1) I gave the book a 4/5, because it kept me engaged and along for the ride the whole way. My jaw dropped open at the ending, and I've been thinking about it since I finished the book, so it's something that's stayed with me.
2) I think the only thing I have to compare it to was Feed, and the only thing they really have in common is being science-based zombie stories. I did really enjoy getting the POV of a zombie, and Melanie was a very likable protagonist.
3) I thought it was a little weird. At first I thought their mothers were turned while pregnant but I don't think that makes sense with the timeline. I think they said the infection started 20 years ago, which means Melanie & co should have been around that age. It would also mean there should be no variance in the ages of the hungry children, but we saw with the wild children that there were ones as young as 5. She was implying that the hungries who kept a little more of themselves, like the one with the baby carriage and the one who was looking at his pictures in the hospital, might have kept having sex out of habit? Which seems really strange to me. I guess that also means that the hungries are technically alive since they can reproduce, rather than dead bodies animated by a fungus, despite what everyone seemed to think in the novel.
4) My jaw dropped open when I read the ending. Seriously. I was not expecting that at all. So basically Melanie has decided since there's no way to stop the infection, instead she's hurrying the infection of the rest of the world, so that her generation of hungries can become the new humanity. We see from the wild hungry children that, left to their own devices, the children are more like animals than people. Melanie will have her work cut out for her if she wants to 'civilize' the rest of the second generation hungries.
5) For all we know, she might run out of food pretty quickly, since... well, isn't everything outside of the mobile lab now going to be contaminated, including any wild animals and water supplies? For water, they could probably rig up a filter, and I guess plants and anything without a central nervous system would probably be immune to the fungus, but would it be safe for her to eat? Would cooked meat be safe? Even if she doesn't run out of food, the knowledge of being the last living 'old' human, what will that do to her? We know Melanie will protect her, and the hungries can't smell her as long as she keeps the suit on, but I still suspect she might start losing her sanity if she lives long enough.
6) One thing I loved was the theme of Greek mythology, particularly the myth of Pandora. At first, it's just something that Melanie likes: she sees a little bit of herself in the myth of Pandora. And then at the end of the story, she does the equivalent of opening Pandora's box, releasing all the evils onto the world, plus one small light - hope. Hope that she and her fellow hungry children can forge a new future for their world, that with the teaching of the one person who changed her world, they can become more.
I read a review that said the book was like Pandora's Box as well. It opens very slowly, and you learn little bits as you go.. and then the end it blasts open and you're like WTFFFFF :P
2) I think the only thing I have to compare it to was Feed, and the only thing they really have in common is being science-based zombie stories. I did really enjoy getting the POV of a zombie, and Melanie was a very likable protagonist.
3) I thought it was a little weird. At first I thought their mothers were turned while pregnant but I don't think that makes sense with the timeline. I think they said the infection started 20 years ago, which means Melanie & co should have been around that age. It would also mean there should be no variance in the ages of the hungry children, but we saw with the wild children that there were ones as young as 5. She was implying that the hungries who kept a little more of themselves, like the one with the baby carriage and the one who was looking at his pictures in the hospital, might have kept having sex out of habit? Which seems really strange to me. I guess that also means that the hungries are technically alive since they can reproduce, rather than dead bodies animated by a fungus, despite what everyone seemed to think in the novel.
4) My jaw dropped open when I read the ending. Seriously. I was not expecting that at all. So basically Melanie has decided since there's no way to stop the infection, instead she's hurrying the infection of the rest of the world, so that her generation of hungries can become the new humanity. We see from the wild hungry children that, left to their own devices, the children are more like animals than people. Melanie will have her work cut out for her if she wants to 'civilize' the rest of the second generation hungries.
5) For all we know, she might run out of food pretty quickly, since... well, isn't everything outside of the mobile lab now going to be contaminated, including any wild animals and water supplies? For water, they could probably rig up a filter, and I guess plants and anything without a central nervous system would probably be immune to the fungus, but would it be safe for her to eat? Would cooked meat be safe? Even if she doesn't run out of food, the knowledge of being the last living 'old' human, what will that do to her? We know Melanie will protect her, and the hungries can't smell her as long as she keeps the suit on, but I still suspect she might start losing her sanity if she lives long enough.
6) One thing I loved was the theme of Greek mythology, particularly the myth of Pandora. At first, it's just something that Melanie likes: she sees a little bit of herself in the myth of Pandora. And then at the end of the story, she does the equivalent of opening Pandora's box, releasing all the evils onto the world, plus one small light - hope. Hope that she and her fellow hungry children can forge a new future for their world, that with the teaching of the one person who changed her world, they can become more.
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