Jul 10, 2012

Barely Alive by Bonnie R. Paulson Review

Barely Alive by Bonnie R. Paulson
(Barley Alive, #1)
Release Date: March 26, 2012
Publisher: Createspace; 290 pages

Paul is trapped in the worst cult the United States has ever seen. Infected with a zombie virus, symptoms culminate in a dead body but thriving mind over a course of twelve weeks. If he doesn’t earn the final death he longs for, he’ll be chained in a basement facility, moaning for human flesh for eternity.

Sent out to kidnap girls for food, toys, or whatever the boss wants, Paul nabs Heather McCain. He’s not a fan of humans as a general rule, but even his graying skin and insatiable hunger for her flesh don’t stop her from reaching out to him. Give him the second chance he doesn’t know he needs.

Overcome by his cravings, Paul bites her delectable skin. Amazingly, she doesn’t develop the zombie-like side effects. When the boss discovers Heather’s immunity, he gives Paul an ultimatum – deliver up Heather and her family to continue the research or watch as Paul’s brother suffers the zombie fate.

Paul has a chance to endure his short zombie existence knowing his brother is safe. But he’ll have to sacrifice Heather to do it.


Barely Alive is not like any other zombie book that you will probably ever read nor is it like any other zombie book I have read. I got this book because I very much love zombie books and the description of this book intrigued me, it was definitely a different zombie story. I have to say I LOVE how these zombies were written, zombies with a brain and a heart and a conscious!? Weird but works SO WELL!!

Paul is a normal, teenage guy, except for the fact that in 12 weeks he will become a mindless, feeding zombie. Right now, he still has his humanity. I love this angle on zombies. You see the struggles that Paul is having with his own transformation but also the struggles he sees others like him go through and what their “creator” is putting them through. From the beginning you can tell that Paul does not like what has become of himself and that he wants to try to stop it and once Dominic makes him go kidnap girls for whatever reason Dominic has, that seems to be the final straw for Paul. It also doesn’t help that he has the hots for one of the girls, both his human self and his zombie self. After taking a bite of her, he realizes she is immune and she maybe the one to end this madness, that is if can figure out how without losing her.

I was completely enthralled with this book. I could not put it down. This was another book that I pretty much read on my phone's kindle because I needed to constantly know what would happen next. This is the first book I have read by this author and I simply love her writing style. This maybe be the first but definitely not the last book I will read by Bonnie. The ending of this book was perfect! Best type of cliffhanger. It makes me very excited for the next book in this series!! Amazing job!


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