Review – Married with Zombies (Living with the Dead, Book 1) by Jessie Petersen (4/5 stars)
Reading level: Adult
Genre: Horror/Humor
Size: 272 pages
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: September 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0316102865
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Living with the Dead series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars
This is the first book in the Living with the Dead series by Petersen. The third book in this series (Eat, Slay, Love
Sarah and David have been going to couple’s counseling for months. Things just aren’t working out: Sarah is still working her butt off to make ends meet and David is still lounging around playing video games and hoping to “find himself”. Well their most recent counseling session changes all of that when their counselor tries to eat them. Yep, she’s turned into a zombie. Now Susan and David are forced to work together to stay alive in a zombie infested world; who knew zombie slaying could bring a couple closer together?
This book is well written, fast moving, and makes for a fun read. Sarah and David come across as your standard dysfunctional couple on the edge of divorce. They are constantly irritating each other and letting small things drive them crazy. They are both snarky and sarcastic and fun to read about. It is only when they have to stand side by side and fight together in life-threatening situations that they finally begin to remember why they got married in the first place.
This whole book brings to light that whole philosophy of “don’t sweat the small things” in your relationship. Really when your life is on the line who cares if your husband put the stupid Whitesnake album in the CD player again? Petersen also touches on how much better things can be when you think every day might be your last. I love how each chapter name consists of some couples counseling advice but with zombies added.
The zombies in this book are pretty standard. The whole scenario is an infection gone awry type of thing. The zombies are your typical mindless brain-eating variety, so the book doesn’t really cover anything new and creative from that aspect.
The book was a quick read and well paced, it was engaging and hard to put down. For those with weak stomachs it does get pretty graphic; there is a lot of discussion of blood, black vomit, brain matter, and various stages of rot. There is also quite a bit of swearing, so definitely targeted at an adult audience.
Overall a fun, fast read. I read the book quickly and found it to be funny and engaging. Sarah and David are both funny and tough. It was sweet and fun to watch how they worked through their marital issues via zombie therapy. A good book for zombie fans that like humor and engaging characters. This book doesn’t really cover any new territory as far as zombie theory goes; these zombies are the same mindless brain-eaters you know and love. A great summer read, with a lot of laughs and a bit of heart too. I will definitely be reading the second book in the series: Flip This Zombie
This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
