My rating: 4 of 5 stars
R is a zombie, one of the Dead. Julie is one of the Living. When they connect, things start happening. It’s one of those relationships that really shouldn’t work, but both are sufficiently young, curious and tenacious.
R is unusually thoughtful for a dead person and the little trips into his thoughts made this book enjoyable for me. The little asides, the things he noticed and the way he interpreted the world, made him very, very endearing. Julie is less tangible as a character, but still quite real. I think beside R, anyone would come across as blatantly normal, though.
The writing also captured me. The way R expresses himself, physically and mentally, is just damned funny in places. As a zombie, there are things he cannot do. But as he is dead, it’s really not a big deal. The passages of him just existing, being himself, are some of the most enjoyable in the book. I awarded an extra star just for that.
Over all, I really liked Warm Bodies. I have a couple quibbles with the plot and there were unanswered questions at the end. I wasn’t quite sure who/what the Boneys were and why R and Julie were so special, other than the fact they just were. I didn’t understand what was happening at the end, really. I don’t think they did, either. But (the all important but), the story still works. I just needed to suspend disbelief a bit more than usual.
Kelly Jensen 