Dearly, Beloved by Lia Habel

Dearly, Beloved by Lia Habel

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Description:

Can the living coexist with the living dead? 

That’s the question that has New Victorian society fiercely divided ever since the mysterious plague known as “The Laz” hit the city of New London and turned thousands into walking corpses. But while some of these zombies are mindless monsters, hungry for human flesh, others can still think, speak, reason, and control their ravenous new appetites.

Just ask Nora Dearly, the young lady of means who was nearly kidnapped by a band of sinister zombies but valiantly rescued by a dashing young man . . . of the dead variety.

Nora and her savior, the young zombie soldier Bram Griswold, fell hopelessly in love. But others feel only fear and loathing for the reanimated dead. Now, as tensions grow between pro- and anti-zombie factions, battle lines are being drawn in the streets. And though Bram is no longer in the New Victorian army, he and his ex-commando zombie comrades are determined to help keep the peace. That means taking a dangerous stand between The Changed, a radical group of sentient zombies fighting for survival, and The Murder, a masked squad of urban guerrillas hellbent on destroying the living dead. But zombies aren’t the only ones in danger: Their living allies are also in The Murder’s crosshairs, and for one vengeful zealot, Nora Dearly is the number one target.

As paranoia, prejudice, and terrorist attacks threaten to plunge the city into full-scale war, Nora’s scientist father and his team continue their desperate race to unlock the secrets of “The Laz” and find a cure. But their efforts may be doomed when a mysterious zombie appears bearing an entirely new strain of the virus—and the nation of New Victoria braces for a new wave of the apocalypse.

My Review:

So I read the first book in this series, and loved it.  So I couldn’t wait to start reading this book.  Unfortunately, I cannot say that I love this book.  I just could not get into this book, to the point where I did not even finish it. 

Easiest synopsis of this book:  Trouble starts immediately with the Laz mutating.  The living are acting out against the Zombies (both good and bad), and the world seems like it falling apart (again).  So in steps Nora & Bram to save the day…. Yep, Does this sound almost like the first book? 

My reasons why I didn’t like this book?

·         Flow is slow to the point where it is almost non-existent.  The only time it picked up was during an attack, and it was such a jumbled mess that I had a hard time following it.

·         I miss the “we like each other, but don’t” relationship that Nora and Bram had in the first book compared to the “forbidden by society” romance in this book.  It is automatically doomed, which gives a darker color to the whole book.

·         The time frame difference from book 1 to book 2 is just months longer… but it feels like years almost.  This is disorienting, as things have changed to quickly to be understandable or believable. 

Overall, I don’t think I’ll be trying to read this book anytime soon.  

Happy Reading!

Cana