This book side by side w/ The Forest of Hands & Teeth really highlights the difference between male & female YA authors. Carrie Ryan spent a lot of time internally with character development, which made Forest of Hands & Teeth sort of a 'chick' zombie book, though the series seriously ramps up on the zombie gore by book 3. Rot & Ruin wastes much less time internally, and the backstory dump in the first 50 pages annoyed, as did the main character's cliched 'angsty teen' voice. Thankfully his brother is a samurai zombie bounty hunter badass and there's a Mysterious zombie hunting badass Lost Girl out in the woods somewhere, so I was compelled to keep reading. And I'm glad I did. This book was fun to read, riveting to the last, and did have something to say about how the zombies aren't the worst threat in a world where fear and lawlessness rules. I'm already plowing through the next one and loving it as well.