BOOK REVIEW: Dearly Departed by Lia Habel

Name: Dearly Departed ( Gone with the Respiration #1)
Author: Lia Habel
Number of Pages: 470
Publisher: Del Rey
Date Published: October 18th, 2011
Source: Review (Bought)
Rate: 5/5

Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead - or rather, the undead? 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 manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible - until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses.

But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead - and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram 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.

In Dearly, Departed, romance meets walking-dead thriller, spawning a madly imaginative novel of rip-roaring adventure, spine-tingling suspense, and macabre comedy that forever redefines the concept of undying love.
[Summary taken from Goodreads]


Okay guys, let us get down to business. Now this book...this book...this oh my goodness to all that is holy book! Mind blowing I am telling you, right now! I honestly do not know how I am going to do this review, I am just at a loss for words. Quickish story! So you see I have had this book for some time now, and to be honest I have no idea why I did not pick it up and read it when I got the dang thing. Maybe it was the synopsis that did it I do not know. What I do know is that I am going to have fun writing a review for you! 

When I started Dearly Departed, I thought I was going to be bored to death (haha get it bored to death...and zombies...no one...moving on). The beginning was a little slow for my liking because I was expecting action right then and there. The thing was though, I was not paying enough attention to the signs Habel was giving me. Yet once I caught on this book kept me enraptured all the way until the end. (P.S I started the book not even a day ago).

First let us get into the setting of Dearly Departed...a New Victorian Era? Now one is wondering how is this possible, well let me tell you - it is possible. Dearly Departed takes place in New Victoria, a high tech nation that bases their principles on the old ways: electronical carriages, debutantes, quill styluses, etc. Now at first I found this bizarre, yet fascinating at the same time. Habel has created something that has never been heard of before! I mean like literally I have never heard of this. I loved how she gave the background story which explains why there is even a new era. By the way this country or nation used to be the United States/World....

Nora was set apart from the rest, which in the beginning is given to you right off the bat. The death of her family is very prominent since she has just ended her mourning. Meaning no more black clothing. Nora, although is into the long dresses and old ways, likes to keep in touch with politics and science. Which is not really heard of because women are suppose to be lady like and unseen. Returning home from school, Nora is sent to live with her gold-digging Aunt Gene. When I mean gold-digging, I mean she loves the parties, the dresses, and wants a rich husband for her niece who she can mooch off of. Well her plans get soiled when Nora is kidnapped by a group of the undead.

Now this is what threw me through a loop whole. Habel has created a new species of zombies that I have never heard of. There are two types of zombies: The Greys and human zombies. The greys are your normal human eating zombies that want to go nom, nom on you. Whereas the human zombies, are definitely dead, but they still have their body parts intact as well as their behavior and thinking intact. A zombie that can talk who woulda thunk!

Let's talk about Bram for a second. This zombie boy captured my heart. He made me weep over his life story and he made me aww at the cuteness of his thoughts. Bram is a very strong character yet he does what he is told to do because he believes himself to be a monster. Yet Bram still came out to be a leader. His team definitely had their quirks but that is what made this book so special. The interactions in this book were phenomenal.

The romance was fast, yet it fit. Watching Bram's attraction to Nora grow was definitely cute. He had his doubts and worries, and she was a little freaked out about the whole undead thing. But I think things will work out. This is what is so cool about Dearly Departed - a zombie/human romance!

This book is definitely filled with lies, betrayal, love, lust, and just cute and funny moments. I loved every nook and cranny of Dearly Departed. The writing was beautiful, the character's were definitely well thought out (Beyond my expectations), and the romance was perfect.

So my suggestion to you is: Go buy the book right now! 
AMAZON <------- Click that button people! I would never force you....that would be mean.

Read on my fellow zombie lovers!!

xx Kat xx