Mediocre writing, and doesn't really stand out in a sea of dystopian zombie books

Received in exchange for a fair and honest review ( )

Points definitely go to The Undying for originality. From the moment I saw the line "They Came From The Stars", I was sold. Anything that is a zombie apocalypse novel, but also decidedly not, stirs this little part of me that thrives off of the unknown. As apocalyptic happenings go, it's a fairly terrifying prospect. Being hunted down by the very people who were once running for their lives, just like you were. Yup, it gets me. I hoped Ethan Reid would take me on one hell of an adventure.

I wavered on my rating of this for a bit. See, I think the biggest flaw in this story is that the prologue starts the book off at the end. Rather than being thrown straight into the madness that is Paris in flames, we know Jeanie is alive because she's sharing with us her flashbacks of what happened. That, right away, threw me off a bit. Knowing that your main character will absolutely live and that she managed to do the one thing you didn't think she could? Well, it takes away from the rest of the story.

Which is a shame, because honestly The Undying is very well written. I absolutely loved the fact that Ethan Reid didn't try to push this story to a global scale. That he, rather expertly in my opinion, kept the action right in the heart of things. When something big happens, people speculate like mad about what is going on in other parts of the world. That's what Jeanie and her group did. They speculated. I was never sure what was truth, who was sane, or what would happen next. That, I liked. I was also rather impressed at how well paced the story was. I never loved the characters, persay, but I did feel connected to them in a way. I knew bad things were coming, but I couldn't look away.

Jeanie's obsession with protecting the baby kind drove me crazy, to no end. It's just my opinion, and I completely understand that it was being used to "keep hope alive". I felt like it kept Jeanie's character from growing at all though. She never let go of her guilt, and that's one of the reasons she and I never meshed. The thing that clinched my three-star rating of this though, was that Reid shows the truth of human nature. I won't spoil, but trust me when I say that you'll feel frustrated and yet be nodding along. I kept reminding myself that I have no idea how I'd fare in an apocalypse. Happily there's a sequel to this! I'm thinking it's going to be even better. ( )

I'm struggling as to where I should begin. I did not enjoy this book. I really did not. It did not live up to the expectations I had and it in no way is comparable to The Passage. So what made it fail?

For one thing, the characters. They were so stereotypical. You need your whiner/pessimist, your comedic relief character, and the determined, courageous, selfless lead. The author didn't really do anything to make them unique as they acted just like these descriptions I gave you. I sort-of liked Jeanie because she had guts and was a go-getter, but I had no emotional connection to her. The way the characters spoke and interacted was stilted and emotionless, making it really hard to visualize. The whole baby idea sounded interesting in the premise but it was poorly executed; Jeanie is just handed this baby and within 2 seconds, she is all gaga about this child and having flashbacks and talking about how therapeutic holding a baby is. Seriously? There is a disaster going on, so you need to hustle and maybe you should be having some doubts about taking on this baby instead of just smiling and cooing at it. While that bothered me, what annoyed me even more was that as the story progressed, the baby became more of an object than an important part of the story. I mean, this story could have still worked without this infant thrown into it.

I did not like the writing style employed here. The prologue that was in the beginning was confusing, and turned out to be linked to the ending of the book. When I was reading the novel, I was unaware of this, so the prologue just made me confused, not intrigued. I also hated that the story kept flitting back between French and English; while I understand French (thank you to my french teachers all through high school!), it was frustrating to switch back and forth in the book and also to have Jeanie feel confused about what was being said as she translated things in her head. There were also too many pointless flashbacks. Literally every paragraph was followed by some mini-flashback to a tragic event in Jeanie's life. I get it, it is a sad thing, boohoo, now let's move on to the action! There are zombies and mutinies going on outside, and I really don't want to be spending my time reading about how sad Jeanie is that her father passed away. There were also short chapters that were flashbacks thrown right in at random points that did nothing to add to the plot and were a complete waste of time to read.

I really don't want to continue to bash this book. I know that the author must have put a lot of effort into writing this story, and I do acknowledge that. Suffice to say, it did not work for me on many different levels. It is part of a series, however based on my experience with this novel, I have no plans on continuing to read on.

I received this novel as an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I devoured (wink wink) this book in one epic sitting. It was awesome! I knew it was going to be good when they said fans of Walking Dead and The Passage were going to like it. Jeanie heads to Paris to try and get out of her depression after her father passes away and she takes her best friend Ben with her for what should be the trip of a lifetime. They meet up with Zou Zou and other friends for a New Years Eve party when the lights go out and the end of the world starts. At first Jeanie thinks she may be the only ones that can see the pale, hungry human like creatures and her friends begin to question her sanity as they try to make their way out of Paris on foot. Plus to start this nightmare journey she ends up taking in a newborn baby whom she feels must be saved. Loyalties are definitely tested and I think I held my breath through much of the story. It was very VERY good. I am definitely going to be reading the next book in the series. Read it. Seriously. ( )

I thought I was never going to finish this book. It just went on and on like the Energizer bunny. I am not an apocalyptic book reader. So don't judge my review by that. I thought the vampiric-dead-but-alive-to-torture-maime-kill monsters were absolutely horrific. First there was one, then more and more and more. The worse thing Jeanie could have done was first, take possession of that newborn baby and secondly, have the slightest care about Ben, the traitor. I would be totally concerned with my cat!!!

Other than those pathetic things, this book scared the living crap out of me! You never knew when those hideous monsters were going to show up nor what they were going to do! That was the worse part for me. The reason I wanted the book was because I saw the Eiffel Tower on the cover. ANY BOOK INVOLVING PARIS is a book for me! Ethan Reid did an extraordinary job describing all of Paris in such a unique way that I will never ever forget!! You are THE MAN! And yes, I am going to buy the next installment, as long as it is not involving Rennie. I would like it to be from the perspective of Jeanie's mom in Seattle! I have never been more scared in my life!

Thank you to Ethan Reid, Simon and Schuster, and NetGalley for giving me a free e-ARC of this book to read and give my honest review. ( )