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tarsharks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
kukuku's review
2.0
"She wants to see who she is, even if it’s an ugly portrait. Even if it’s despair and surrender and betrayal. She wants another chance, even if it’s brief."
Whew! I finished!
I think this final one was too long and strayed a bit with the metaphors and whatnot but the ending was very, very satisfying which a lot of stories (esp sci-fi/fantasy ones) can't claim. I just love these characters!
Whew! I finished!
I think this final one was too long and strayed a bit with the metaphors and whatnot but the ending was very, very satisfying which a lot of stories (esp sci-fi/fantasy ones) can't claim. I just love these characters!
calatheacat's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
aqua_lilium's review
5.0
Well I took my sweet time reading this book but I think I had to so I could get what I needed.
I wish this series got more recognition because hands down it's one of the best series I have ever read.
I don't know if the author checks the reviews but sir thank you so much for this series and I can't wait for your next book.
I wish this series got more recognition because hands down it's one of the best series I have ever read.
I don't know if the author checks the reviews but sir thank you so much for this series and I can't wait for your next book.
josiemac28713's review
5.0
I've seen a lot of reviews where people.saod this one wasn't as good as the first book but honestly I think the books just got better. I just cant get over how much I love Issac Marion's writing style. This one was just as amazing as the other two. The back and forth POVs were a little hard to follow at first because there were so many characters. There were a few moments I feared the worst for my favorite characters and I'm still sad about some of their endings. Over all it was a wonderful ending to a fantastic story.
faithtrustpixiedust's review
4.0
Does the world deserve forgiveness? Does it deserve another chance?
I was very conflicted as I read this. The overarching emotion I felt throughout was disappointment. Unlike the rest of the series, this felt like it lacked a real direction. I wasn't sure what the goal was, and what had been the established goal at the end of The Burning World was pretty much entirely forgotten until the climax. Conflicts were often repeated multiple times, or borrowed from previous books, and it left me feeling drained and frankly a little pissed off. A lot of time was spent flipping through perspectives and I felt like I didn't have enough time to feel much of anything for most of them. The scope of this was too big sometimes and the plot was left drowning in it.
We all decide the shape of the world, the sum of all minds together. Change has to be chosen.
But luckily, Marion is an amazing writer, and his way with words and imagery pretty much saved this. R completed his ongoing character arc all for the better and the conclusion was probably the most emotionally heart-wrenching, yet also heart-warming, endings to any series I've ever read. While I flip-flopped between considering DNFing it or framing it on my wall, I think that ultimately, this was a fantastic book that perhaps I will appreciate more on a second read through. And, of course, the themes are so profound and thought provoking. Even the bad guys sometimes manage to pull you in. Overall, I am so glad I read this and even more than that, I'm so glad Isaac finally got to release this book into the world, and I'm more than excited to see what strange paths he follows next.
Every choice has a price. We all owe a debt to this world for the things we take from it, right or wrong, cruel or kind. But these laws are soft, these laws are alive, and sometimes a debt is forgiven.
blurrypetals's review
5.0
I have been waiting for a book titled The Living by Isaac Marion ever since I closed the back cover of Warm Bodies clear back in November 2011, when I was on Thanksgiving break and had just discovered the most magical thing a person could possibly have the privilege to discover: a truly meaningful, life changing book.
It took seven years and two unexpected other books from that moment until now for me to finally be able to hold and pore over a book called The Living by Isaac Marion and it is so surreal to me that I've just said those words and that those words are true.
I'm gonna be honest, I really don't want to talk too much about the plot at hand, mostly because it would spoil its priors, but also because I'm incredibly caught up in the pathos and ethos of it all, because I can't believe I've reached this incredibly surreal reality wherein this series is, unbelievably, over.
Instead, I'll just say this much: this book is Isaac Marion at his best. He has grown so much over the years and it's absolutely magical that he managed put together a narrative that so perfectly paralleled his evolution as a writer. He started with his rise to fame in Warm Bodies, which details a corpse learning what it means to be alive. Then he wrote a bit of a love letter to the world itself in The New Hunger as he backtracked and discovered what made Warm Bodies so good. Then he took a brave, bold new direction in The Burning World, which follows our protagonists as they learn that being radical dreamers come at great cost, ironic for a book that ultimately came crashing to the ground financially with its beautiful wax wings melted into nothingness. But then, like a phoenix from the ashes, like a zombie learning how to live again, Isaac Marion picked himself up and published the finale, perhaps not the way he planned, but eventually as promised.
He came back from the dead in almost the most literal (and perhaps the most literary) way and that is, for certain, the greatest metaphor ever turned into fact, especially when you're talking about the story of a zombie so filled with love he had no choice but to live, just like Isaac Marion, a man so filled with love, he had no choice but to tell this story.
And I can't help but feel nothing but grateful for that. Thank you, Isaac, for this story, this journey, these characters. I am so proud of you as a writer and as a man and I will never, ever, ever forget the wisdom you've imparted upon me through these books. I will be waiting eagerly to see what you do with your second life. You couldn't possibly disappoint me.
It took seven years and two unexpected other books from that moment until now for me to finally be able to hold and pore over a book called The Living by Isaac Marion and it is so surreal to me that I've just said those words and that those words are true.
I'm gonna be honest, I really don't want to talk too much about the plot at hand, mostly because it would spoil its priors, but also because I'm incredibly caught up in the pathos and ethos of it all, because I can't believe I've reached this incredibly surreal reality wherein this series is, unbelievably, over.
Instead, I'll just say this much: this book is Isaac Marion at his best. He has grown so much over the years and it's absolutely magical that he managed put together a narrative that so perfectly paralleled his evolution as a writer. He started with his rise to fame in Warm Bodies, which details a corpse learning what it means to be alive. Then he wrote a bit of a love letter to the world itself in The New Hunger as he backtracked and discovered what made Warm Bodies so good. Then he took a brave, bold new direction in The Burning World, which follows our protagonists as they learn that being radical dreamers come at great cost, ironic for a book that ultimately came crashing to the ground financially with its beautiful wax wings melted into nothingness. But then, like a phoenix from the ashes, like a zombie learning how to live again, Isaac Marion picked himself up and published the finale, perhaps not the way he planned, but eventually as promised.
He came back from the dead in almost the most literal (and perhaps the most literary) way and that is, for certain, the greatest metaphor ever turned into fact, especially when you're talking about the story of a zombie so filled with love he had no choice but to live, just like Isaac Marion, a man so filled with love, he had no choice but to tell this story.
And I can't help but feel nothing but grateful for that. Thank you, Isaac, for this story, this journey, these characters. I am so proud of you as a writer and as a man and I will never, ever, ever forget the wisdom you've imparted upon me through these books. I will be waiting eagerly to see what you do with your second life. You couldn't possibly disappoint me.
ninamtx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
irreverentreader's review
2.0
It really pains me to rate this as I have. I tried. I tried so hard to like The Hunger, Burning World, and now The Living, but whatever magic Marion possessed to write Warm Bodies, one of my favorite books, he lost it completely going forward.
R is really what spellbound me all those years ago when I first picked up Warm Bodies. His lyricism, poetic narration, and snark really found a home with me and made me enjoy the adventure. But the other books in this series stripped away his character layer by layer until I didn't like what I saw underneath. His history, the disgusting person that he was, totally ruined his aura for me, and those facets and characteristics from his past began to leak into his current-day character. He lost his charm and charisma and turned into a "man's man" douche who labels himself as a sexual veteran in the book's one sex scene that absolutely gave me the heebie jeebies. There is a lot of uncomfortable language in that part of the book, and it's not because I'm a prude. Far from it. But I got some real gross vibes that have undercurrents of toxic masculinity .
Besides R being disappointing, the plot itself was too. Honestly, the whole secret library thing was just a bit too weird for me, and too poorly executed to make much sense. It was hard to visualize, and I found myself having to re-read to try and parse exactly what was happening. The We chapters were often clunky at times, interspersed with writing that attempted to be more literary than it actually was. In the end, I felt like a lot of it could have been cut out and the book as a whole would have made just as much sense. In the end, I left feeling exhausted by the roles of alpha males and beta females throughout. Marion tries to uphold Julie as an important character through R's words alone, but in her actions she is constantly impulsive, reckless, and frankly unintelligent.
I've already said my piece about the other characters in the book and how disappointing they were, so I won't rehash that. But basically the writing continued to decline throughout the series in nearly all facets, but especially in clarity. In the future when I return to Warm Bodies, as I know I will, I will be treating it as a standalone novel. Hopefully with some time and space, I can go back to liking who R was in the first book.
R is really what spellbound me all those years ago when I first picked up Warm Bodies. His lyricism, poetic narration, and snark really found a home with me and made me enjoy the adventure. But the other books in this series stripped away his character layer by layer until I didn't like what I saw underneath. His history, the disgusting person that he was, totally ruined his aura for me, and those facets and characteristics from his past began to leak into his current-day character. He lost his charm and charisma and turned into a "man's man" douche who labels himself as a sexual veteran in the book's one sex scene that absolutely gave me the heebie jeebies. There is a lot of uncomfortable language in that part of the book, and it's not because I'm a prude. Far from it. But I got some real gross vibes that have undercurrents of toxic masculinity .
Besides R being disappointing, the plot itself was too. Honestly, the whole secret library thing was just a bit too weird for me, and too poorly executed to make much sense. It was hard to visualize, and I found myself having to re-read to try and parse exactly what was happening. The We chapters were often clunky at times, interspersed with writing that attempted to be more literary than it actually was. In the end, I felt like a lot of it could have been cut out and the book as a whole would have made just as much sense. In the end, I left feeling exhausted by the roles of alpha males and beta females throughout. Marion tries to uphold Julie as an important character through R's words alone, but in her actions she is constantly impulsive, reckless, and frankly unintelligent.
I've already said my piece about the other characters in the book and how disappointing they were, so I won't rehash that. But basically the writing continued to decline throughout the series in nearly all facets, but especially in clarity. In the future when I return to Warm Bodies, as I know I will, I will be treating it as a standalone novel. Hopefully with some time and space, I can go back to liking who R was in the first book.