Review #2: Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel

I first read this book in late November. And ever since then I have been really excited for the sequel. Got accepted for Dearly, Beloved a few weeks ago via NetGalley, but I needed to re-read the first book before I could read it. Because I felt like I was missing too much of the book in my head. And I am so glad I re-read this book. It isn't perfect, I still see some flaws in it, but I still loved it a lot. Still a four star for me. It seems like a love story, but more than half of the book is no love. But when it does happen, it is amazing.

This is a zombie book, though. A really awesome zombie books. Have read many of those. Have loved each of them. Dearly, Departed is a different zombie book, though. But I did enjoy it a whole lot. The zombies in this book is a lot more functional than in other books. Well, many of them are. Most though, most are just as bad as the others I have read about. Mindless killing bodies. And I loved that so much :) But I also enjoyed the good zombies. I loved how they were, how they thought, and how they acted.

I'm pretty sure I liked the writing in this book more the second time around. The writing is good, I just had a little trouble with how the main character, Nora, thought at times. Because I loved every point of view from Bram. And I loved Pamela a whole lot more this time. Really enjoyed her point of views :) She was just totally awesome. Also mostly liked the point of views of Wolfe and Victor. Maybe. Would have loved to have the whole book from Bram's pov, but I didn't mind that much :)

The plot in this book is really awesome. It is set in 2195. About hundred and fifty years since the world kind of went under. Lots of people died. But many has tried to live on, and now they have it pretty good. The town which Nora lives in have decided to became a new Victorian Era. And, yeah, I kind of hated their decision to do that. That seemed like such an awful time period. So many rules, and no fun. But I also loved how well it was done; so I didn't mind so much as I first did ;p

The zombies have been there for 8 years. But they haven't yet come out, so to speak. No one knows of them. Except for a few people who are helping them. :) In the middle of that there is Nora Dearly. Her father died a year ago, and she is just done with the one year mourning period. She's still so upset about his death, and it is pretty sad. She does have her best friend though, Pamela. And I adored Pam. She is a bit different, but she is pretty awesome :) And I adored Nora as well. Well, most of the time ;p

She is a kind person. And strong. And nice and sweet. She was a bit predictable a few times, but nothing serious, and I still loved her. She's a pretty great main character. And I cannot wait to get to know her more. :) I did love reading this book from mostly her point of view. But what I loved the most in this book was Bram. He is a zombie. A young one. And he is perfect. He's handsome, charming, and really kind and sweet. He's one of the good ones. And I adored reading about him.

He's a really great guy. And sigh. I just adored him in this book. And I need a lot more of him in the sequel ;) But he also made me so sad. Because the zombies in this book, they can live for about five years before they go bad like the other ones. And Bram has already been a zombie for two years. And gah. It is making me so sad! Hoping for a miracle :) But I also love the story the way that it is, so I might be able to manage it. Might. Someday. We'll see. Hopefully not in book two :)

While this book doesn't focus much on the romance, like I had hoped, I still loved the romance parts. There aren't many. And half the book go by before they are there. But when it does happen it is really sweet and real and I loved it a whole lot. Also want more of that in the sequel :) The ending in this book is pretty sad. Well, the almost ending. I kind of liked the ending. Sort of. But this part near the ending almost made me cry and gah. It was awful. But it also made sense, so I kind of loved it as well.

There is a lot of amazing characters in this book. Would take me forever to mention them all, so I won't do that. But I will mention a few :) Like I said, Pamela was awesome. Didn't approve much of her family, like her little brother. He was a brat. But kind of liked him at the end. Maybe. Also liked all of Bram's friends, they were all so so amazing. <3 Also kind of liked Victor Dearly, Nora's father. He wasn't so bad. I did, however, hate that Michael guy. He was such an asshole. Liked his part, though.

I'm not sure what else to say about this book. This is my second review of it, but my first one was really old and really short. So I wanted a new one :) Dearly, Departed is a sweet book. But it has lots of awful and scary parts. That only made it better. It is exciting. It has it all. It's such a great book. And I do think that you all should read it at some point :) I also adore the cover. Not that scary at all, but it does fit the story. And I like that. Plus, the colors are really pretty. Anyway. Loved this book. <3 Read it.
My first review of Dearly, Departed is here.

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