going to go into detail, because that would be taking way too long at this point. I am, however, going to say that I love how the world was constructed. It seems very believable to me, the decisions that were made in the past I can actually see happening, and most of the characters were very likeable. In fact, I liked everyone except maybe Pamela, although I have no idea what she did (or didn't do) to make me dislike her.
During the course of the novel, the reader understands the different kinds of zombies better I think, how the disease works and how Nora learns to deal with every new piece of information she gets. It's a really ... interesting process I think. I mean, it seems very well thought out, no (living) character is suddenly like "Oh, there are zombies? How cool!" because that is not how the general public would react, I'm sure. I'm still a little astonished at the believability, because a novel like this shouldn't be believable, but it is!
The only problem I had was the beginning. The rundown of Nora's life, what she does and how people (have to) behave. It actually bored me a little. I'm not quite sure how long that lasted. Maybe fifty pages? But once Nora was kidnapped and all the action (which is extremely well written I'd like to point out) starts ... Well, let's just say I couldn't put it down and shed a few tears at the end!
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LibraryThing member squirrelsohno
When I saw DEARLY, DEPARTED by Lia Habel on NetGalley, it automatically became my first request. Science fiction-meets-steampunk-meets-zombies?! You had me at hello! My own hype for this book became an undeniable and overwhelming force in my head. When I dug into the book and started reading, I
DEARLY, DEPARTED tells the stories of Nora Dearly (a young orphaned student living in a future Earth that has gone back to Victorian ways), Abraham Griswold (an army captain and zombie), Pamela Roe (Nora’s poor best friend), and Victor Dearly (Nora’s scientist father). I might have actually missed someone. Wolfe? I think he had a chapter, but let’s forget him. This novel had a lot of POVs – I’m thinking there were no less than five first person narrators constantly switching back and forth. Herein lies the first problem of the book – there is way too much head jumping going on, and this added weight also inflates the page count and drags down the pacing of the novel. At 470 pages, this is a thick book. Losing 150 pages or so and a POV or two wouldn’t have hurt it.
Another problem I suffered from was the setting. I have a hard time believing in the premise of the world Habel created. Why would the world revert back to a Victorian way of life? Why would South American governments allow all these Anglo-Saxons to take over their continent? I would have liked to know more about this because in this state it wasn’t entirely believable. I enjoyed her creativity and her attention to detail, such as the futuristic hints and bits and bobs. The book is described as steampunk, but I didn’t get nearly enough of the steam to make this work in that capacity. There were occasional hints of steampunk ideas, but it wasn’t entirely there.
But there was stuff I loved! Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a completely negative review because I actually liked this in the end. The characters were just great. Nora and Pam were both kick butt heroines, just the type of character that I love to show off on Book Brats. And Bram… For a zombie he is charming, sweet, and just to die for. I’m feeling punny today, so shoot me! There was just a tiny bit of instalove going on, but I was swept off my feet by the amazing Bram just like Nora was. I was rooting for them from the moment they met, and they romance was all too sweet and believable.
Writing action sequences is definitely one of Habel’s strong suits. Fighting zombies with weapons as varied as guns and parasols, she conveys a real sense of urgency and anxiety to the reader. Although she gets carried away by adverbs and other modifiers almost every sentence of the book, in these scenes of panic and hurry we are swept up in the story and can’t help but be pulled along. Zombies fighting zombies is especially fun, and for these scenes alone, I would recommend the book. Paired with an excellent romance and some smarmy characters that you will want to punch just like our heroes, and DEARLY, DEPARTED definitely has stuff going for it. It just also has issues I couldn’t look past.
VERDICT: At 3.5/5 stars rounded down, this book suffered from too many pages, too many POVs, and too many adverbs, but with a romance you’ll root for, a great original premise, and action scenes galore, it’s a book you should still pick up.
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found myself growing disappointed. The writing is nice and the plot is very original and unique, but there was just something…missing, I guess you could say. Or maybe it just had way too much to deal with.DEARLY, DEPARTED tells the stories of Nora Dearly (a young orphaned student living in a future Earth that has gone back to Victorian ways), Abraham Griswold (an army captain and zombie), Pamela Roe (Nora’s poor best friend), and Victor Dearly (Nora’s scientist father). I might have actually missed someone. Wolfe? I think he had a chapter, but let’s forget him. This novel had a lot of POVs – I’m thinking there were no less than five first person narrators constantly switching back and forth. Herein lies the first problem of the book – there is way too much head jumping going on, and this added weight also inflates the page count and drags down the pacing of the novel. At 470 pages, this is a thick book. Losing 150 pages or so and a POV or two wouldn’t have hurt it.
Another problem I suffered from was the setting. I have a hard time believing in the premise of the world Habel created. Why would the world revert back to a Victorian way of life? Why would South American governments allow all these Anglo-Saxons to take over their continent? I would have liked to know more about this because in this state it wasn’t entirely believable. I enjoyed her creativity and her attention to detail, such as the futuristic hints and bits and bobs. The book is described as steampunk, but I didn’t get nearly enough of the steam to make this work in that capacity. There were occasional hints of steampunk ideas, but it wasn’t entirely there.
But there was stuff I loved! Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a completely negative review because I actually liked this in the end. The characters were just great. Nora and Pam were both kick butt heroines, just the type of character that I love to show off on Book Brats. And Bram… For a zombie he is charming, sweet, and just to die for. I’m feeling punny today, so shoot me! There was just a tiny bit of instalove going on, but I was swept off my feet by the amazing Bram just like Nora was. I was rooting for them from the moment they met, and they romance was all too sweet and believable.
Writing action sequences is definitely one of Habel’s strong suits. Fighting zombies with weapons as varied as guns and parasols, she conveys a real sense of urgency and anxiety to the reader. Although she gets carried away by adverbs and other modifiers almost every sentence of the book, in these scenes of panic and hurry we are swept up in the story and can’t help but be pulled along. Zombies fighting zombies is especially fun, and for these scenes alone, I would recommend the book. Paired with an excellent romance and some smarmy characters that you will want to punch just like our heroes, and DEARLY, DEPARTED definitely has stuff going for it. It just also has issues I couldn’t look past.
VERDICT: At 3.5/5 stars rounded down, this book suffered from too many pages, too many POVs, and too many adverbs, but with a romance you’ll root for, a great original premise, and action scenes galore, it’s a book you should still pick up.
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LibraryThing member AnnaKay21
Nora Dearly has been raised as the proper New Victorian young lady, but rather than calling on neighbors and making an advantageous match, her interests lie in war and politics. All Nora wants is to not be alone in the world as an orphan, with scheming Aunt Gene who has brought them to the verge of
I received this book from a pre-publication club that one of my colleagues runs at our library. WOW. I can't say that it blew me away completely, but it was about a four point five star book for me. My only real complaint is that once the battle is over, the actual ending of the book is fairly lackluster. It doesn't have as much of a nail-biting cliffhanger as I'd have liked. Nora Dearly is a heroine for the ages and I am SO glad that Lia Habel was published and that this book is going to be out in the world. So, this book is SO MUCH MORE than what the description makes it out to be! If you were to listen to the blurb, you'd think it was a Romeo and Juliet-type book with zombies. NOT THE CASE. What little romance there is happens to build very slowly and isn't realized until the end of the novel. This book belongs to the characters and their personal trials and tribulations. Ms. Habel switches points of view between Nora, Bram, Nora's best friend Pamela, Nora's father Victor,and a few times she tackles the thoughts of Wolfe, the living military commander of the Z Company. I was impressed by how seamlessly Victorian ideals, fashions and lifestyles were interwoven with technology. I particularly liked that this was a slightly dystopian, post-apocalyptic society with a very thought-out and intricate governmental system and secret military operations. Nora and Pam were very strong female leads for this novel and even less realized characters such as Vespertine Mink (the girls' school nemesis) and Michael Allister (mealy-mouthed boy next door) were entertaining and added to the story. Near the end of the novel there is a particularly entertaining incident with Pamela and Michael which I will not spoil for readers in this review! :) Chas, Tom, Coalhouse, Renfield, Dr. Samedi and Dr. Beryl Chase bring a very human element to the plight of the zombies and all of them have wonderful personalities that lend a witty flavor to the narrative (Samedi's detachable head is particularly amusing). There are also are well-developed villains who take your breath away in some scenes and leave you terrified of their recklessness/insanity in others. I myself am not a particularly avid fan of zombie literature. But this novel is far more than just another zombie book. It has a heart and soul, with wonderful characters tying it together. I would recommend this fast-paced, thrilling, adventurous book that HAPPENS to include zombies to anyone that loves a smart, sharp read.
VERDICT: 4.5/5 Stars
*No money was exchanged for this ARC copy or this review* Don't forget to put this one on your to-read list and definitely check it out when it becomes available in October! :)
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financial ruin. Is a little adventure and excitement a little too much to ask for? Be careful what you wish for Nora, it may just bite you in the backside Zombie-style! One evening when killer zombies try to kidnap Nora from her home, Company Z flys in to the rescue, led by Captain Bram Griswold and made up of 'good' zombies. Can Nora learn to trust Bram and the others enough to help save some semblance of civilization and to hold her life together after a shocking revelation about her Father? I received this book from a pre-publication club that one of my colleagues runs at our library. WOW. I can't say that it blew me away completely, but it was about a four point five star book for me. My only real complaint is that once the battle is over, the actual ending of the book is fairly lackluster. It doesn't have as much of a nail-biting cliffhanger as I'd have liked. Nora Dearly is a heroine for the ages and I am SO glad that Lia Habel was published and that this book is going to be out in the world. So, this book is SO MUCH MORE than what the description makes it out to be! If you were to listen to the blurb, you'd think it was a Romeo and Juliet-type book with zombies. NOT THE CASE. What little romance there is happens to build very slowly and isn't realized until the end of the novel. This book belongs to the characters and their personal trials and tribulations. Ms. Habel switches points of view between Nora, Bram, Nora's best friend Pamela, Nora's father Victor,and a few times she tackles the thoughts of Wolfe, the living military commander of the Z Company. I was impressed by how seamlessly Victorian ideals, fashions and lifestyles were interwoven with technology. I particularly liked that this was a slightly dystopian, post-apocalyptic society with a very thought-out and intricate governmental system and secret military operations. Nora and Pam were very strong female leads for this novel and even less realized characters such as Vespertine Mink (the girls' school nemesis) and Michael Allister (mealy-mouthed boy next door) were entertaining and added to the story. Near the end of the novel there is a particularly entertaining incident with Pamela and Michael which I will not spoil for readers in this review! :) Chas, Tom, Coalhouse, Renfield, Dr. Samedi and Dr. Beryl Chase bring a very human element to the plight of the zombies and all of them have wonderful personalities that lend a witty flavor to the narrative (Samedi's detachable head is particularly amusing). There are also are well-developed villains who take your breath away in some scenes and leave you terrified of their recklessness/insanity in others. I myself am not a particularly avid fan of zombie literature. But this novel is far more than just another zombie book. It has a heart and soul, with wonderful characters tying it together. I would recommend this fast-paced, thrilling, adventurous book that HAPPENS to include zombies to anyone that loves a smart, sharp read.
VERDICT: 4.5/5 Stars
*No money was exchanged for this ARC copy or this review* Don't forget to put this one on your to-read list and definitely check it out when it becomes available in October! :)
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Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2011-10-18
Physical description
464 p.; 5.31 inches
ISBN
0857530003 / 9780857530004
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DDC/MDS
| 813 |