Stephanie S. (skywriter319) -
Oooh. DEARLY, DEPARTED was fun, fun, fun. If one overlooks some inconsistencies in worldbuilding, supporting character development, and plot, then Lia Habels paranormal/steampunk debut is a charming read thats sweet and funny.
Im at the point now with my YA reading where any mention of a romance in the synopsis puts me on guard. Because, come on now, how many more insta-romances, too-good-to-be-true boys, or dickwad love interests do we really need? This, however, is why Nora and Bram stood out to me so much. The multi-POV narration (admittedly unnecessary at times) really added to this couples attractiveness, both to one another and to us readers. Bram is a total sweetheart who is nevertheless also a guy, not some ideal creation of a love interest.
The premise is moderately well-developed and the pacing uneven at pointsquite action-packed in the beginning, followed by uneven spurts of information and a climax that felt the tiniest bit rushed. But its the characters that make DEARLY, DEPARTED stand out from the pack of paranormals or steampunks being released. These characters are a RIOT! They deliver the most wonderful zingers in their dialogue that made me literally guffaw. DEARLY, DEPARTED may be set in a futuristic/anachronistic world that may require a bit of suspension of disbelief, but these characters could be kids in any high school today. Lia Habel fills her characters with heart instead of ideals, with the result that readers will have a good time hanging out with Nora, Bram, & Co.
If youre looking for a funny and romantic speculative fiction read this fall, consider checking out Lia Habels debut novel, DEARLY, DEPARTED and be prepared to be thoroughly entertained!
Im at the point now with my YA reading where any mention of a romance in the synopsis puts me on guard. Because, come on now, how many more insta-romances, too-good-to-be-true boys, or dickwad love interests do we really need? This, however, is why Nora and Bram stood out to me so much. The multi-POV narration (admittedly unnecessary at times) really added to this couples attractiveness, both to one another and to us readers. Bram is a total sweetheart who is nevertheless also a guy, not some ideal creation of a love interest.
The premise is moderately well-developed and the pacing uneven at pointsquite action-packed in the beginning, followed by uneven spurts of information and a climax that felt the tiniest bit rushed. But its the characters that make DEARLY, DEPARTED stand out from the pack of paranormals or steampunks being released. These characters are a RIOT! They deliver the most wonderful zingers in their dialogue that made me literally guffaw. DEARLY, DEPARTED may be set in a futuristic/anachronistic world that may require a bit of suspension of disbelief, but these characters could be kids in any high school today. Lia Habel fills her characters with heart instead of ideals, with the result that readers will have a good time hanging out with Nora, Bram, & Co.
If youre looking for a funny and romantic speculative fiction read this fall, consider checking out Lia Habels debut novel, DEARLY, DEPARTED and be prepared to be thoroughly entertained!
Jennifer M. (Kaydence) reviewed Dearly, Departed (Gone with the Respiration, Bk 1) on + 380 more book reviews
Summary: The world has ended and been rebuilt fashioned after Victorian England. This new Victorian world includes the same manners and sense of class that the old one did. The wealthy have above ground houses, but the majority of the populous lives underground, the more wealthy or important, the closer to the outside. Not everyone agrees with the New Victorian lifestyle, so a group called the "punks" is battling for land and rights. These "punks" are along the outskirts of New Victoria and live within fields and mines. The novel is told from multiple points of view. Nora is a teenage girl that is slightly wealthy. She goes to a boarding school and is being raised by her aunt after her father had passed away. Her best friend, Pam, is a poorer student that also attends the boarding school and represents another point of view in the story. Then Bram, a good zombie that wants to save the world, and the girl, represents another point of view. And finally, Wolf, a deranged power-hungry military captain, and Nora's father, you guessed it, another zombie, round out the other point of views within the story. Each person tells their part of the story as it moves forward. So, the story is extremely complex. Here is the basic storyline:
Nora is kidnapped by good zombies because she is immune to the zombie virus. She builds up a friendship/relationship with Bram, who is one of the zombies that rescues her. Meanwhile, the zombie virus has broken out in New Victoria. Pam kills a zombie, is arrested, gets out, and then figures out what is going on with the dead coming back to life. Nora's father was also kidnapped by a crazy man that wants him to make the vaccine for him. When Nora and Bram find out that her father is kidnapped and that New Victoria is being overrun with zombies, they make plans to save everyone. Of course, there are other details, but that basically sums things up.
My thoughts:
I really love Bram! He is the saving grace of this novel. Oh my god, his character is just the most adorable thing in the world. I could give or take everyone else, but rave about Bram for years to come. He almost replaces Valek from Poison Study in my heart, which is saying a ton, because Valek stole my heart years ago and no one has even come close until now. Dearly, Departed as a novel is long and hard to keep track of. I almost wish that I could have skipped some of the side stories so that I could have focused more on the relationship between Bram and Nora. There were several times in the story that I had to go back to figure out which character was leading the dialogue. Sometimes there is such a slight change in perspective because the same action is going on, so you have to really pay attention to the pronouns. This is a flaw because it pulls you out of the story; however, as I have mentioned several times, Bram is well worth some confusion. I look forward to book number 2.
Nora is kidnapped by good zombies because she is immune to the zombie virus. She builds up a friendship/relationship with Bram, who is one of the zombies that rescues her. Meanwhile, the zombie virus has broken out in New Victoria. Pam kills a zombie, is arrested, gets out, and then figures out what is going on with the dead coming back to life. Nora's father was also kidnapped by a crazy man that wants him to make the vaccine for him. When Nora and Bram find out that her father is kidnapped and that New Victoria is being overrun with zombies, they make plans to save everyone. Of course, there are other details, but that basically sums things up.
My thoughts:
I really love Bram! He is the saving grace of this novel. Oh my god, his character is just the most adorable thing in the world. I could give or take everyone else, but rave about Bram for years to come. He almost replaces Valek from Poison Study in my heart, which is saying a ton, because Valek stole my heart years ago and no one has even come close until now. Dearly, Departed as a novel is long and hard to keep track of. I almost wish that I could have skipped some of the side stories so that I could have focused more on the relationship between Bram and Nora. There were several times in the story that I had to go back to figure out which character was leading the dialogue. Sometimes there is such a slight change in perspective because the same action is going on, so you have to really pay attention to the pronouns. This is a flaw because it pulls you out of the story; however, as I have mentioned several times, Bram is well worth some confusion. I look forward to book number 2.
Welcome to the New Victorian era nearly two hundred years in the future. After the world descended into utter chaos following several disasters, humans migrated south to establish a new colony. They chose the Victorian era because they considered it a model of civility order and prosperity. These views are not shared by everyone and formed radical fighting groups called Punks who reject this new aristocracy. Although fighting has been going on for quite some time between the Victorians and Punks it now seems to be shifting and the fighting seems almost animalistic.
Nora Dearly, daughter of the late famous Victor Dearly, is an interesting character. From the start we sense she is just waiting to burst out of this mold of a proper woman whereas her best friend, Pamela Roe, is always trying to attain it. After returning home from school, Nora is set upon by what she thinks at the time as Punks. Bram Griswold swoops in and saves the day. Nora awakes in a secret location and is informed of what is truly going on. There are good zombies and bad zombies. These so called good zombies like Bram and surprisingly her father, are battling the bad zombies for the government who want this all to be hidden from its citizens. Nora starts to digest all this information and slowly comes to terms with it. She also discovers that her father created the serum that lengthens the life of a zombie and helps them retain their humanity for some time. Victor is also working on a vaccine to the zombie virus and apparently has been kidnapped because of it.
Bram is noticeably in love with Nora and will do anything to protect her. He defies all commands and knows that she will appreciate the truth given to her straight. Even though he is attracted to her, he knows to proceed slowly because what human woman would find a rotting zombie desirable. I agree with that completely but Bram had me falling in love with him. His strength and his struggle with his human side and his zombie side will have you cheering for him to overcome all the obstacles and get the girl.
The adventure these two embark on is exciting! The battles, the secrets and the revelations that they discover will keep you flipping the pages. Do not start this book unless you have time to finish, you will not want to put it down. The humor injected just enhances the ambiance of this story. Dearly, Departed is told from many viewpoints and Habel effortlessly does this with chapter headings of the person whose viewpoint we are reading.
I absolutely LOVED this book. The mixture of zombies, steampunk and romance made for an exhilarating read! I am not huge on the zombie genre just because there arent too many new ideas introduced into the storyline. Dearly, Departed is NOT one of those. You will fall in love with each and every one of these characters and will cheer on Nora and her pursuit to love Bram. Highly recommend for YA, steampunk, dystopian and zombie lovers everywhere.
Nora Dearly, daughter of the late famous Victor Dearly, is an interesting character. From the start we sense she is just waiting to burst out of this mold of a proper woman whereas her best friend, Pamela Roe, is always trying to attain it. After returning home from school, Nora is set upon by what she thinks at the time as Punks. Bram Griswold swoops in and saves the day. Nora awakes in a secret location and is informed of what is truly going on. There are good zombies and bad zombies. These so called good zombies like Bram and surprisingly her father, are battling the bad zombies for the government who want this all to be hidden from its citizens. Nora starts to digest all this information and slowly comes to terms with it. She also discovers that her father created the serum that lengthens the life of a zombie and helps them retain their humanity for some time. Victor is also working on a vaccine to the zombie virus and apparently has been kidnapped because of it.
Bram is noticeably in love with Nora and will do anything to protect her. He defies all commands and knows that she will appreciate the truth given to her straight. Even though he is attracted to her, he knows to proceed slowly because what human woman would find a rotting zombie desirable. I agree with that completely but Bram had me falling in love with him. His strength and his struggle with his human side and his zombie side will have you cheering for him to overcome all the obstacles and get the girl.
The adventure these two embark on is exciting! The battles, the secrets and the revelations that they discover will keep you flipping the pages. Do not start this book unless you have time to finish, you will not want to put it down. The humor injected just enhances the ambiance of this story. Dearly, Departed is told from many viewpoints and Habel effortlessly does this with chapter headings of the person whose viewpoint we are reading.
I absolutely LOVED this book. The mixture of zombies, steampunk and romance made for an exhilarating read! I am not huge on the zombie genre just because there arent too many new ideas introduced into the storyline. Dearly, Departed is NOT one of those. You will fall in love with each and every one of these characters and will cheer on Nora and her pursuit to love Bram. Highly recommend for YA, steampunk, dystopian and zombie lovers everywhere.
Karissa E. (ophelia99) reviewed Dearly, Departed (Gone with the Respiration, Bk 1) on + 2527 more book reviews
I got an advanced reading copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program. This is the first book in a trilogy. The second book (Dearly, Beloved) should be released some time in 2012. This was an incredibly creative book, for the most part I enjoyed it a lot.
It is the year 2195 and Nora lives in New Victoria, a place that is a strange mix of the Victorian era and science fiction. Nora lives with her somewhat evil Aunt and her brother, her parents have both perished. Unexpectedly Nora finds herself gunning down mysterious killer zombies and kidnapped by some men in black. The men who kidnap Nora just happen to be affected by the Laz, basically they are dead. Among her kidnappers is the brave, handsome, and dead Bram. Bram tries to help Nora adjust to her surroundings but finds himself strangely drawn to her...and not in a "I am going to eat you for dinner" kind of way. Bram and Nora find themselves pulled into a plot that is part of a large government cover-up. When the news about the Laz gets out into the general public there is hell to pay and zombies are roaming the streets. Bram knows his time is limited, the dead can only "live" for so long, can him, his crew, and Nora save New Victoria before the whole population is zombified?
This is one of the most creative books I have read for a while. You have a science fiction world where Victorian principle reign supreme. There are different types of Zombies using steampunk technology; and a government cover-up to rival Watergate. There are shot-guns, there are parasols, there are airships, and there is bioengineering. Pretty much everything one could ask for. Lots of action, some romance, and politics.
This book has some complicated politics going on and to be honest it was a tad confusing in the beginning. You have the New Victorians and the Punks (two living competing factions), then you have the good zombies and the bad zombies (Bram's group and the Greys). The different groups of people believe different things to be true and there are some traitors thrown into the various groups just to mix things up. I enjoyed the complexity of it all, but did have a bit of trouble following for the first part of the story.
Nora is an excellent character, as was Bram. Both are noble, caring, tough, and very likable. There were a number of awesome side characters as well. While the majority of the story switches between Nora and Bram's points of view, a large portion of the story is also told from Pamela's point of view (this is Nora's best friend). Some is told from Wolfe's point of view (Bram's commander) and some is told from Victor's point of view (Nora's father).
The changing point of views is an area where I had some problems with the story. All of the point of view switching was a bit much, it broke up the story and drew things out. I liked hearing from Pamela and Nora/Bram. I think we should have just heard things either from Bram or Nora's point of view, not switched between both. Pamela had a very distinct voice. Bram and Nora sounded a lot alike, in fact I kept having to page back and check the beginning of the chapter to see whose point of view I was reading from...they just sounded identical and I wish they would have had more independent voices or styles.
The point of view switching and the fact that Nora and Bram sound identical to each other made the story feel a bit sloppy. So, while I liked the book overall, I wish it had been cleaned up a bit more (especially for the first half of the book). The pace of the book was great, especially in the second half of the book. There is a lot going on and it is an absolutely wonderful read. Things wrap up nicely but are also set up for the next book Dearly, Beloved.
Overall this was an absolutely amazingly creative book. I loved the complexity of the politics, the inclusion of crazy and wonderful things, and the likable characters. There were some flaws to the story too; the beginning of the book is a bit sloppy and hard to follow, the constant switching of viewpoints broke up the story, and Nora and Bram sounded so much alike that I had to constantly go back and check to see whose POV I was reading from. Honestly although I enjoyed the world and characters I had a bit of trouble with the first half of the book, the second half was awesome though. If I could grade parts of the book I would give the first half 3 stars and the second half 5 stars. A great read for those who love steampunk/zombie novels with some Victorian romance; just be prepared to slog through some terminology and politics in the beginning. I would also recommend Cherie Priest's Clockwork Century series for those who love steampunk/zombie combos (although that series doesn't really have any romance in it).
It is the year 2195 and Nora lives in New Victoria, a place that is a strange mix of the Victorian era and science fiction. Nora lives with her somewhat evil Aunt and her brother, her parents have both perished. Unexpectedly Nora finds herself gunning down mysterious killer zombies and kidnapped by some men in black. The men who kidnap Nora just happen to be affected by the Laz, basically they are dead. Among her kidnappers is the brave, handsome, and dead Bram. Bram tries to help Nora adjust to her surroundings but finds himself strangely drawn to her...and not in a "I am going to eat you for dinner" kind of way. Bram and Nora find themselves pulled into a plot that is part of a large government cover-up. When the news about the Laz gets out into the general public there is hell to pay and zombies are roaming the streets. Bram knows his time is limited, the dead can only "live" for so long, can him, his crew, and Nora save New Victoria before the whole population is zombified?
This is one of the most creative books I have read for a while. You have a science fiction world where Victorian principle reign supreme. There are different types of Zombies using steampunk technology; and a government cover-up to rival Watergate. There are shot-guns, there are parasols, there are airships, and there is bioengineering. Pretty much everything one could ask for. Lots of action, some romance, and politics.
This book has some complicated politics going on and to be honest it was a tad confusing in the beginning. You have the New Victorians and the Punks (two living competing factions), then you have the good zombies and the bad zombies (Bram's group and the Greys). The different groups of people believe different things to be true and there are some traitors thrown into the various groups just to mix things up. I enjoyed the complexity of it all, but did have a bit of trouble following for the first part of the story.
Nora is an excellent character, as was Bram. Both are noble, caring, tough, and very likable. There were a number of awesome side characters as well. While the majority of the story switches between Nora and Bram's points of view, a large portion of the story is also told from Pamela's point of view (this is Nora's best friend). Some is told from Wolfe's point of view (Bram's commander) and some is told from Victor's point of view (Nora's father).
The changing point of views is an area where I had some problems with the story. All of the point of view switching was a bit much, it broke up the story and drew things out. I liked hearing from Pamela and Nora/Bram. I think we should have just heard things either from Bram or Nora's point of view, not switched between both. Pamela had a very distinct voice. Bram and Nora sounded a lot alike, in fact I kept having to page back and check the beginning of the chapter to see whose point of view I was reading from...they just sounded identical and I wish they would have had more independent voices or styles.
The point of view switching and the fact that Nora and Bram sound identical to each other made the story feel a bit sloppy. So, while I liked the book overall, I wish it had been cleaned up a bit more (especially for the first half of the book). The pace of the book was great, especially in the second half of the book. There is a lot going on and it is an absolutely wonderful read. Things wrap up nicely but are also set up for the next book Dearly, Beloved.
Overall this was an absolutely amazingly creative book. I loved the complexity of the politics, the inclusion of crazy and wonderful things, and the likable characters. There were some flaws to the story too; the beginning of the book is a bit sloppy and hard to follow, the constant switching of viewpoints broke up the story, and Nora and Bram sounded so much alike that I had to constantly go back and check to see whose POV I was reading from. Honestly although I enjoyed the world and characters I had a bit of trouble with the first half of the book, the second half was awesome though. If I could grade parts of the book I would give the first half 3 stars and the second half 5 stars. A great read for those who love steampunk/zombie novels with some Victorian romance; just be prepared to slog through some terminology and politics in the beginning. I would also recommend Cherie Priest's Clockwork Century series for those who love steampunk/zombie combos (although that series doesn't really have any romance in it).
Kimberly N. (kimberlyrav) -
I was totally entrenched and so invested in the story in the beginning, but then the middle and end came and I hardly have known what I have read. I did not like the way the story turned.
I enjoyed the creation and imagination of the author in this strange apocalyptic new world in the future. A bit of a stretch though, a NEW Victorian era with modern gadgetry like holograms and such.
I became so bored mid way with the story though and so disappointed..It felt like it was going no where, then when it did and a war broke out officially, I couldn't get into it...I also became confused with so many POV, I had forgotten each time who was speaking many times..I will pass on book 2.
I enjoyed the creation and imagination of the author in this strange apocalyptic new world in the future. A bit of a stretch though, a NEW Victorian era with modern gadgetry like holograms and such.
I became so bored mid way with the story though and so disappointed..It felt like it was going no where, then when it did and a war broke out officially, I couldn't get into it...I also became confused with so many POV, I had forgotten each time who was speaking many times..I will pass on book 2.
