Review: Angsty passion...with zombies!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 16, 2014
Originally published at Rookie Romance.I'll start off by saying how much I love that cover! It's so eye-catching. Now, I love zombie movies, but I've never actually read a romance set in a zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic world. So, when I read the blurb for Alive, I figured it sounded like the perfect book to be my first. And I made a pretty darn good choice.Eve was a really interesting character, I loved seeing the differences between her in the flashbacks when they were in school and the Eve of the present. You see from the flashbacks that Eve was an extremely sheltered and shy girl, who wouldn't say boo to a goose. Eve got dealt a really rubbish hand in life- an abusive family, bullied/ignored through school and then zombie apocalypse. That girl can not catch a break. But all of this makes Eve the awesome, kick butt character she is! She is tough by necessity. She's blunt and doesn't sugarcoat things and can most definitely handle herself. I was impressed by how well she hides her vulnerabilities and by how impenetrable the walls around her heart appear to be, but I guess they just needed the right guy to break them down.Gage elicited more mixed emotions from me. Don't get me wrong, that man sounds as delicious as sin, but I really wanted him to have more patience with Eve. A lot of the time he would say some a hole comment, and then Eve's walls would be straight back up. But of course, everyone in this world has their own burden to bear and life is far from idyllic, so I definitely cut him some slack. Gage made mistakes with Eve when they were younger, but when he finds her again he's determined to keep her with him and protect her- even if she doesn't want protecting.I loved the dynamic in Eve and Gage's relationship. There was a lot of push and pull between them, they're both stubborn and determined so they're bound to butt heads. But there was also so much passion between them, it was always simmering under the surface of their interactions.I loved how the flashback scenes slowly revealed to us throughout the story, what happened between them in the past- before the Crave. My heart hurt for the innocence and hope that Eve lost, but sometimes second chances and forgiveness are worth a risk.I did enjoy reading the scenes with Olive, Eve's sister, because it meant that we knew where she was as Eve looked for her. Although I know Olive has a hard life as well, she comes across as more than a touch sociopathic, so I'll be interested to see if she can get her redemption in the second book in the Crave series, Infected.Overall, who knows if I am a convert of 'zombie romances' (for lack of a better term). But I certainly enjoyed this one a lot, and I definitely plan on reading the rest of the series. Hopefully Eve and Gage will be in the rest of the books as well! Alive is rife with angst, despair, passion and...zombies. Definitely worth reading, even if this isn't your usual type of story.*I received a review copy of the book, for my honest opinion. Thank you!