A review by toggle_fow
Revelation: Poppet Cycle Book 1 by Donna J.W. Munro, Donna J.W. Munro
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
Okay, there is a LOT going on here.
This is a "girl meets boy, finally realizes she's living in a dystopia, escapes" story. We've all read that story a million times, right? WRONG.
If you, like me, look at the cover art on this book and come away with no earthly idea what it involves, let me help. I would describe the plot of this book as "innocent debutante Ellie gets introduced to the horrors of zombie slavery."
The worldbuilding here just really jumps out from page one. The mixture of 1) old-timey dresses, balls, upper-class Southern-style snobbery and social rules with 2) the fact that everyone lives in dome cities tightly controlled by megacorporations whose economy runs off the labor of hordes of the domesticated undead has an exquisitely creepy, jarring effect.
Ellie's wide-eyed, soft-hearted character also presents an interesting contrast with the extent to which traffic in dead people permeates her life. The book starts off a little slow, but the "WHAT IS GOING ON" emotions provoked by experiencing the world itself held me over until the Zombie Rights Movement eventually kicked off the action.
The story is creepy and disturbing. It's very original. I essentially knew what was going to happen the whole time because, like I said, it's a well-trodden plot, but I didn't care. I was interested in peeling back each layer of Ellie's buried family secrets and the truth about her family's zombie-making empire.
The underground railroad allusions and themes are inescapable, twisting several different types of well-known stories into a shape I've never seen before. There were a lot of intriguing characters as well, with Ellie herself possibly near the bottom of the list. (Her ex-boyfriend is the least intriguing.) What an absolutely unhinged ride.
Overall, I was 100% blindsided by this book. It's better than its blurb and SO much better than its cover art. There is still so much here to explore, and I am absolutely going to read the next one in the series.
This is a "girl meets boy, finally realizes she's living in a dystopia, escapes" story. We've all read that story a million times, right? WRONG.
If you, like me, look at the cover art on this book and come away with no earthly idea what it involves, let me help. I would describe the plot of this book as "innocent debutante Ellie gets introduced to the horrors of zombie slavery."
The worldbuilding here just really jumps out from page one. The mixture of 1) old-timey dresses, balls, upper-class Southern-style snobbery and social rules with 2) the fact that everyone lives in dome cities tightly controlled by megacorporations whose economy runs off the labor of hordes of the domesticated undead has an exquisitely creepy, jarring effect.
Ellie's wide-eyed, soft-hearted character also presents an interesting contrast with the extent to which traffic in dead people permeates her life. The book starts off a little slow, but the "WHAT IS GOING ON" emotions provoked by experiencing the world itself held me over until the Zombie Rights Movement eventually kicked off the action.
The story is creepy and disturbing. It's very original. I essentially knew what was going to happen the whole time because, like I said, it's a well-trodden plot, but I didn't care. I was interested in peeling back each layer of Ellie's buried family secrets and the truth about her family's zombie-making empire.
The underground railroad allusions and themes are inescapable, twisting several different types of well-known stories into a shape I've never seen before. There were a lot of intriguing characters as well, with Ellie herself possibly near the bottom of the list. (Her ex-boyfriend is the least intriguing.) What an absolutely unhinged ride.
Overall, I was 100% blindsided by this book. It's better than its blurb and SO much better than its cover art. There is still so much here to explore, and I am absolutely going to read the next one in the series.