Dearly, Departed (Gone with the Respiration #1) by Lia Habel

Oct 24, 2011 Kat Kennedy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kat-s-book-reviews

*This ARC was provided to me by the publishers via NetGalley. No money or favours were exchanged for this review.*

Somewhere along the way, zombies became hot.

Zombie on fire

No, not that kind of hot

Zombie model posing

This kind of hot!

Lia Habel has taken my two favourite genres, steampunk and zombies, and mixed them together. The results of which should have been a hundred times more fantabulous than anything humanity could ever have hoped to produce up until this point.

Neil Patrick Harris riding a unicorn

With the sole exception of Neil Patrick Harris. Oh! And Terry...more

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Oct 24, 2011 Wendy Darling rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: steampunk, pn-zombies, sci-fi-or-futuristic, young-adult, read-2011, hilarious, too-many-povs, 2011-publication, victorian

Dearly Departed is one of the most enjoyable steampunk novels I've ever read, as the author skillfully puts Victorian customs down in a futuristic setting and then throws the crazy addition of zombies into the mix! It is, unfortunately, also a very frustrating novel in many ways, mainly because it has major flaws that stand in the way of a really terrific story.

In the year 2195, Nora Dearly is just coming out of a period of mourning for her father, who was a noted scientist, when her home is att...more

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Oct 20, 2011 Maja rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-can-t-wait-to-read-in-2011, cover-lust, netgalley, role-models, ya, zombies-zombies-everywhere, reviewed-in-2011, made-me-cry

2.5 stars
With one hundred pages and three POVs less, plus some small changes in worlbuilding, Dearly, Departed could have been an excellent novel. As it is, parts of it are amazing, while other parts left me extremely frustrated, disappointed and angry.

If only Lia Habel decided against introducing five (view spoiler) different POVs, one precious star in my rating would have been saved. At least two of those five contributed nothing but annoyance to the narrati...more

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Oct 20, 2011 Michelle, the Bookshelf Stalker rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A steampunk novel that lost its steam

What a frustrating book! I so wanted to love it. It had so many good elements to it. However, somehow, the book lost its way and could not find its way back again!

The GOOD

Bram Griswold

Zombie, soldier, and overall nice guy. He was the source of many of my favorite lines in the book. He was charming, respectful, and he was the guy that all parents dreamed that their loving daughter would find… minus the fact that he was a zombie.

Nora Dearly

An unconventional...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Sarah rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: zz-2012, uber-disappointing, reviewed, sheep-tsunami, mary-sue-puke-bucket, zz-swapped-ya

Oh, brother. Here we go.

I daresay I dug my own grave so far as getting my hopes up. It's a reviewing cliche to use phrases like "I really wanted to like this" or "it had so much potential"...but honestly, I can't think of anything else. I really wanted to like this. It had so much potential.

The details of futuristic Victoriana culture were cool & I'd have enjoyed more of them. That said, the 21st-c Victorian setting is repeatedly displaced by long stretches at an army base that felt like so...more

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May 06, 2013 Lauren (Sugar & Snark) rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, disappointing, challenge

I get it. Zombies are the next progression in sexy YA creatures. I can get past your boyfriend being pale and a little cold or being seriously hairy but decomposition?!
Your boyfriends nose falling off while you are making out is not something you can get over!!

Dearly,Departed is set in a post apocalyptic world where north america, Asian and it sounds like Europe (but I'm not sure) have all been destroyed. To survive the North Americans formed tribes and migrated to the equatorial regions of So...more

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Oct 13, 2011 Giselle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, ebook, steampunk, zombies

Dashing zombies anybody? Dearly, Departed has quite the original zombie lore. I really enjoyed it and thought it was brilliantly done. Stephenie Meyer took vampires and made them sparkly. But Lia Habel, she took zombies(!), and made them charming! There's just no beating that!

This story takes place in a future after a volcano almost ends humanity. The new age is called New Victoria - yup, it's Victorian age with holographs and cell phones. It's pretty neat and very well thought out. Obviously th...more Dashing zombies anybody? Dearly, Departed has quite the original zombie lore. I really enjoyed it and thought it was brilliantly done. Stephenie Meyer took vampires and made them sparkly. But Lia Habel, she took zombies(!), and made them charming! There's just no beating that!

This story takes place in a future after a volcano almost ends humanity. The new age is called New Victoria - yup, it's Victorian age with holographs and cell phones. It's pretty neat and very well thought out. Obviously there are zombies included - some bad and some... not so bad. I thoroughly enjoyed the lore that Lia created.

When I first saw Dearly, Departed, it's the cover that drew me in. It has to be my favorite cover of 2011. Then, when I read the synopsis, even though it sounded pretty neat, I was a bit wary of the "finding true love in a zombie" part. I love zombies. I've watched every zombie movie and enjoyed quite a few zombie books. But zombies are scary! They're gross; cannibals; mutilated - Ick. I was doubtful that anyone could convince me that zombies could ever be boyfriend material *puke*. So, obviously, Lia is a genius, and she did it: She somehow made her zombies cute!

The world building was fantastic. The first half of the book was used to explain this new world and how the zombies came about. If there are any holes in it, I didn't see any. It was complete and very well explained, as well as extremely creative. There were a few clichés. Private school, rich mean girl, best friend with a crush on the guy who wants Nora, but it was mostly all in the beginning and used to illustrate how it's not extremely different from the present - just a bit old fashioned. Women with dresses; travel in carriages, etc. But girls are still girls! Once the zombies arrive, though, the clichés go out the window. So all in all, I found it truly original.

The book is divided into several point of views. We have the two protagonists, Nora and Bram, but we also see a few side characters' POV - even the villain's, which is very interesting. I found all of the characters really enjoyable with distinct voices and fun personalities. It was great to be able to see Nora with the "good" zombies and then her friend Pam who was unaware of any zombies, good or evil, nor where her friend had disappeared to. We got to see both sides of the coin.

Any zombie lover should definitely pick this one up. At the very least, you'll have a gorgeous cover on your bookshelf! (less)

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Dec 07, 2011 Reynje rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: e-book-kindle, read-2011, welcome-to-the-apocalypse, young-adult, dual-or-multiple-pov

Edit: So, I was bored a while ago and recorded an audio version of this review (with Special Guest Appearance by the birds on my balcony). (view spoiler).

At the risk of sounding flip about it, I have to commence this review by saying that I felt Lia Habel’s zombie/horror/post-apocalyptic/steampunk/neo-Victorian novel was rather in need of a corset.

To be fair, what appears to be...more

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Apr 24, 2012 Jeann rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, zombies

Rating: 4.5

A combination of steampunk, the Victorian era, and zombies, Dearly Departed is possibly one of the most unique depictions of the zombie apocalypse I've ever found. Being a huge zombie fan, I lapped up everything the book had to offer and really enjoyed the unique world building and delightful characters.

The author convincingly explains how the world came about; it's set in the future but for some reason a band of people called New Victorians have decided to uphold the traditional val...more

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Jan 19, 2012 Nimue rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, netgalley, paranormal, romance, young-adult, zombie, dystopian

First of all, I normally don't read anything even remotely scary! I get scarred easily and have nightmare for ages. And always when I think I'm finally old enough to have outgrown this problem and watch/read something like horror/zombie/ghosts I fail miserably. But this book intrigued me quite a bit. So, I braved myself and ... wasn't disappointed at all. I love this book!

This book is classified as steampunk, but could also easily be a Victorian dystopian novel. I loved how Lia Habel creates a...more First of all, I normally don't read anything even remotely scary! I get scarred easily and have nightmare for ages. And always when I think I'm finally old enough to have outgrown this problem and watch/read something like horror/zombie/ghosts I fail miserably. But this book intrigued me quite a bit. So, I braved myself and ... wasn't disappointed at all. I love this book!

This book is classified as steampunk, but could also easily be a Victorian dystopian novel. I loved how Lia Habel creates a world where this ancient society rules a re-woken and are mixed with very modern/futuristic technology. Quite fascinating. I had no problems at all to get into this book. It was enthralling from the first page and so many things happened that I didn't want to put this book down for even a minute.

The main characters especially excited me. Nora is a young but willful (stubborn) high society girl, which has not interest at all for the high society. Her nickname, Nono made me laugh. I so liked her bravery, forwardness and loyalty, which she shows trying to rescue her best friend later in the book. She is amazingly open-minded. After she got kidnapped and learned some bitter truth about the whole situation, she had a small meltdown and then she put it together. She asked for weapons and went on with life. I loved this attitude, especially under these circumstances. Or how would you behave in a zombie camp? In general I liked the whole zombie business. They were drawn very differentiated and liked that there was a scientific background. And I absolutely adore Bram. He is the perfect nobleman, keeping his honor even in difficult conditions. I loved how he took care of Nora and became her friend. And I really liked his zombie friends. They were funny and occasionally a bit creepy. I liked that each of them got a background and that they weren't just wallpaper. And of course I was very fond of the romance between Bram and Nora. It's a very dramatic star-crossed lovers romance, which for once didn't annoy me at all. Both of them were acting so noble and thoughtful, they were obvious to the difficulties but decided to brave them together. There was no cliché, just sweet and a bit sad love.

The plot is full of suspense, romance, and plenty of action. The dialogues are very amusing. And for me the end wasn't predictable at all. I liked the character development as well. They were not static at all. People grew with the challenges and some failed. Just like in real life. This book is the start of a series but the end offers enough closure to let me sleep peacefully, while waiting for book #2. Which I will read for sure!

*** ARC courtesy of NetGalley in exchange for a honest review ***
(less)

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Jan 15, 2013 Jennifer Jensen (Literally Jen) rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: amazon-vine

The first two things that caught my attention about this book were the cover art and the title. From there, I read the description, and even though zombies aren't my usual reading fare, I really wanted to give this one a shot. I loved the idea of a mash-up of steampunk, zombies, and a futuristic world trying to combat an increasing zombie population.

When I had the ARC in hand, it includes a letter from the senior editor, who talks a little bit about Lia Habel and how her YA debut came to be publ...more The first two things that caught my attention about this book were the cover art and the title. From there, I read the description, and even though zombies aren't my usual reading fare, I really wanted to give this one a shot. I loved the idea of a mash-up of steampunk, zombies, and a futuristic world trying to combat an increasing zombie population.

When I had the ARC in hand, it includes a letter from the senior editor, who talks a little bit about Lia Habel and how her YA debut came to be published. It's a true "rags to riches" type story, and I love hearing about people having their dreams come true and their lives improving. If I could rate a book just on its rise to publication, this would be a 5-star read. However, there are other far more important factors to consider.

First of all, the structure, writing style, and setting. The novel is narrated by 5 different characters. I don't mind novels set up like this at all, but it's important that they each have a unique voice. They all sounded the same to me, and I often found myself flipping backward just to find out whose head I was in. Because the characters aren't all in the same place when their chapter comes up, the novel moves around quite a bit, too. There just wasn't any sort of cohesive flow. The writing style is a bit confusing; sometimes it feels like Habel is attempting to replicate Victorian England speech, but then there is lots of modern talk in there, too. At the beginning of the book, there seemed to be more of the Victorian way of speaking within the prose narrative; in the dialogue, however, they spoke very modern. Then as the novel progressed, it all felt much more modern. There just wasn't a good balance of the two, and it kept pulling me out of the story and back into the real world. The setting is intriguing, but I never really had a clear visualization of what things looked like. I would have liked more description in terms of architecture, as one example.

I did like some of the characters, especially a feisty zombie named Chas. Other than her, I didn't really get very attached to any of the characters. This could in part be because of how many different narratives were going on. I'd have preferred her to just switch between Bram (Nora's zombie love interest) and Nora. Since this is a first in series, she could have then written from other characters' points of view in subsequent novels like in Alyxandra Harvey's YA vampire series.

At 470 pages, I felt that "Dearly Departed" was far longer than it needed to be, the action/fighting scenes were dull, and that Habel is not a very descriptive writer. I could never fully imagine her world while I read, and so this was overall a very difficult book for me to make it through. This book was a disappointment for me, so I will not be reading any further into this series. (less)

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Oct 01, 2011 Ashleigh Paige rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: whoops-threw-it-across-the-room, arc-via-amazon-vine, take-your-sexism-and-get-out, the-decent-shelf-of-meh, arc

Also appears on The Screaming Nitpicker. I received my copy through Amazon Vine.

After a catastrophic apocalypse, society has rebuilt itself in the image of Victorian England. Nora Dearly and her best friend Pamela Roe are two young ladies attending St. Cyprian's and just after they return home for winter break, Nora is attacked by zombies and then kidnapped by more zombies--but these are supposed to be the good zombies. One of them, Captain Abraham Griswold, fascinates her and in turn, she fasci...more Also appears on The Screaming Nitpicker. I received my copy through Amazon Vine.

After a catastrophic apocalypse, society has rebuilt itself in the image of Victorian England. Nora Dearly and her best friend Pamela Roe are two young ladies attending St. Cyprian's and just after they return home for winter break, Nora is attacked by zombies and then kidnapped by more zombies--but these are supposed to be the good zombies. One of them, Captain Abraham Griswold, fascinates her and in turn, she fascinates him. As the Grays, the bad zombies, attack Nora's home and the numbers of infected people skyrocket, Bram and Nora while Pam will have to defend herself and her family to keep from being bitten too.

For me, the most stand-out part of the novel was Pamela Roe, a supporting character and one of the five narrators. POC (Indian, specifically), a scholarship student at St. Cyprian's, and Nora's best friend since childhood, she is what got me interested in the book when I thought about giving up on it. About the time she stabbed a zombie through the eye with her parasol, the book gained my full attention. Nora's personality and life are far less interesting than Pam's, what with Michael (I can't say anything more about that without giving it all away), her pushy brother and slightly-less-pushy parents, and everything she is going through as Nora goes missing and the infected take over the city. I wish she had been the main character instead of Nora!

Concerning Bram and Nora, the actual main characters, I liked them. Not loved like Pam, but liked. Their development as characters and then as romantic interests to one another was well done and reading about it through both their eyes was great. Toward the end of the book, their points of view started getting a little too samey, though, and it doesn't feel like it was because they were picking up each other's habits. Other secondary characters were just... I wracked my brain for ten minutes for more to say and all I can come up with is "blah." That's a good word. Not terrible, but not terribly remarkable.

The sci-fi aspects were amazing, though I've never been a scientific girl and could accept an obvious BS explanation because I wouldn't exactly know better. I've both explained it and had it explained to me as "futuristic steampunk zombies," but I'm not sure I should include the steampunk. There's the occasional mention of clockwork on the Punks' side, but that bit part in the background is the extent of the steampunk.

There is one hole in the worldbuilding that I would estimate is the size of the moon. Women, if men tried to take away your hard-won freedoms and reduce you back to the point where you were only worth your uterus and penmanship, would you let them do it or would you fight to keep your freedom? In Nora's world, it appears the women handed over their rights to be considered people as easily as they would hand over a tissue to someone with a runny nose. Nora and other young women are educated on the pre-apocalypse times and know that they once had the freedom to be viewed as more than prospective wives and mothers. They just don't care. You can't even know how badly this bothers me. It's as if they feel women are better off without their freedom.

Beyond that large hole that made me take off a star in and of itself, there were some narrative inconsistencies that bugged me. Say Nora is narrating. In one paragraph, she is speaking in past tense. In the next paragraph, she switches to present tense. Third paragraph? Back to past. This happens multiple times in other points of view. Then one of our five narrators could have been cut from the story to its benefit, and uneven pacing had me bored to tears at some points and unable to read quickly enough at others.

I hadn't realized until I acquired the book that this is going to be the first in a trilogy. The second novel will be titled Dearly, Beloved and I can't even begin to think about when it will come out considering that as of press time, Dearly, Departed hasn't even come out. While I'm not sure I'll be seeking out more zombie books anytime soon (you can only do the zombie-attack storyline so many ways and it will all eventually end with people running from or killing zombies), I feel I can recommend this to others.(less)

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Oct 26, 2011 Juliana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Juliana by: Sophia (FV)

Shelves: young-adult, paranormal-romance, pnr-young-adult, pnr-steampunk, pnr-horror-zombies, pnr-dystopia, fiction-vixen-posted-book-review, fiction-vixen-print-or-e-books, 0-own-in-dead-tree-form, net-galley, 2011-reads, 2011-oct-reads, 3-half-stars, 0-reviewed

3.5 stars | Grade: C+
This book was a first in many ways for me. It was my first book in the steampunk genre, which seems to have become all the rage. It was my first zombie and my first modern horror novel. And it was the first YA book I’ve read since being a YA myself.

I hadn’t been avoiding any of these—on the contrary: seeing review after review by my Goodreads friends has had me adding book after book that I would not normally have read or sought out. One of the reasons I’m making a point of...more

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Jan 01, 2012 Natalie (Mindful Musings) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Read this review on my blog, Mindful Musings.

In a Sentence: Though I wasn't sold on the number of POVs in this novel, Dearly Departed was an overall fast and fun read set in a wonderfully imaginative world.

My Thoughts

I decided to read Dearly Departed when I saw that Tiger at All Consuming Books and Tara at 25 Hour Books had both given it a good rating. These ladies' taste in books tend to be extremely similar to my own, so when I read their reviews, Dearly Departed got an instant spot at the to...more Read this review on my blog, Mindful Musings.

In a Sentence: Though I wasn't sold on the number of POVs in this novel, Dearly Departed was an overall fast and fun read set in a wonderfully imaginative world.

My Thoughts

I decided to read Dearly Departed when I saw that Tiger at All Consuming Books and Tara at 25 Hour Books had both given it a good rating. These ladies' taste in books tend to be extremely similar to my own, so when I read their reviews, Dearly Departed got an instant spot at the top of my to-read list. Though it took me longer to get around to reading it than I originally planned, once I started the book, I had a hard time putting it down.

The first chapter immediately grabbed my attention. Dearly Departed starts off from the point of view of the character Bram, and as you can tell from the first line of the book (see above), he's in quite the impossible situation. Trapped underground and being chased by hunger-crazed zombies, the story starts with Bram's last living moments. This first part of the book seemed very reminiscent of a horror movie to me. It had me on the edge of my seat and extremely excited to see what would happen next.

Oddly, my favorite part of Dearly Departed wasn't the characters, which is an oddity for me with books that I like. Usually, characters are what make or break the book for me, but in this case, it was the world building. I loved it! The idea of a futuristic world that has taken on the practices of the Victorian era was definitely a creative one. I really enjoyed the technology, the expectation of the proper use of manners and decorum, and finally, the horror element that the zombies added to the picture. The only thing that bothered me (and it's a small thing) is that I had a hard time believing that men and women would resort to the unequal gender standards upheld by many Victorians. After all the progress made in the 21st century, it didn't seem very realistic that women would accept becoming second class citizens again, even after an apocalyptic event. Then again, people always do strange things when faced with unimaginable hardship, so, in reality, it probably is more realistic than it felt to me.

My one significant pet peeve about Dearly Departed was the amount of points of view that were included in the book. If I remember correctly, there were five (Bram, Nora, Pam, Victor, and Wolfe). While I enjoyed the first three, I felt the latter two were unnecessary to the story. Whenever the chapter was told from Victor or Wolfe's point of view, I found myself getting bored, and these were the times when I actually ended up putting down the book, whereas, during the other POVs, I had a lot of difficulty convincing myself to take a break. I think Victor and Wolfe's stories could have been told rather easily in another way, and this could have cut down on the clunkiness that I sometimes felt with the constant shifting between a number of characters.

The tagline for Dearly Departed ("Love can never die") makes the book seem like it is just another angsty star-crossed teenage love story, but to me, it felt like more than that. While there are elements present in Dearly Departed that are characteristic of the young adult paranormal romance genre, it pairs these with original story building, fun minor characters, and a slow-building romance that felt more (though not completely) realistic than the majority of the ones present in YA today. This, along with the other aspects mentioned above, made Dearly Departed a worthwhile read.(less)

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Nov 05, 2012 Tracey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley, kindle, fantasy

I first heard of Dearly, Departed - probably on Goodreads – in a context of absolutely aghast disgust. A story telling about a girl who falls in love with a zombie?! Horrors – and not in a good way. And it's true, on surface it's another one of those ideas which Should Not Work (I should create a shelf for those). Although it does occur to me that there's a fine, fine line between all those "I Loved a Vampire" PNR's and this – undead is undead. Still, undead but whole and able to heal is rather...more I first heard of Dearly, Departed - probably on Goodreads – in a context of absolutely aghast disgust. A story telling about a girl who falls in love with a zombie?! Horrors – and not in a good way. And it's true, on surface it's another one of those ideas which Should Not Work (I should create a shelf for those). Although it does occur to me that there's a fine, fine line between all those "I Loved a Vampire" PNR's and this – undead is undead. Still, undead but whole and able to heal is rather different from undead but possibly missing bits that won't grow back and liable to rot without maintenance.

But Lia Habel and her zombie hero Bram recognize this. And heaven knows her living heroine, Nora, recognizes this. That makes a difference. The well-written and interesting description combined with the gorgeous cover art made me put it on my wishlist despite any qualms (are you listening, self-published authors?), and when it became available on Netgalley I requested it with fingers crossed. With most books I request from there it's a click-and-forget proposition; I'll request almost anything that sounds interesting, and if I get I get it, if I don't I don't. But this one I wanted. So – thank you very much, Netgalley and Lia Habel. Out of the books I've read through the site there are a handful whose authors I will follow from now on, and maybe two whose digital galleys I enjoyed enough that I'll seek them out and buy them. Dearly, Departed fits both of those categories.

The world where this book (this series) takes place is beautifully built. It's our future, 2195, and there has been an ice age; needing to rebuild their society, they decided to take the best parts of the Victorian age (and, inevitably, some of the not-best) and pattern themselves on it. There has been terraforming, and mass migration and lots of adjustment – and fighting. In fact, one of my favorite things about the beginning of the book was that zombie attacks caught on film by the press are passed off as simply more brutal fighting between the Victorians (called, derisively, the royals) and the Punks – those who prefer to carry on an almost Luddite tradition as opposed to the New Victorians' new gaslit digital age. Lia Habel created a believable, enjoyable steampunk fusion of parasols and laptops, high-power weapons and crinolines.

Bram Griswold is – was – a Punk. That is, they were his people; he did not join the military until after he was dead. No one knows quite how or when or where the Laz – the zombie infection – began, but it's as is usual in zombie invasions: if you're bitten, you will die of it before long, but you might not stay dead. And in an attack on the mines where he worked Bram was bitten. Most of the victims wind up mindless and ravening: grays. Through luck, and early intervention, and (usually) not having eaten human flesh despite the body's craving, some few manage to keep their minds and their humanity intact and learn to function as if still human. And Bram did have intervention – he was saved by someone very important to the "good" zombies, as well as to Nora Dearly.

Now Nora herself is immensely valuable to all of them, both sides of this hidden zombie war. And she's also very important to the people she left behind – well, if not particularly her remaining family, a chilly aunt, then to her best friend, Pamela, who is a terrific character (and an even better friend).

I don't do horror. I tried to watch AMC's "The Walking Dead" when it premiered, having heard great things. I didn't even make it to the first zombie; the tension got me. I'm a wimp. I can't manage zombies. Which makes this all the more fascinating, in a way.

I think I can handle this denomination of zombie, though. There is a healthy dose of classic zombie horror here – not all the zombies have personalities, and in fact not all of them have working limbs, leading to what they call "Worms", which … *shudder*. The descriptions of the zombie hordes are terrifying – it's obvious why zombies are such a horror staple.

But a lot of the element of horror comes from the insight into Bram, and through him his comrades: he is a formerly healthy young man, good-looking and smart and funny, trapped in a body he himself finds appalling and which he knows will fail him in just a few years at most. The psychology of it is impressive, and fascinating, and honestly moving. I like this character; even apart from the deadness he's not the usual PNR Hero. He's a fairly ordinary kid (yes, attractive, but not devastatingly so) who has landed in a situation that would break most people.

And I like Nora. Again, attractive without making men swoon, trying to adapt to horrific circumstances. She's terrified, but neither stupid about it nor ridiculously courageous; uncomfortable and afraid of becoming comfortable among zombies; longing to be anywhere but where she is, yet strangely happy. And it's perfectly plausible.

Pamela, Nora's good friend from school, is another wonderful character. She knows Nora has gone missing, but not what the circumstances are, and meanwhile she has problems of her own as the zombies come to her neighborhood. As the zombies become her neighborhood. Like her friend, she is a clever and resourceful young woman; she is fighting the strictures, sometimes completely unreasonable given the circumstances, of her extremely proper and conventional family (and annoying brother), and is longing to fall in love herself, whatever the circumstances.

So – another book on the "This should NOT work" shelf. It does work. It really, really works. And I want more.(less)

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Sep 27, 2011 Tori [Book Faery] rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2011, arc, amazon-vine, favorites, highly-recommended, reviewed

See this review in it's entirety at:
http://www.book-faery.blogspot.com

A hilarious, spine-tingling novel, DEARLY DEPARTED has completely blown my mind. I was expecting a so-so 3-star book when I requested this on Amazon Vine. The back cover summary made it sound fairly interesting, and I figured zombies, steampunk, and some sort of dystopian-ish storyline might be the perfect change of pace from all the YA love triangles I've been drowning in. Never in my wildest dreams did I envision that this b...more

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Oct 21, 2011 Blodeuedd Finland rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, futuristic

posted at Serendipity reviews

Zombies! I am not a big fan but when it comes to books it is different and I can read about them. Of course I never read a book where the male lead is one, but then vampires are dead in some books too, and they want your blood. Zombies are dead and want your flesh, nothing different there. With that I started this book.

The world was truly the best part. The world went to hell and survivors fled south. What used to be Central and South America now belongs to conquer...more posted at Serendipity reviews

Zombies! I am not a big fan but when it comes to books it is different and I can read about them. Of course I never read a book where the male lead is one, but then vampires are dead in some books too, and they want your blood. Zombies are dead and want your flesh, nothing different there. With that I started this book.

The world was truly the best part. The world went to hell and survivors fled south. What used to be Central and South America now belongs to conquerors from the north. And they wanted a new society so they looked to old England and the Victorian age and liked what they read about. It is a modern time with technology and good manners. The rich and noble rule and the rest go by with what they have. It was a fascinating time and I always like a new society. And of course there are enemies too, punks, people who want to live without all the technology that ruined the old world. It is a strange new world.
But where do the zombies come in? No one knows about these, except for some. But they are out there and they want flesh, but some are still good and have not forgotten that you should not eat other people and soon hell will break loose.

The characters then, Nora our heroine of course. A young lady who wants a bit more than to marry some old guy because her aunt tells her too. She likes to look at videos of war (a very strange young lady ;), and then there is Bram, zombie captain, undead hottie and the guy she falls for. A romance between a guy who will rot away in the end and a girl who knows it. Yes I can’t see a future, can you? But romance will always conquer and when the book ends I still not know how it ever will work. But there are more books to come and I am intrigued.

But did I like it? I did, to some degrees, it was a good book and yes I enjoyed reading it but I always felt something was lacking. It could have been the shift of POVS. Nora, Bram, Nora’s friend Pamela, person I shall not mention so not to spoil things, other person I shall not mention, well you get the idea. It was a bit too much and it felt like I never truly got to know any of these characters. I did not take them to my heart, and with that I can only say that I might just have liked the world more than the characters and the story.(less)

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Oct 17, 2011 Isamlq rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-galley

3/5

It's not exactly what I was expecting. Throwing around the words ‘steam punk’ and ‘zombies,’ had me thinking of something a slightly more epic. Instead there’s Bram, a zombie, who takes offense at being likened to a freak… and Nora, daughter of a war hero doctor who is oh- so-special and is technically the real freak.

Mostly, it’s not bad. I really did get a kick at how things were set up…even if I doubted that she would have behaved the way she did given said upbringing (I mean really, dress...more 3/5

It's not exactly what I was expecting. Throwing around the words ‘steam punk’ and ‘zombies,’ had me thinking of something a slightly more epic. Instead there’s Bram, a zombie, who takes offense at being likened to a freak… and Nora, daughter of a war hero doctor who is oh- so-special and is technically the real freak.

Mostly, it’s not bad. I really did get a kick at how things were set up…even if I doubted that she would have behaved the way she did given said upbringing (I mean really, dress that way why don’t you?) Her world is one where people are grouped in “tribes” instead of nations with one particular powerful tribe embracing Victorian ways and another (Punks) rebelling against it. The girl is Victorian, ahem, New Victorian. And the zombie-boy is Punk. I might have taken issue with the choice of names but what else was there to do but to go with the same?

There’s the added bonus of it not being a completely romance-fueled YA novel with mere hints of steam punk. Because while there was a romance of the unexpected variety, but there’s also heck whole more: So yes, its a re-imagined Victorian era different with the type of conflict between the Punks and Royals. Then there's the fact that it's filled with zombie zombies, the kind you’d expect versus the not-so typical ones. And then the added factor of how clandestine the “good” zombies went about their business.

Frankly, I didn’t appreciate the ever-changing POV’s: too many voices, too much to take in, when in fact there’s little to differentiate one from the other. After each one was introduced, things seemed to be going smoothly, getting to the meat of things, ‘till someone else would pipe up, then things would throttle down some and I’d have to work through it again. But at least there was a voice like Pamella’s; something that kept me going. It’s her story that I truly enjoyed:

Where at first, she’s meek and quiet, the circumstance revealed that she could be so much more. She’s tough and independent and much better than what I thought she was going to be. And dare I say it? Even much better than Nora, the main charry.

If I had to pick my favorite, I’d definitely go with Pamela. Why? Even if it is mainly Nora’s story and where Nora is tough girl from the get, it’s Pamela who actually evolved. From being the quiet best friend, it’s her story that worked more for me. For Nora there’s falling for someone she wasn’t supposed to, and then there’s her realizing that her father is imperfect. But for Pamela there’s a slow shift in what matters. If at first, she’s prim and proper and everything a girl of her station should be, well, she doesn’t stay that way! And where Nora was damsel that needed saving (at least at one point of the story), Pamela does some of the saving on her own.

THANKS NETGALLEY!
(less)

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Jan 18, 2012 Racquel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopian, paranormal, ya, read-in-2012, review-copy, beautiful-covers

Review also posted on my blog: The Book Barbies"

Question of the century: could a book set in NEW Victorian times, with GOOD and BAD zombies prove to be a great read? Yes, yes it sure does!

Lia Habel has an imagination that can rivals Spongebob's (that is a compliment FYI!) Her dystopian world is unlike anything I have ever seen/read about before and I knew just from the summary of the book that I would love this world! One thing about me, I feel very strongly about society/civilization/government...more Review also posted on my blog: The Book Barbies"

Question of the century: could a book set in NEW Victorian times, with GOOD and BAD zombies prove to be a great read? Yes, yes it sure does!

Lia Habel has an imagination that can rivals Spongebob's (that is a compliment FYI!) Her dystopian world is unlike anything I have ever seen/read about before and I knew just from the summary of the book that I would love this world! One thing about me, I feel very strongly about society/civilization/government, I believe that the dystopian worlds authors write about can actually happen any... minute. History proves that every great civilization has collapsed and what makes today's society immune? The idea of society advancing by regressing is not far from realistic, in a state of panic and depression anything is possible and the explanation of how this New Victorian society came to be is highly believable and I didn't question it once.

I also really loved this world. The etiquette, decorum and style of life is beyond fascinating and seeing it combined with advanced technology is a great mix. Onto the paranormal aspects of the book: ZOMBIES! It actually felt more sci-fi then paranormal to me because everything was backed up by science which again, I love because it made everything more believable for the reader.

One thing that bothers me much about paranormal books is if the MC stumbles into an unnatural world and doesn't question it or react properly, Nora (the MC) on the other hand did not magically accept the walking dead only after two paragraphs of finding out about them. She was genuinely shocked to the bone and again, despite the obvious unreal zombies, her reaction realistic! I also liked how Nora didn't immediately become a warrior. She was a girl who albeit knew more about combat and fighting then she should, but she was still raised with decorum drilled in her but upon learning about the zombies she didn't suddenly acquire superman hero skills to defend everyone. Nora knew what was too much for her and when she did, she left matters to the real fighters. Some people might see that as unheroic but I see it as a realistic portrayal of a girl who knows her limits. I love this about Lia Habel's writing, no matter how crazy the world of Dearly, Departed is, she still made me believe it!

This also proves right with the relationship between Bram (the good undead zombie) and Nora. Oh Bram, Bram, Bram, do they sell zombies at Amazon because I want me a Bram!! I loved the pacing of the romance and I can kiss Habel for avoiding the wrecking mistakes of making the main character along with her guy of interest fall in love from the third chapter. I cannot explain the sweet feeling the blossoming this romance gave me, my heart was fluttering! Lia Habel, once again, well done!

Something I noticed that put a lot of people off is the 5 different 1st person narrating voices. I love alternating POV's especially when its between the love interests but I also did not mind the added 3 other POV's. They gave an added insight that otherwise could have been achieved and while I will admit that sometimes I did get confused on who's narrating, it wasn't a big deal to me.

Rating: 4 hearts~ Lia Habel has made a loyal fan out of me! Her dystopian world is one of a kind and I will eagerly and anxiously await more information on Dearly, Beloved the second novel to Lia Habel's fantastically amazing debut- this is a must read!

-thank you&come again.(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Nov 27, 2011 Megan (Book Brats) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: zombies, young-adult, future-earth, netgalley, adventure

Check out more of my reviews on Book Brats!

When I saw DEARLY, DEPARTED by Lia Habel on NetGalley, it automatically became my first request. Science fiction-meets-steampunk-meets-zombies?! You had me at hello! My own hype for this book became an undeniable and overwhelming force in my head. When I dug into the book and started reading, I found myself growing disappointed. The writing is nice and the plot is very original and unique, but there was just something…missing, I guess you could say. Or...more Check out more of my reviews on Book Brats!

When I saw DEARLY, DEPARTED by Lia Habel on NetGalley, it automatically became my first request. Science fiction-meets-steampunk-meets-zombies?! You had me at hello! My own hype for this book became an undeniable and overwhelming force in my head. When I dug into the book and started reading, I found myself growing disappointed. The writing is nice and the plot is very original and unique, but there was just something…missing, I guess you could say. Or maybe it just had way too much to deal with.

DEARLY, DEPARTED tells the stories of Nora Dearly (a young orphaned student living in a future Earth that has gone back to Victorian ways), Abraham Griswold (an army captain and zombie), Pamela Roe (Nora’s poor best friend), and Victor Dearly (Nora’s scientist father). I might have actually missed someone. Wolfe? I think he had a chapter, but let’s forget him. This novel had a lot of POVs – I’m thinking there were no less than five first person narrators constantly switching back and forth. Herein lies the first problem of the book – there is way too much head jumping going on, and this added weight also inflates the page count and drags down the pacing of the novel. At 470 pages, this is a thick book. Losing 150 pages or so and a POV or two wouldn’t have hurt it.

Another problem I suffered from was the setting. I have a hard time believing in the premise of the world Habel created. Why would the world revert back to a Victorian way of life? Why would South American governments allow all these Anglo-Saxons to take over their continent? I would have liked to know more about this because in this state it wasn’t entirely believable. I enjoyed her creativity and her attention to detail, such as the futuristic hints and bits and bobs. The book is described as steampunk, but I didn’t get nearly enough of the steam to make this work in that capacity. There were occasional hints of steampunk ideas, but it wasn’t entirely there.

But there was stuff I loved! Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a completely negative review because I actually liked this in the end. The characters were just great. Nora and Pam were both kick butt heroines, just the type of character that I love to show off on Book Brats. And Bram… For a zombie he is charming, sweet, and just to die for. I’m feeling punny today, so shoot me! There was just a tiny bit of instalove going on, but I was swept off my feet by the amazing Bram just like Nora was. I was rooting for them from the moment they met, and they romance was all too sweet and believable.

Writing action sequences is definitely one of Habel’s strong suits. Fighting zombies with weapons as varied as guns and parasols, she conveys a real sense of urgency and anxiety to the reader. Although she gets carried away by adverbs and other modifiers almost every sentence of the book, in these scenes of panic and hurry we are swept up in the story and can’t help but be pulled along. Zombies fighting zombies is especially fun, and for these scenes alone, I would recommend the book. Paired with an excellent romance and some smarmy characters that you will want to punch just like our heroes, and DEARLY, DEPARTED definitely has stuff going for it. It just also has issues I couldn’t look past.

VERDICT: At 3.5/5 stars rounded down, this book suffered from too many pages, too many POVs, and too many adverbs, but with a romance you’ll root for, a great original premise, and action scenes galore, it’s a book you should still pick up.

♥♥♥ - THREE HEARTS(less)

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Nov 29, 2011 ☆Jessie☆ (Ageless Pages Reviews) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: supernatural-fiction, sci-fi, steampunk, netgalley-arc, series-ongoing, horror-zombies-gore, 2011-reviews, 2011-reads, reviewed, arc, creeeeepy

Read This Review & More Like It On My Blog!

I had my eye on this novel for a while before a copy of it fell into my greedy, cover-loving, teenage-steampunk-heroine craving hands. Dearly, Departed is indeed a great read for most of the novel, lively with NeoVictorian humo(u)r and futuristic themes, though it is hampered sadly by two (maybe three) too many POV's and overly-cartoonish and cliched villains. Dearly, Departed tries to do a lot with its 384 page length, with an eclectic mixing of a...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Debbie (at) I Heart YA Books rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dearly, Departed is an all-in-one Novel. Lia Habel has amazingly put Science Fiction, Steampunk, Horror, Fantasy, Dystopia, Paranormal, Apocalyptic, Historical and Romance into this incredible Novel. Along with five POVs, with the main two perspectives being from Nora and Bram. Lia Habel definitely created a fantastic world with zombies and humans trying to coexist together.

Nora is almost seventeen and has been sent off to an all-girls school to become a proper Victorian lady after her father's...more

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Jun 13, 2011 Sarah ~Slow reader, or slowly reading? ;) rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: meh, first-reads, z0mbies, arc, paranormal, dystopian

I had a love/hate relationship with this book. When I won this from Firstreads, I was really surprised because when I got the book because I hadn't seen the e-mail they sent me :P But anyways, this book's premise was awesome. Steampunk/zombie/romance novel? I'm all in.

But it had it's flaws. The first thing I noted was the point of view. It was in the first person p.o.v. but the chapters alternated from character to character, and made it REALLY confusing to read sometimes. Some of the scenes/lin...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Maliha Khan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh, its an incredible book, alright. Nora was not what I expected. A New Victorian lady only on the the outside, a bold and inquisitive girl on the inside.

The author did too many PoVs, though. I did enjoy reading the different voices, but while switching views, if you told me the hero ran away with the heroine's best friend I don't think I would've been bothered, probably thinking I forgot. Seriously, I get the hero and heroine's views. The heroine's best friend's view? Okay. But the villain and...more

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May 24, 2011 Mary marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads, sci-fi-fantasy-horror, own, received

I won Dearly, Departed from First Reads. I look forward to reading it now that its arrived.

4 likes · like · see review

Nov 25, 2011 Ala rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: wtfery

Alright, I've put this off long enough.

Let's do this thing...

Here we have a story set in the not-too-distant future. The worlds gone to hell, the polar ice caps are spreading out, leaving a ring of habitable land around the equator. The former nations of the world have crumbled, giving rise to a bunch of new tribes/countries/etc.

One of these newly minted nations was begun from the remnants of what was the good old US of A. And, wanting a return to a more civilized era, they decide on... Victiori...more

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Dec 21, 2011 Stacey O'Neale rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this book for a ton of reasons so I'm just going to go through a few of them.

1. This book is very unique. It's dystopian, it's paranormal romance, it's zombies, it's cyberpunk, and it's got some elements of Victorian history. You really can't put it in one box which is why it's so cool.

2. It's written in 1st person POV, but with several characters. You get to see an odd romance from both perspectives which I love plus various secondary characters. Not to mention that Lia Habel...more

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Nov 04, 2011 Surin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First of all let me add a disclaimer that honestly Dearly, Departed isn't a really well written book. The prose is awkward at times, the world building seriously doesn't make any sense, the multiple POVs will give you a headache and the plot isn't all that particularly interesting.

So why the hell did I give it 4 stars?! LOL.

Because I love Captain Abraham Griswold aka Bram!!!!! There you have it, I have a crush on a zombie, god help me....... I was gone the minute he put on that damn military ou...more

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Oct 30, 2011 Sam rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-or-galley, science-fiction, sci-fi-favourites, romance, paranormal, post-apocalyptic

I loved it! Dearly, Departed is an amazing first novel and a thoroughly entertaining young adult read. Definitely one of my favorites.

The world-building in this book is pretty amazing. Dearly, Departed is a futuristic, steampunk novel set in a post-apocalyptic world. I loved the idea of a New Victorian era - fitted with holograms and and ID chips! - and thought it was wonderfully presented. The idea of society going backwards when the world and its technology is progressing forwards seems crazy,...more I loved it! Dearly, Departed is an amazing first novel and a thoroughly entertaining young adult read. Definitely one of my favorites.

The world-building in this book is pretty amazing. Dearly, Departed is a futuristic, steampunk novel set in a post-apocalyptic world. I loved the idea of a New Victorian era - fitted with holograms and and ID chips! - and thought it was wonderfully presented. The idea of society going backwards when the world and its technology is progressing forwards seems crazy, but Lia Habel effortlessly shows how very possible this may be. It was totally believable and I thought it was a brilliant idea. The descriptions were all very well-written and more than easy to picture in your head. It's a strange image, seeing our perceptions of the past and future merge together, but exciting and enthralling, nonetheless.

The plot was crafted perfectly. I found the story line engaging to follow and enjoyed the twists. The Punk movement was pretty cool. Everything was structured so well and it was nice to see a bit of thought had gone into making this book as gripping as it could be. I loved the way things progressed and found the action scenes completely entertaining to read about. The climax was superb. And of course, there are zombies. What's not to love about that?

The characters were my favorite thing about this book. Nora Dearly is a wonderful main character, with a very likable personality. I enjoyed the fact that she wasn't as prim and proper as young New Victorian women should be. She's a bit of a rebel, and I loved her for that. Bram, of course, was also very likable. I would never have thought a zombie could be so hot! I seriously adore his character. He was both tough and sweet, and I thoroughly enjoyed the progression in his and Nora's relationship. The secondary characters were all also very well presented. Renfield was so entertaining to read about. I loved his peculiar personality and how he was unintentionally funny. Chas, too, is a great secondary character. She was was outspoken and hilarious and definitely not a proper lady. My favorite scenes were when they were all together. The banter between them all was wonderfully entertaining.

It's very rare for a book to be utter perfection, so I did have one slight issue with Dearly, Departed. I wasn't a big fan of the changing points of view. They were all equally well written, but I just preferred Nora's POV and Bram's POV. That may just be because they were my favorite characters, and also because I LOVE a good romance, so I was more eager to be inside one of their heads than say Pamela, for example. But that was the only thing I wish was done a little differently. Everything else left me more than satisfied. :)

Overall, this book is a great read and highly recommended for fans of the young adult genre who are looking for something a bit different. I will definitely be reading the sequel.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group for providing me with a copy of this book via NetGalley.(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Apr 24, 2011 Kandee marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: wishlist

Zombies are fucking awesome! Pretty Cover!

3 likes · like · see review

topics	posts	views	last activity
Read-along: Dearly, Departed \| Eterna Saudade	67	24	Mar 24, 2013 05:11am
Vaginal Fantasy H...: * Dearly, Departed Discussion Thread Spoilers	68	413	Jan 14, 2013 10:13am
Vaginal Fantasy H...: Dearly, Departed Casting	11	80	Jan 11, 2013 02:39pm
Is this book any good?	12	41	Dec 05, 2012 04:41pm
Do you like New Victoria? Or did you just hate the book	10	25	Aug 04, 2012 04:04am

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