A review by blessedwannab
Rise: The Complete Newsflesh Collection by Mira Grant

4.0

Generally I’m not a fan of companion short story novels. I made one of my rare exceptions for Rise because I seriously love this world and these characters. Shawn and Georgia Mason, Alaric and Mahir… together they make up my favorite Zombie reality, that’s including the crew of Walking Dead. There’s something so inspirational about how humanity managed to triumph over the zombie apocalypse and even find a way to thrive. I’d love to see this story on the screen.

Anyway, my emotions ran the gamut with Rise. There were stories like The Last Stand of the California Browncoats that broke my heart, and made me sob. (As a Firefly/Joss fan myself, this touched me.) Then, there was Everglades that made me feel nothing, which was probably only because it was really really short. I didn’t have the opportunity to know the character. As a character driven reader, really empathizing and caring about the character is imperative for me.

I think what I enjoyed the most about Rise was the opportunity to get to spend more time with beloved characters, but also to read how the virus started, and how it affected the whole world. In particular, I loved reading about Alex Kellis and his husband in Countdown. He was innocent, as far as any scientist can be. He was doing work that many may considered dangerous, but isn’t that what scientists do? They discover ways to help humanity thrive. He never intended anything negative with his cure for the common cold. In the end he lost everything, and was villainized despite how screwed up the reporters lies were, and fact that it was the actions of the activists that truly caused chaos. It was so tragic.

Most importantly, what Rise really succeeded in accomplishing was getting me all amped up about Feedback. I know it’s not going to be about the Mason’s, but it is going to bring us back to the world and hopefully give us more amazing characters to love. Goodness knows, I’m definitely not ready to say goodbye.

Thank you to Orbit Books via Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

For this and other reviews, please visit Badass Book Reviews.