September 19, 2012

Review: Contagious by Emily Goodwin!


Title: Contagious
Author: Emily Goodwin
Publisher: Amazon Digital 
Published: 2012
Hardcover: 339 pages

"I wasn’t afraid of death. If I died, it would be over. My worst fear wasn’t of dying, it was of living. Living, while everyone around me had their flesh savagely torn from their bodies to be shoved into the festering and ever-hungry mouths of zombies. It terrified me, right down to my very core, to be alive while the rest of the world was dead." In the midst of the Second Great Depression, twenty-five year old Orissa Penwell doesn't think things can get any worse. She couldn't be more wrong. A virus breaks out across the country, leaving the infected crazed, aggressive and very hungry. Orissa will do anything-no matter if it's right or wrong- to save the ones she loves. But when she discovers that most of the world is infected or dead, she must decided if those lives are worth saving at all.


I finished Contagious during my Friday morning commute. It wasn't until my commute coming home, when I reached for the book in my purse, that I realized how sad I was that it was over.

In many ways, Contagious is your typical zombie thriller. There's a virus loose on the earth. It's making people feel the urge to eat each other's brains and you can easily get infected by a single exchange of blood or saliva. Sounds normal, right?

But that's pretty much where the similarities end. Contagious is really a story about a young woman (Orissa) who realizes that she doesn't have to be dictated by her past. She realizes that everything she has ever learned in life - no matter how she learned it - will be the key to surviving this zombie apocalypse. And throughout the chaos, that closing your heart off to love is just another way to protect yourself.

Orissa, while a little too good at surviving zombie attacks, is a brazen character who makes reckless choices  (potentially deadly choices) in order to save those around her. It's those reckless choices that actually endear you to her character even more. You never think that she's trying to be a hero...she just is one.

There is, of course, a love story in Contagious, and I can't help but admit that I adored it. It wasn't a love that came out of desperation or lust. Orissa's relationship with Hayden is first built on trust (as they must save each other over and over), and then grows with time and friendship. By the end if the story, you just want them to freaking admit they love each other already!

I would recommend Contagious to everyone who likes a good zombie book, or a romance, or a suspense novel, or a gory thriller. This book is all of the above - plus some.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars! (1/2 star gone only because Orissa is a little too good at kicking ass, LOL)

RELEVANT LINKS

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5 comments:

  1. Loving the cover, must add this on to my wish list.

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  2. I think I'll have to add this to my to read list. I was a little worried by another zombie book but this looks pretty good. Thanks for your thoughts!

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  3. This sounds incredible! Somehow I missed this one. Thanks for sharing! (:

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  4. This book sounds like a great read. I haven't read many zombie books. I have been looking for different books from what I usually read. Thanks for this great review. Going to add to my TBR list.
    -Maritza R

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