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Being human is a disadvantage in post-apocalyptic America... Now that the Feeding Plague has swept through human and zombie societies, it seems like everyone is an "ex" these days. Ex-human. Ex- zombie. Except for Amy, that is. She's the only human survivor from her town-a frail. And if the feral dogs, the flesh-eating exes, and the elements don't get her, she just may discover how this all began. Because in this America, life is what you make it...
384 pages, Hardcover
First published October 4, 2011
9 people are currently reading
409 people want to read
About the author
Joan Frances Turner
8 books30 followersJoan Frances Turner is the author of Dust, forthcoming from Ace Books on September 7, 2010. Dust is a story of the undead from their own point of view, as they battle time, decay, the loved ones they left behind, encroaching humanity and each other. Or, think Watership Down with zombies instead of rabbits. She is currently working on a sequel, tentatively titled Frail, from the all-important human perspective.
Joan was born in Rhode Island and grew up in the Calumet Region of northwest Indiana, which fellow Region Rat Jean Shepherd famously said “clings precariously to the underbody of Chicago like a barnacle clings to the rotting hulk of a tramp steamer.” Like Mr. Shepherd, she aspires someday to have a local community center named after her against her will. A graduate of Brown University and Harvard Law School, she lives near the beach with her family and a garden full of spring onions and tiger lilies, weather permitting.
Joan is represented by Michelle Brower of Folio Literary Management. Dust is her first novel.
(from author's website)
Joan was born in Rhode Island and grew up in the Calumet Region of northwest Indiana, which fellow Region Rat Jean Shepherd famously said “clings precariously to the underbody of Chicago like a barnacle clings to the rotting hulk of a tramp steamer.” Like Mr. Shepherd, she aspires someday to have a local community center named after her against her will. A graduate of Brown University and Harvard Law School, she lives near the beach with her family and a garden full of spring onions and tiger lilies, weather permitting.
Joan is represented by Michelle Brower of Folio Literary Management. Dust is her first novel.
(from author's website)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
October 20, 2011
warning: this is totally going to be phoned in. school has me by the balls right now, so i am pretty distracted. i suppose if i cared more about this book, i would make the effort, but it was only just okay, so it gets an only just okay book report.
this is part 2 to the book Dust. i imagine there will be more written after this, as it ends on an action-ellipsis. the main character is a human, a "frail", one of the few remaining after the action in the first book where zombies took over, then zombies and most humans fell victim to a different contagion that left zombies near-indestructible and humans like zombies. but there are different ranks of zombies: those who were already dead and became zombified in the grave, zombies becoming so after dying from a zombie attack, zombies who were just humans succumbing to the other contagion... but none of them eat people. which takes the fun out of the zombie book, you ask me. it's a new kind of monster, but they are more like gods on earth than flesh-eating monsters who will attack you at the mall.
and as such they are less interesting.
so this frail meets up with the sister of the protagonist in the first book, who was the first human-turned-zombie-through-, and they end up getting captured and kept in this town where zombies are basically the jailers-town council and humans are their pets/worker ants/mistresses. but there is still tension. and seeecrets.
stony mayhall featured zombies who were not in attack-mode, either. in that world, the infection leaves its victims in attack-living-human mode for a time, and then subsides into a more socially-acceptable undead state. and that book is great - it doesn't need to be all bloody-mawed and reaching. this book is trying to be a horror novel still, but with defanged zombies. oh, there is still violence, there is still bloodshed. in fact - that is what this author is particularly good at: the gross-out. in both books, there was all kinds of bodily fluids and stenches and detailed descriptions of the breakdown of the body and how bugs contribute to that etc etc. she's got a great sense of that. but the rest of it is just muddled.
i know i still have questions about things that happened in the book, but already, it is quickly fading from my mind. maybe as a result of my preoccupation with school, or maybe because this was just a passing entertainment, nothing that is going to revolutionize the zombie genre (although it is certainly trying). it's october - read a zombie book or two, but maybe read a different one first.
this is part 2 to the book Dust. i imagine there will be more written after this, as it ends on an action-ellipsis. the main character is a human, a "frail", one of the few remaining after the action in the first book where zombies took over, then zombies and most humans fell victim to a different contagion that left zombies near-indestructible and humans like zombies. but there are different ranks of zombies: those who were already dead and became zombified in the grave, zombies becoming so after dying from a zombie attack, zombies who were just humans succumbing to the other contagion... but none of them eat people. which takes the fun out of the zombie book, you ask me. it's a new kind of monster, but they are more like gods on earth than flesh-eating monsters who will attack you at the mall.
and as such they are less interesting.
so this frail meets up with the sister of the protagonist in the first book, who was the first human-turned-zombie-through-, and they end up getting captured and kept in this town where zombies are basically the jailers-town council and humans are their pets/worker ants/mistresses. but there is still tension. and seeecrets.
stony mayhall featured zombies who were not in attack-mode, either. in that world, the infection leaves its victims in attack-living-human mode for a time, and then subsides into a more socially-acceptable undead state. and that book is great - it doesn't need to be all bloody-mawed and reaching. this book is trying to be a horror novel still, but with defanged zombies. oh, there is still violence, there is still bloodshed. in fact - that is what this author is particularly good at: the gross-out. in both books, there was all kinds of bodily fluids and stenches and detailed descriptions of the breakdown of the body and how bugs contribute to that etc etc. she's got a great sense of that. but the rest of it is just muddled.
i know i still have questions about things that happened in the book, but already, it is quickly fading from my mind. maybe as a result of my preoccupation with school, or maybe because this was just a passing entertainment, nothing that is going to revolutionize the zombie genre (although it is certainly trying). it's october - read a zombie book or two, but maybe read a different one first.
September 28, 2011
Frail is the second book in Joan Frances Turner’s Dust series. I heard great things about the first book Dust, which gives a different spin on the zombie apocalypse much like Isaac Marion’s Warm Bodies. Dust and Warm Bodies are both from the POV of a zombie character. The difference with Dust is that it’s more horror while Warm Bodies is more of a dark comedy. I thought Frail would introduce me to a unique and different perspective on the world during and after the zombie apocalypse, much like Mira Grant has done with her Newsflesh series. Frail is such a book that repels the reader. Why? Because it’s so badly written and extremely unclear with the characters and their action and thoughts.
The zombie apocalypse has hit the world. Humans are barely surviving. Fifteen year old Amy lives with her mother, who’s on the front lines, more like a security officer to keep the zombies out of their town and destroy them if they attack. One day her mother leaves without any warning and Amy is left to fend for herself. Around this time a new plague has started. People became sick with a disease that can’t be diagnosed. The ones who become ill have an intense hunger and eat anything and everything. Even the undead have the same symptoms and soon no one can tell the living and zombies apart. Amy hides from these insane creatures along with a few grownups from her town, but then they die or fall victim to the disease. With no plan, Amy strikes out on her own, knowing she may not survive. Her one goal is to find her mother, who she hopes is still alive.
Along her travels she meets Lisa, who is known as an Ex. Lisa is a zombie, but is still human in her thoughts and feelings. She doesn’t have an insane hunger and doesn’t want to eat human flesh. Plus if she’s hurt, she recovers, as Amy learns when Lisa cuts herself and there’s no scarring or bruising. Amy doesn’t trust Lisa, but since she’s all alone and there’s also feral dogs running around with an extreme appetite for meat, she goes with her.
Mother Nature isn’t on their side either because a tornado rips through their shelter and destroys all their food and items. And then a man and woman in a car drive by. They’re both Exs and force Amy and Lisa to come with them to a compound run by Exs where they make the humans, known as Frails, work the land, cook for them and keep everything running. Amy wants to escape in the hopes of locating her mother and because both the Exs and the Frails, who are slowly going crazy (mostly likely because their brains are rotting) may end up destroying themselves and anyone else around them.
Frail is a convoluted mess. I wish I could tell you what was going as I read. I couldn’t figure out what the characters are saying and really have no idea what happens as the story moves along. There’s a massive amount of nonsense, major lack of world building and the purpose for things are just thrown out there as if the reader will be fine with it and take it at face value. There’s no reason given why this plague has happened and why it affects everyone, even the dead. There’s no plausible explanation for anything and the writing lacks an overall sense of cohesiveness.
I couldn’t figure out who Amy is and what her motivation was. She comes across emotionally stilted, which I guess is understandable because of all she had been through, but she’s so unresponsive to the world around her, as if she has become one of the mindless undead.
Frail really has me wondering how it got published. There’s nothing about it that’s promising, original or thought-provoking. It became a challenge to read and when I got to the point where I had to read a page three times because my brain couldn’t connect with the material, I decided to DNF it.
Frail is what I call a train wreck and will mostly like be one of my worst reads this year.
The zombie apocalypse has hit the world. Humans are barely surviving. Fifteen year old Amy lives with her mother, who’s on the front lines, more like a security officer to keep the zombies out of their town and destroy them if they attack. One day her mother leaves without any warning and Amy is left to fend for herself. Around this time a new plague has started. People became sick with a disease that can’t be diagnosed. The ones who become ill have an intense hunger and eat anything and everything. Even the undead have the same symptoms and soon no one can tell the living and zombies apart. Amy hides from these insane creatures along with a few grownups from her town, but then they die or fall victim to the disease. With no plan, Amy strikes out on her own, knowing she may not survive. Her one goal is to find her mother, who she hopes is still alive.
Along her travels she meets Lisa, who is known as an Ex. Lisa is a zombie, but is still human in her thoughts and feelings. She doesn’t have an insane hunger and doesn’t want to eat human flesh. Plus if she’s hurt, she recovers, as Amy learns when Lisa cuts herself and there’s no scarring or bruising. Amy doesn’t trust Lisa, but since she’s all alone and there’s also feral dogs running around with an extreme appetite for meat, she goes with her.
Mother Nature isn’t on their side either because a tornado rips through their shelter and destroys all their food and items. And then a man and woman in a car drive by. They’re both Exs and force Amy and Lisa to come with them to a compound run by Exs where they make the humans, known as Frails, work the land, cook for them and keep everything running. Amy wants to escape in the hopes of locating her mother and because both the Exs and the Frails, who are slowly going crazy (mostly likely because their brains are rotting) may end up destroying themselves and anyone else around them.
Frail is a convoluted mess. I wish I could tell you what was going as I read. I couldn’t figure out what the characters are saying and really have no idea what happens as the story moves along. There’s a massive amount of nonsense, major lack of world building and the purpose for things are just thrown out there as if the reader will be fine with it and take it at face value. There’s no reason given why this plague has happened and why it affects everyone, even the dead. There’s no plausible explanation for anything and the writing lacks an overall sense of cohesiveness.
I couldn’t figure out who Amy is and what her motivation was. She comes across emotionally stilted, which I guess is understandable because of all she had been through, but she’s so unresponsive to the world around her, as if she has become one of the mindless undead.
Frail really has me wondering how it got published. There’s nothing about it that’s promising, original or thought-provoking. It became a challenge to read and when I got to the point where I had to read a page three times because my brain couldn’t connect with the material, I decided to DNF it.
Frail is what I call a train wreck and will mostly like be one of my worst reads this year.
July 23, 2013
I'm so disappointed! I loved the first book, Dust. It was so unique and interesting and I couldn't wait to read the further adventures of our dear zombies. Right away, I could see that this new book doesn't follow the protagonist of Dust, although a few characters from the first book do resurface. The new protagonist seemed plucky enough and I was right along for the ride for the first half of the book or so, and then everything fell off a cliff.
I have literally no idea what happened in the second half of the book. All of a sudden everything got abstract and psychological and she's seeing ghosts and hearing voices and it's all a metaphor and WHAT THE HELL AM I READING? Are you allowed to say "hell" on goodreads? Well, there it is.
I could barely finish this book. I went from super excited about this trilogy to probably going to pass on the third book. We'll see. But this one was not good. Just re-read the first one and pretend she stopped there.
I have literally no idea what happened in the second half of the book. All of a sudden everything got abstract and psychological and she's seeing ghosts and hearing voices and it's all a metaphor and WHAT THE HELL AM I READING? Are you allowed to say "hell" on goodreads? Well, there it is.
I could barely finish this book. I went from super excited about this trilogy to probably going to pass on the third book. We'll see. But this one was not good. Just re-read the first one and pretend she stopped there.
August 10, 2016
Not going to lie, I have no idea what I just read...
October 31, 2011
I really just didn’t think anything could shock me more than Dust (Book 1 in the trilogy), but I was clearly wrong. While Dust was told from a zombie’s point of view, Frail ups the ante on the horror by showing how humans have fared in Joan Frances Turner’s post zombie-apocalyptic world.
The story follows Amy, a frail (or regular human) as she tries to survive after an illness created a new breed of super humans/zombies that seem almost immortal. She bonds with Lisa, an ex who is struggling to hold onto her humanity. Their friendship is anything but simple and easy, and it was fascinating to see them working together.
My biggest issue with this book was that I just didn’t connect with Amy, the narrator, the way I did with Jessie (narrator of Dust). Kind of odd since Jessie was a zombie, but I digress. I think the reason I connected more in book 1 is because the idea of a novel told entirely from the POV of a zombie was just so fresh and radical, I couldn’t help but love it. The perspective of a human seemed somewhat dull in comparison.
This series is unique and fresh, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. I recommend you check it out if you love horror, can stomach some unpleasant imagery (‘cause there’s a whole lot of that!), and are looking for a break in the storybook romances the YA genre is drowning in. This book is about fight and survival, and I cannot wait to see what Turner brings in book 3!
The story follows Amy, a frail (or regular human) as she tries to survive after an illness created a new breed of super humans/zombies that seem almost immortal. She bonds with Lisa, an ex who is struggling to hold onto her humanity. Their friendship is anything but simple and easy, and it was fascinating to see them working together.
My biggest issue with this book was that I just didn’t connect with Amy, the narrator, the way I did with Jessie (narrator of Dust). Kind of odd since Jessie was a zombie, but I digress. I think the reason I connected more in book 1 is because the idea of a novel told entirely from the POV of a zombie was just so fresh and radical, I couldn’t help but love it. The perspective of a human seemed somewhat dull in comparison.
This series is unique and fresh, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. I recommend you check it out if you love horror, can stomach some unpleasant imagery (‘cause there’s a whole lot of that!), and are looking for a break in the storybook romances the YA genre is drowning in. This book is about fight and survival, and I cannot wait to see what Turner brings in book 3!
March 30, 2013
Was an interesting enough book but I'm curious on the direction it took.
The first book was told from a Zombies perspective, which could've been great, and now this one from a completely different angle.
The series, so far, does leave you asking questions. But, I'm just confuzzled by it.
Not saying I didn't like the book, I did. Just don't know why she changed perspectives.
The first book was told from a Zombies perspective, which could've been great, and now this one from a completely different angle.
The series, so far, does leave you asking questions. But, I'm just confuzzled by it.
Not saying I didn't like the book, I did. Just don't know why she changed perspectives.
March 11, 2018
The second book in the Dust series follows Amy, one of the last surviving humans, in a journey to find her disappeared mother and surviving in a world ravaged by the feeding plague. Amy finds herself with a few members of Jessie's old gang all now exs, ex humans or ex zombies, along with humans much like herself that are deemed "special" unlike the other humans. She has no idea why they're so special but has a bad feeling and needs to escape after one of the special humans, or frails, disappear. Shes joined by her ex human friend Lisa, a human "pet", a crazy frail, and a special human boy as they set out to escape. The escape leads them to answers and even more questions leaving them on a journey to find Jessie and solve the mystery of the plague, the labs, the sands of Lake Michigan, and death himself.
Joan Frances turner has done it again! her writing style always delivers in detail and setting you at the speed of the characters journey. When they're struggling, tired, and hungry the reading pace is slow and when they're running and scared you fly through pages. I like that this book is a new perspective but ties in perfectly to the first book leading into the final installment. I could see the streets, village, forests, etc perfectly. I felt connected and invested in the characters as well. Loved this book but did take a star off for the slow start which i feel was more drawn out than it needed to be. Very excited to pick up the final installment, Grave, and finish this series.
Joan Frances turner has done it again! her writing style always delivers in detail and setting you at the speed of the characters journey. When they're struggling, tired, and hungry the reading pace is slow and when they're running and scared you fly through pages. I like that this book is a new perspective but ties in perfectly to the first book leading into the final installment. I could see the streets, village, forests, etc perfectly. I felt connected and invested in the characters as well. Loved this book but did take a star off for the slow start which i feel was more drawn out than it needed to be. Very excited to pick up the final installment, Grave, and finish this series.
February 20, 2024
This was fine.
I didn't realize this was the second in a series when I started it, but it seems like that didn't matter too much.
The story was okay, though it seemed to take an awfully long time to go anywhere, and was pretty non-sensical at times. The framework made sense, but then there were magical dead cell phones that would work at random times and what seemed to be ghosts and shapeshifters, making it more of a surreal fantasy than a zombie themed horror novel.
Kind of like how they randomly threw ghosts and werewolves and crazy powerful unique characters and nonsensical Neo powers into the second Matrix movie.
I will probably read the first one if it falls into my lap, but the story in Frail was so all over the place I probably will not bother with the third.
I didn't realize this was the second in a series when I started it, but it seems like that didn't matter too much.
The story was okay, though it seemed to take an awfully long time to go anywhere, and was pretty non-sensical at times. The framework made sense, but then there were magical dead cell phones that would work at random times and what seemed to be ghosts and shapeshifters, making it more of a surreal fantasy than a zombie themed horror novel.
Kind of like how they randomly threw ghosts and werewolves and crazy powerful unique characters and nonsensical Neo powers into the second Matrix movie.
I will probably read the first one if it falls into my lap, but the story in Frail was so all over the place I probably will not bother with the third.
July 1, 2018
I just didn't care.
November 23, 2018
Not as good as dust
Continue the story from dust. Leaves s lot of unanswered questions where dust could be read alone definitely have to read sequel
Continue the story from dust. Leaves s lot of unanswered questions where dust could be read alone definitely have to read sequel
September 16, 2020
There are some wonderful descriptive passages, but the plot is inconclusive, directionless and flabby.
October 8, 2014
Frail is Joan Frances Turner's second zombie novel, after Dust. Now that the Feeding Plague has made its way through the country - both human and zombie societies alike - the country is full of 'ex's. Everyone is either an ex-human or ex-zombie. Everyone that is except for Amy. She's the only human survivor in her town, a frail.
With exes - flesh eating ones - everywhere and ghost dogs only she can see - survival in this new America is all Amy has on her mind.
And the ex-human Lisa she meets on her journey, she may or may not be able be able to trust is the only one she can turn to when things get even more dangerous.
Frail is an amazingly well developed, well thought out zombie novel - or just novel period. I did not read Dust so I don't know how much, if at all, the two stories build on each other or overlap or how much knowing that novel and its events would help a reader be drawn into the events of Frail.
There was trouble (for me) getting into the first half or so of this book. It was still good enough to keep me reading, it just read incredibly slow for me. (I put it down and picked it back up a few times.)
The last third to half of Frail is what really draws a reader in, though. It's when the novel really gets more action, suspense and things about the society start to get explained. It's when you really cannot put the book down.
The world Turner has developed for Frail is unbelievably well developed and all encompassing. While some books are ones that seem like they would transfer well to film (and ones readers would love to see made into movies), Frail is one that would make a great television show. While it would have to be on cable - if not a premium cable channel - there is so much story there and the society is so completely developed that it would be a joy to see it unveiled over multiple episodes.
There is not a lot of gore in this novel - a fair bit of violence and some disturbing things, but not that much gore. The language/swearing (along with some of the events) pull it up to to an older YA/adult range.
7/10
thank you to the publisher for my copy of the book for review
With exes - flesh eating ones - everywhere and ghost dogs only she can see - survival in this new America is all Amy has on her mind.
And the ex-human Lisa she meets on her journey, she may or may not be able be able to trust is the only one she can turn to when things get even more dangerous.
Frail is an amazingly well developed, well thought out zombie novel - or just novel period. I did not read Dust so I don't know how much, if at all, the two stories build on each other or overlap or how much knowing that novel and its events would help a reader be drawn into the events of Frail.
There was trouble (for me) getting into the first half or so of this book. It was still good enough to keep me reading, it just read incredibly slow for me. (I put it down and picked it back up a few times.)
The last third to half of Frail is what really draws a reader in, though. It's when the novel really gets more action, suspense and things about the society start to get explained. It's when you really cannot put the book down.
The world Turner has developed for Frail is unbelievably well developed and all encompassing. While some books are ones that seem like they would transfer well to film (and ones readers would love to see made into movies), Frail is one that would make a great television show. While it would have to be on cable - if not a premium cable channel - there is so much story there and the society is so completely developed that it would be a joy to see it unveiled over multiple episodes.
There is not a lot of gore in this novel - a fair bit of violence and some disturbing things, but not that much gore. The language/swearing (along with some of the events) pull it up to to an older YA/adult range.
7/10
thank you to the publisher for my copy of the book for review
August 19, 2012
I have to say after reading the first book in this series (Dust), that I enjoyed this one more. The different story arc was refreshing since the end of the first book was just plain strange. Now, I am not saying that this one didin't have alot of strangeness to it, it did, but the writing improved. This book flowed much better, I didn't have to reread somethings to try to understand what was happening. I just let the words go by and didn't question things that probably should have been. But, all in all, it is a fair book at best. Creativity alone doesn't make a great book. And sometimes being "out there" seemingly for the heck of it doesn't keep the story glued together. I got really annoyed at the end of the book with the same questions being asked about being human over and over and over and over and....you see, it is annoying. One way that I could tell the story sometimes lacked is that I felt the need to stop in the middle and read 2 other books. When I picked it back up it wasn't a chore to finish, but I am not waiting by the library to pick up the next one in the series (if there is one) when it is released. I will read the next one by the author, if it is about zombies or exes or what ever the frak because I am invested in the storyline. I am also interested if the author continues to get better and better as the next books get released. So, not a glowing review, as I have said before, but interesting enough to read and enjoy at some level. Just not a high level.
May 13, 2012
I loved this book when I began reading; the combination of lyrical prose and zombie dystopia appealed to me on every level. Unfortunately before I was a hundred pages in the style changed, the language became more common. There was a period in the middle of the story where there were so many characters, all with suburban names (Amy, Lisa, Billy...really? An evil overlord named Billy?) Some character names began with the same first letter, adding to my confusion. I made notes to tell them apart. The style then took yet another turn, and it seemed as though the author was channeling Dean Koontz during his Christopher Snow period, which might have been a good thing except the tale became somewhat surreal and even more difficult to follow. Also the odd combinations of simile and metaphor became distracting.
I give this book two Ds--one for Disjointed and one for Disappointing.
I give this book two Ds--one for Disjointed and one for Disappointing.
March 21, 2012
I really liked this book. I don't know why many of the reviews are so negative. I didn't find it confusing like many people seem to have(and I didn't even read the first book in the series!)
This is the first zombie genre book I've read, so I'm not really familiar with how those books are "supposed" to be, but I thought this was an interesting take on zombies. The author wasn't hyper-original, but the characters were likeable, believeable, and unique. This author has an incredible gift for description. All of her descriptive passages, from the beautiful to the grotesque, from decribing food to descibing death and insanity, were vivid and very real feeling.
It's not a spectacular book, but I finished it in a day, and I am interested enough that I want to read the first one, and I will be excited when the third one debuts.
This is the first zombie genre book I've read, so I'm not really familiar with how those books are "supposed" to be, but I thought this was an interesting take on zombies. The author wasn't hyper-original, but the characters were likeable, believeable, and unique. This author has an incredible gift for description. All of her descriptive passages, from the beautiful to the grotesque, from decribing food to descibing death and insanity, were vivid and very real feeling.
It's not a spectacular book, but I finished it in a day, and I am interested enough that I want to read the first one, and I will be excited when the third one debuts.
April 12, 2013
In a post-zombie world, life is what you make it . . .
Since a devastating, morphing plague swept through human and zombie populations, almost everyone who survived is an “ex” these days. Ex-human. Ex-zombie. Both creatures crave flesh, have the strength and speed of predators—and are seemingly immortal. Pierced skin and broken bones mend, but their all-consuming hunger never dies . . .
Amy is the only purely human survivor from her town: a frail. For a girl used to going it alone, trusting anyone isn’t easy, but Amy will have to. She has secrets from her past she can’t afford to face by herself, and secrets in her future that will cost her just about everything—including her humanity . . .
November 1, 2011
Amy is one of the last living humans from Lepingville (same town Jessie is from in Dust) and she's decided it's time to move on. Traveling through the wasteland of neighboring towns on her way anywhere, she meets Lisa, an ex -- Lisa was human before the outbreak that turned everyone, human and zombie, into something other. Then Lisa and Amy are taken to a small town where exes are masters and frails have become all but slaves.
It's hard to tell at this point just where the trilogy is headed. As zombie reads (and reads in general) go, this series is original and well thought out. It'll be interesting to see who will return in book three and where the story will end.
It's hard to tell at this point just where the trilogy is headed. As zombie reads (and reads in general) go, this series is original and well thought out. It'll be interesting to see who will return in book three and where the story will end.
December 24, 2011
Ms. Turner took what could have been a great apocalyptic zombie thriller and made it into a book about a teenage girl with a sad story. The mental health problems one would encounter after having gone through what the protagonist, Amy has gone through seemed logical and flowed well within the confines of this story. Where the author fell short was making us care, creating any kind of real danger, or even characters that made sense to the story. The ending was abrupt and rife with mystery. I do not care to know more, and that is the main problem with this book.
September 30, 2014
A solid post-apocalyptic story, but I thought that there being so much more action ahead undermined the mood of the preceding book, which seemed to be more about letting go. The fantastic elements, which bothered me slightly in Dust, are more intrusive here. For some reason, I want my speculative fiction books to be either supernatural, technological, or explicitly either agnostic or integrative of the two, whereas Frail walks and talks like a technological speculation but pulls out effects that don't seem to fit the theme.
May 5, 2012
Amy survives a zombie apocalypse and wants to know what happened to her mother. And there's a twist with these zombies before they go "over" - they hit an eating frenzy stage that includes things like bricks.
Picked up and taken to a compound of mixed zombies and human "workers", she makes some friends, and traces back how and why this all happened.
Some interesting ideas and characterization, but I wasn't riveted.
Picked up and taken to a compound of mixed zombies and human "workers", she makes some friends, and traces back how and why this all happened.
Some interesting ideas and characterization, but I wasn't riveted.
November 27, 2013
Good idea but a convoluted mess. I read it a couple years back and just didn't get it. Picked it up recently to try again. After all, maybe it's just complex and requires careful reading, right? Unfortunately, not so much... The actions of the characters make little sense and I don't see any rhyme or reason for most of the action in the story.
May 30, 2013
I only made it halfway through this book and I had to force myself to read that far. It found tedious and pointless and completely uninteresting. I had a hard time keeping the characters straight, not because there were so many of them but because they, and the whole plot of the book, were so uninteresting.
March 7, 2016
This book lacked....something. At moments it was great and interesting and seemed to be heading somewhere and then would just lag as if jogging in place. The Characters and the writing are crisp when it's on and lacking while lagging.
In the last 3rd it seemed to have regained it's momentum and headed towards a meaningful ending, when it just stopped.
A lackluster sequel to the excellent Dust.
In the last 3rd it seemed to have regained it's momentum and headed towards a meaningful ending, when it just stopped.
A lackluster sequel to the excellent Dust.
November 10, 2011
This sequel was disappointing. The writing was disjointed and hard to follow. Not enough zombie mayhem. The central character in the story was annoying. The first book was genius. This one, not so much.
February 12, 2012
Finally skimmed through the end of this.
A few interesting ideas but not enough to hold it together. not enough distinction between the various types of zombies and ex humans to make sense. predictable ending.
A few interesting ideas but not enough to hold it together. not enough distinction between the various types of zombies and ex humans to make sense. predictable ending.
December 10, 2011
This book was harder to follow than the first. The writing is very disjointed and becomes harder to follow as the book progresses. The only reason I finished this book was because every few chapters there was a interesting one or a good plot twist. But overall I am disappointed.
January 24, 2012
I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to finish.. it's a bit "twilightish" and geared toward young girls.. no wonder my sister in law likes this stuff :)
Follow up 1/24/12- Couldn't get past page 100. It's definitely geared for the romance-girly/fantasy readers.
Follow up 1/24/12- Couldn't get past page 100. It's definitely geared for the romance-girly/fantasy readers.
October 18, 2013
I guess if I'd started with Book 1 then this may have been a better read in comparison. However, I didn't. I picked up the story line pretty quick but wasn't impressed - it began quite well but faded fast for me. Utterly average
February 17, 2014
It started out with a good premise and promise of new ideas. It descended into a broken mish mash of story that became increasingly harder to read. The main character was constantly overwrought and the ending was dismal.
I would not recommend it to anyone.
March 18, 2016
it started it off really slow and it was confusing because it seem like it didn't go with the first book. it's more like it went ahead of the first book; like future the characters were different but it was still a good read.
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