Reviews

Elegy for the Undead by Matthew Vesely

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muyaya7's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

keikoalisha's review against another edition

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3.0

I am always up for a good zombie story. This was a tragic love story with zombies thrown in instead. It was an okay read, but I think I wanted more. I liked the science behind the zombies though. And I loved the two main characters. If Lyle beat the virus I think I might have liked it more. But this was more about the people than the zombies themselves.

shksprsis's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

subspacetachyon's review against another edition

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dark sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

clemrain's review against another edition

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dark sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Characters are a little bit flat. The story is short so it would’ve done with less characters to round out the main two more. The pop culture references really take you out the immersion of the story.

I liked that the love story wasn’t perfect. And these were good points about communication. But the main problem being

around sex and infidelity, just wasn’t it for me.

I do enjoy a story that works around with timelines and perspectives. This book does a great job at creating the flow. I never felt lost.

Also it just realllyyy irked me that one of the characters was writer. The whole thing was just so…boring.

It’s sad. And it’s simple. And it is worth the read.

Content Warnings

kehleeboo's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

monkeysbecausewhynot's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Novellaween: Day 20
WHY ARE THERE FEELINGS IN MY HORROR NOVELLA
god this was such a beautiful sad poignant reflective book aaah 😭
here are 2 lines that really got me good (spoiler tagging just in case)

"This is the reason I love you, the reason I'll never stop loving you, and the reason I'll find you in the next life and love you all over again."

I started to cry like a child, because no one at home was awake anymore for me to go to sleep to the sound of them living.

ruthypoo2's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Such a uniquely amazing love story. Yes, it’s placed within the context of a zombie-like disease outbreak, but that’s only used as a framework to showcase the endurance of a strong and committed affection two people can have for each other.

Easily one of the most special and effective stories I’ve read this year. Definitely a surprise, but a really good surprise. I highly recommend this novella to everyone, regardless of whether or not they like zombie stories because characterizing this book as that only minimizes what a truly human story it is.

I listened to the audiobook and found the two narrators, Charlie Thurston and Daniel Henning, brought to their readings just the right emotional drama and light-hearted moments.

wasabiapple's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

katieross83's review against another edition

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5.0

A beautiful queer love story that also happens to have zombies; does it get any better? Seriously, this was a pleasure to read, and while it was sad and had its tragic moments, it was also one of the most honest and refreshing depictions of love, and falling in love and being in love, that I’ve read in a long time.

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