Although the coming Zombie Apocalypse is possibly inevitable, I admit that up until last week, I had not taken any steps to prepare myself. I neglected to read the zombie apocalypse handbook, I do not watch Man vs. Wild, and I am not familiar with zombie weaknesses.
Thankfully, I am now better prepared.
Zombicorns by John Green is a zombie apocalypse novella that was written for charity. It was released online a few months ago, and I only just discovered it this week. Thank God I did. I now feel protected and amused.
Zombicorns as a disclaimer, has nothing to do with unicorns. Rather, it is about zombies that become "z'ed up" after consuming diseased corn. They then spend the rest of their existence attempting to grow more corn to infect the rest of the population and force uninfected humans to eat the corn.
The main character in the novel (Mia) has somehow avoided getting z'ed up, although her parents and sister were infected. She actually had to shoot both her father and her mother in order to survive, but she still watches over her little zombified sister. She brings her food, and tosses to her as she works in the cornfield. She is unable to accept that her sister's soul is gone.
Eventually, Mia meets Caroline, another girl who has survived. Together, they spend a lot of time slaying zombies (Caroline's really good at it) and going around Chicago. They decide together that they will try to flee to Canada, where it is too cold to grow corn and thus too cold for zombies. But Mia is hesitant. She doesn't want to leave her sister. So Caroline shoots her sister. So Mia shoots Caroline. And the book ends.
I finished this book last Friday, and it was really absolutely perfect timing. My aunt, who works as a librarian at the Library of Congress, is a big fan of zombie apocalypse novels and zombies survival skills. I was actually able to have a legitimate conversation with her about how to survive if zombies attacked, and what to do to avoid being infected. I taught her about different anti-zombie weapons and zombie slaying techniques and she explained to me how to build a water-powered generator. We also discussed supplies. I said that convenience stores are the best play to find stuff because supermarkets will be scavenged too quickly. She suggested finding the warehouses where different suppliers are located. Apparently, she already knew knew some. We also discussed how all zombie apocalypse novels are metaphors for the society that we live in, the havoc that will occur when fossil fuels run out, nuclear war, or famine and disease.
It was a bit of an epic conversation.
Even though John insisted that it was poorly written, I thought it still had some really great lines like "I came to the conclusion a while ago that there is nothing romantic or supernatural about loving someone: Love is the privilege of being responsible for another. " So good. It totally exemplifies why Mia continued to care for her sister when she was a zombie. It also says a lot about the way we love. I know that when I love someone, I want to protect them and care for them. I end up being responsible for them, especially if they need me. And maybe, that bond is stronger than plain old love. You can't shirk your duty.
I really liked this book because it was laugh-out-loud funny, surprisingly deep, and different from what John usually writes. I was happy to get a new fix.
The only thing that I didn't like about this book was that I didn't realize that Mia was a girl until halfway through. She wasn't called by name until she met Caroline, and she really acted more like a boy than a girl. I think this says a bit about John Green's writing ability. He's at his best when he essentially writes about himself, awkward, former-John teenage boy character. Mia was the same type of character. She was just a girl, and it felt a bit random. I like John's boys.
Also, new font. You like?
Total Books: 9
NonFic: 0, but I'm reading one now.
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