Dearly, Beloved (Gone With the Respiration #2)
Can the living coexist with the living dead?
That’s the question that has New Victorian society fiercely divided ever since the mysterious plague known as “The Laz” hit the city of New London and turned thousands into walking corpses. But while some of these zombies are mindless monsters, hungry for human flesh, others can still think, speak, reason, and control their ravenous new appetites.
Just ask Nora Dearly, the young lady of means who was nearly kidnapped by a band of sinister zombies but valiantly rescued by a dashing young man . . . of the dead variety.
Nora and her savior, the young zombie soldier Bram Griswold, fell hopelessly in love. But others feel only fear and loathing for the reanimated dead. Now, as tensions grow between pro- and anti-zombie factions, battle lines are being drawn in the streets. And though Bram is no longer in the New Victorian army, he and his ex-commando zombie comrades are determined to help keep the peace. That means taking a dangerous stand between The Changed, a radical group of sentient zombies fighting for survival, and The Murder, a masked squad of urban guerrillas hellbent on destroying the living dead. But zombies aren’t the only ones in danger: Their living allies are also in The Murder’s crosshairs, and for one vengeful zealot, Nora Dearly is the number one target.
As paranoia, prejudice, and terrorist attacks threaten to plunge the city into full-scale war, Nora’s scientist father and his team continue their desperate race to unlock the secrets of “The Laz” and find a cure. But their efforts may be doomed when a mysterious zombie appears bearing an entirely new strain of the virus—and the nation of New Victoria braces for a new wave of the apocalypse.
Lia Habel’s spellbinding, suspenseful sequel to Dearly, Departed takes her imaginative mash-up of period romance, futuristic thriller, and zombie drama to a whole new level of innovative and irresistible storytelling.
Too much that doesn’t quite do enough.
Dearly, Beloved simply didn’t do it for me. A book that should have taken me no more than two days ended up dragging on for a week! It tried for too much and for me missed the mark on almost everything.
To start, we have to read at least SIX different perspectives! Not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case it was. The flow of the story suffered because of it, and each new bit of information wasn’t able to grab my interest. The only interesting part for me was when I read how Dr. Samedi became a zombie. The plot was all over the place and I found myself not even wanting to pick the book back up.
I know I shouldn’t complain about it being too mushy because it is a young adult romance after all, but I could barely stomach all of the teenage romantic melodrama. Let’s just say the ending was just a bit ridiculous to me. In a way I almost think some of Nora’s inconsiderate behavior throughout is glorifying being disrespectful.
I am very sure if you absolutely loved Dearly, Departed that it’s likely you will enjoy Dearly, Beloved. As for me I’m fine to end it on this note.
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Tabitha the Pabkins
*Review Copy provided by Publisher for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own. Please note there are affiliate links in this post, we thank you for your support.
About Tabitha the Pabkins
Oh, wow. I had very similar opinions to you but you worded it all so much better. I am so over Nora and Bram’s crap. I much preferred the other perspectives although there were too many.
I agree! I’m so glad to see a few other people share a similar opinion. I was shocked by all the raving reviews.
It is nice to know I am not alone..this failed for me and I am still sad about it.
Yes! I was seriously disappointed since I really enjoyed the first one. I won’t be continuing – since I really had to drag myself through this one.
Yup. I loved the 1st book, but this one was kind of disappointing. I *think* there is only one more book after this, so I can’t not read it. At least to see if Bram dies >:D
Hmm … I’m not sure if I’ll check this out. I read the first one and didn’t like the zombie part of it, or all the crazy POVs. I think I’ll hold off before reading this one. I do really like the cover, though!