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si0bhan's review against another edition
3.0
A large percent of the population loves zombies, and I easily fall into that percentage. Despite my enjoyment of all things zombies, I can be rather picky when it comes to my zombie reads. In all honesty, I find zombie books to be hit or miss. I either really enjoy them or I find them lacking. Whilst Humanity’s Hope was an interesting read, it wasn’t quite what I had hoped it would be.
Humanity’s Hope is one of those zombie stories that focuses more on society than it does upon the actual zombie events. There are some scenes where our characters are interacting with zombies, but these scenes take a back seat to the deep insight into society. We get to look at how things have changed since the zombie outbreak, we get an insight into the conspiracy theories that exist in a zombie-filled world, and we get caught up in the corruption that still exists in the world. These types of stories are not for everyone – if you’re someone who is looking for countless zombie showdown scenes, this book is not for you – but I rather enjoy them if they’re done correctly. However, for my mind to be blown, I like for these stories to be as intricate as possible.
Humanity’s Hope had the potential to be a complex story. There were quite a few elements introduced. Some of the elements were unique and interesting, giving us a new take on the zombie world. However, I feel as though the different elements weren’t quite dealt with in full. By the end of the story things had come together well, but I still had quite a few questions. There were elements of the story that were not wrapped up. In many ways, it feels as though this is just the first book in a series. A lot of things seem to be rather open, and I’m hoping it means there is a second book to help bring these open ends together.
Although it wasn’t all I’d hoped it would be, there were many interesting elements to the story. I was pulled in and left wanting more, I found myself curious about the details and awaiting the unravelling, and I will certainly be wanting to give the second book a read if there is one to come.
As I said at the start of this review, I am very picky about my zombie reads. The fact I did not enjoy this one as much as I’d anticipated is partly a reflection of my own reading preference, and I’m sure many will enjoy this young adult zombie read.
Humanity’s Hope is one of those zombie stories that focuses more on society than it does upon the actual zombie events. There are some scenes where our characters are interacting with zombies, but these scenes take a back seat to the deep insight into society. We get to look at how things have changed since the zombie outbreak, we get an insight into the conspiracy theories that exist in a zombie-filled world, and we get caught up in the corruption that still exists in the world. These types of stories are not for everyone – if you’re someone who is looking for countless zombie showdown scenes, this book is not for you – but I rather enjoy them if they’re done correctly. However, for my mind to be blown, I like for these stories to be as intricate as possible.
Humanity’s Hope had the potential to be a complex story. There were quite a few elements introduced. Some of the elements were unique and interesting, giving us a new take on the zombie world. However, I feel as though the different elements weren’t quite dealt with in full. By the end of the story things had come together well, but I still had quite a few questions. There were elements of the story that were not wrapped up. In many ways, it feels as though this is just the first book in a series. A lot of things seem to be rather open, and I’m hoping it means there is a second book to help bring these open ends together.
Although it wasn’t all I’d hoped it would be, there were many interesting elements to the story. I was pulled in and left wanting more, I found myself curious about the details and awaiting the unravelling, and I will certainly be wanting to give the second book a read if there is one to come.
As I said at the start of this review, I am very picky about my zombie reads. The fact I did not enjoy this one as much as I’d anticipated is partly a reflection of my own reading preference, and I’m sure many will enjoy this young adult zombie read.
ericarobyn's review against another edition
3.0
Humanity's Hope by Pembroke Sinclair is a story that takes place once the world has begun to level out after the zombie uprising.
Zombie novels can be tricky. In my reading experience, I have seen a number of authors handle it really well, while others totally tanked... In this case, I think the author put a fun twist on the zombie! I absolutely loved the first half of the book, but unfortunately, I didn't really care for the second half.
Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way.
Though the zombie content was pretty light, I did really enjoy the scenes where zombies were present. I also loved the explanations regarding the three different types of zombies and found each of them really interesting.
For the first half of the book, I just could not put it down! I was loving the flow and the elements of the story that were presented! Unfortunately the book ended up taking a turn that I didn't care for, but more on that later.
The story really centered around the main character, Caleb, who has a great job as a computer tech at Zomtech, but he toes the fine line between being stable and collapsing into a dark place filled with guilt and terror. As a character overall, I did like him. However, I found that he was pretty whiny and self-indulgent. It wasn't enough to make me flat out dislike him, but I certainly didn't love the character.
The other three characters that we got to see the most were Samuel, Matt, and Jan. I found each of these three to be very interesting, but I was bummed that we didn't really get to know them.
I'm not usually a fan of book with lots of political elements, but the complexity here in relation to the required blood work and the treatment of the zombies was really interesting.
The overall story arc was fun. It certainly left me thinking that there will be a second book (fingers crossed!).
Beware, the negatives:
Going into this book, I didn't really know what to expect. The synopsis seemed interesting, but as I was reading, I decided that it gave way too much away! I'm a bit fan of books that throw in twists that totally catch me off guard, which did happen once here, but I wish that one specific element had been left out of the synopsis so I could have discovered while reading instead.
Once I hit the halfway point, I began to find that the book was becoming more and more repetitive in both the descriptions and the inner monologues of the MC. Per usual, this is my major reading irk. It wasn't so repetitive that it made me want to DNF, but I definitely think another rounds of edits could help balance it out.
Also at this halfway point, I felt that the story kind of stalled out. It went from being really intriguing to rather irritating as we just followed Caleb and his inner thoughts. I don't think it would have been so rough for me if it wasn't as repetitive... but unfortunately I just found it boring. I kept putting it down or taking breaks because I just wasn't engaged with the story anymore.
When I reached the ending, it felt very abrupt. I'm not really sure how I feel about it... The twist sort of felt like it was added in just so there was a shock. Unfortunately, it just left me a little confused. The ending also left a lot of loose ends, which I'm not a fan of.
My favorite passages:
The farmhouse was still ways away, about 50 yards. At least that was what Caleb assumed. He was horrible at judging distances. It didn't matter anyway. Which the zombies in front of them, the house was as accessible as another planet.
Caleb zig-zagged across the field. He ducked under a pair of arms, then shouldered a zombie out of the way. Its bones crunched against his shoulder, teeth gnashed close to his ear, driving him forward with more urgency.
Schools still existed, but now they taught trades that were useful to rebuild the world.
Originally, the living shot the undead, making sure their bodies never rose again. Then a group formed and protested the act. They claimed there was a cure, that the zombies could be human again. The wold listened- no one knew exactly why- and areas were set up to contain the walking corpses.
He had discovered long ago that the people who preached the loudest about the ethical treatment of zombies were the ones who had never been outside the safety of the city.
This wasn't the way it was supposed to be. It was supposed to be simple- us versus them. The humans against the monsters. But the line of who the real monster were was becoming blurred.
He was free to leave if he wanted to. That was the million dollar question: did he want to?
The slightest sense of relief flooded through him as his voice came out calm and controlled. He gave himself a mental high five, but then had to clench his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering.
My final thoughts:
Overall, I would still recommend this book to fans of light YA zombie reads. Personally, I wouldn't read it again, though I would read a second book if there was one.
Zombie novels can be tricky. In my reading experience, I have seen a number of authors handle it really well, while others totally tanked... In this case, I think the author put a fun twist on the zombie! I absolutely loved the first half of the book, but unfortunately, I didn't really care for the second half.
Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way.
Though the zombie content was pretty light, I did really enjoy the scenes where zombies were present. I also loved the explanations regarding the three different types of zombies and found each of them really interesting.
For the first half of the book, I just could not put it down! I was loving the flow and the elements of the story that were presented! Unfortunately the book ended up taking a turn that I didn't care for, but more on that later.
The story really centered around the main character, Caleb, who has a great job as a computer tech at Zomtech, but he toes the fine line between being stable and collapsing into a dark place filled with guilt and terror. As a character overall, I did like him. However, I found that he was pretty whiny and self-indulgent. It wasn't enough to make me flat out dislike him, but I certainly didn't love the character.
The other three characters that we got to see the most were Samuel, Matt, and Jan. I found each of these three to be very interesting, but I was bummed that we didn't really get to know them.
I'm not usually a fan of book with lots of political elements, but the complexity here in relation to the required blood work and the treatment of the zombies was really interesting.
The overall story arc was fun. It certainly left me thinking that there will be a second book (fingers crossed!).
Beware, the negatives:
Going into this book, I didn't really know what to expect. The synopsis seemed interesting, but as I was reading, I decided that it gave way too much away! I'm a bit fan of books that throw in twists that totally catch me off guard, which did happen once here, but I wish that one specific element had been left out of the synopsis so I could have discovered while reading instead.
Once I hit the halfway point, I began to find that the book was becoming more and more repetitive in both the descriptions and the inner monologues of the MC. Per usual, this is my major reading irk. It wasn't so repetitive that it made me want to DNF, but I definitely think another rounds of edits could help balance it out.
Also at this halfway point, I felt that the story kind of stalled out. It went from being really intriguing to rather irritating as we just followed Caleb and his inner thoughts. I don't think it would have been so rough for me if it wasn't as repetitive... but unfortunately I just found it boring. I kept putting it down or taking breaks because I just wasn't engaged with the story anymore.
When I reached the ending, it felt very abrupt. I'm not really sure how I feel about it... The twist sort of felt like it was added in just so there was a shock. Unfortunately, it just left me a little confused. The ending also left a lot of loose ends, which I'm not a fan of.
My favorite passages:
The farmhouse was still ways away, about 50 yards. At least that was what Caleb assumed. He was horrible at judging distances. It didn't matter anyway. Which the zombies in front of them, the house was as accessible as another planet.
Caleb zig-zagged across the field. He ducked under a pair of arms, then shouldered a zombie out of the way. Its bones crunched against his shoulder, teeth gnashed close to his ear, driving him forward with more urgency.
Schools still existed, but now they taught trades that were useful to rebuild the world.
Originally, the living shot the undead, making sure their bodies never rose again. Then a group formed and protested the act. They claimed there was a cure, that the zombies could be human again. The wold listened- no one knew exactly why- and areas were set up to contain the walking corpses.
He had discovered long ago that the people who preached the loudest about the ethical treatment of zombies were the ones who had never been outside the safety of the city.
This wasn't the way it was supposed to be. It was supposed to be simple- us versus them. The humans against the monsters. But the line of who the real monster were was becoming blurred.
He was free to leave if he wanted to. That was the million dollar question: did he want to?
The slightest sense of relief flooded through him as his voice came out calm and controlled. He gave himself a mental high five, but then had to clench his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering.
My final thoughts:
Overall, I would still recommend this book to fans of light YA zombie reads. Personally, I wouldn't read it again, though I would read a second book if there was one.
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