Review: Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel

Book: Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel
Published by Del Rey; October 2011
470 pages
Format: Ebook
Genres: YA/Science Fiction/Steampunk/Zombies
I got this book via the library

Synopsis via Goodreads: The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the mores of an antique era. Sixteen-year-old Nora Dearly is far more interested in her country’s political unrest than in silly debutante balls. But the death of her beloved parents leaves Nora at the mercy of a social-climbing aunt who plans to marry off her niece for money. To Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses. Now she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting a fatal virus that raises the dead. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and thoroughly deceased. But like the rest of his special undead unit, Bram has been enabled by luck and modern science to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.

This book has been on my radar for awhile because of the Victorian elements but I was a bit hesitant about the zombies. Though after reading this post on Kristilyn's blog, I decided it was time I gave it a shot. While I liked the book, I didn't love it as much as I had expected; though I did like it enough that I am planning on reading the sequel.

I really liked the Victorian aspect and that there is such a thing as sentient zombies who are in control of their sickness and don't harbor cannibalistic tendencies and then there are other zombies that truly define zombie apocalypse. I thought that was absolutely brilliant.

The book was told from several different perspectives throughout the book which I liked for the most part. However, it was a bit confusing in the beginning until you started to really get a sense of who the characters were. It took me awhile to figure out that Victor and Mr. Dearly were the same person. My second qualm is that the perspectives weren't even.

I identified more with Pamela than with Nora (and I think Nora was meant to be the lead). I really liked that Pamela started out as a somewhat rigid Victorian girl who prided herself on following the rules and doing what was expected of her. Yet as the story starts to unfold, she starts going against societal rules to do what she thinks is the right thing, even if it is dangerous or her parents forbid it. I really loved her for that and liked that she started being a bit of a badass.

I liked the evolution of Nora and Bram's relationship, but Nora was just kind of blah to me. She was a bit too stubborn and whiny for my taste for too much of the book. She gets better near the end, but I preferred Pamela's storyline. Bram was the perfect Victorian gentleman, even though he was a good zombie. I really liked Bram and his backstory was fascinating. I love that he genuinely cares for people and wants the best for everyone and would rather die (again) than see good people (dead or alive) come into harm's way.

Though I did like a lot of the plot twists, the were some "surprises" that I was able to see coming. I felt like the story did drag some, but once it picked up again, it was impossible to put down.

Overall, if zombies are you're thing and you like Victorian or steampunk as well, this would be a great book to pick up. Though it wasn't exactly what I was expecting, I did like it quite a bit despite the flaws that I though it had. In the end, the flaws weren't that big of a deal and I am looking forward to the sequel because I genuinely came to care for these characters.