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The Living and the Dead
Dying is optional.
Living is forbidden.
The year is 2111, and scientists have discovered how to cheat death by extracting memories, thoughts, and personality traits from the dying, methodically implanting them into artificial bodies. At the time, it seemed too good to be true, never having to lose anyone to illness or time, and maybe it was.
Rejected as being nothing more than imposters of the living, the dead are shunned by society. Their families, friends, and neighbors, having grown to fear them, erected walls around their cities to keep them out. Over time, those cities were replaced with colonies overseen by governors to keep order.
At seventeen, Zaila Lockhart has only known isolation. Isolation from the world that extends both outside and inside her colony. As the daughter of the unpopular governor, she is the target of resentment, especially now that resources are becoming more scarce, since all trade between the colonies has been interrupted by a group marauders. Starvation seems imminent, and a war between the living and the dead over much-needed provisions looms on the horizon.
In search of food and other supplies, Zaila takes it upon herself to secretly venture outside her colony’s walls. Joined by Pax Muldoon, her only friend, the pair are ambushed by a group of scavengers. Identified as being the governor’s daughter, Zaila is brought back to the scavengers' base in a city occupied by both the dead and their living sympathizers.
Zaila thought she knew everything there was to know about her captors, that the history being taught in the colonies was rooted in fact. But some lessons are better learned outside the classroom, where the living have grown to fear life, and the dead are the only ones truly living.
Living is forbidden.
The year is 2111, and scientists have discovered how to cheat death by extracting memories, thoughts, and personality traits from the dying, methodically implanting them into artificial bodies. At the time, it seemed too good to be true, never having to lose anyone to illness or time, and maybe it was.
Rejected as being nothing more than imposters of the living, the dead are shunned by society. Their families, friends, and neighbors, having grown to fear them, erected walls around their cities to keep them out. Over time, those cities were replaced with colonies overseen by governors to keep order.
At seventeen, Zaila Lockhart has only known isolation. Isolation from the world that extends both outside and inside her colony. As the daughter of the unpopular governor, she is the target of resentment, especially now that resources are becoming more scarce, since all trade between the colonies has been interrupted by a group marauders. Starvation seems imminent, and a war between the living and the dead over much-needed provisions looms on the horizon.
In search of food and other supplies, Zaila takes it upon herself to secretly venture outside her colony’s walls. Joined by Pax Muldoon, her only friend, the pair are ambushed by a group of scavengers. Identified as being the governor’s daughter, Zaila is brought back to the scavengers' base in a city occupied by both the dead and their living sympathizers.
Zaila thought she knew everything there was to know about her captors, that the history being taught in the colonies was rooted in fact. But some lessons are better learned outside the classroom, where the living have grown to fear life, and the dead are the only ones truly living.
335 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 27, 2016
3 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
Sara Furlong Burr
13 books539 followersSara Furlong Burr is an award-winning author of romcoms filled with angst, heartbreak, and a sprinkle of laughs. She was born and raised in Michigan and currently still lives there with her husband, two daughters, a lively corgi that closely resembles a sack of potatoes, three judgmental cats, and a hedgehog named Juniper who's almost as antisocial as she is. When she's not writing, Sara enjoys reading, traveling, spending time with her family, using her treadmill as a clothes hanger, and mindlessly scrolling through TikTok and Instagram. She's also an advocate for melanoma awareness, having been diagnosed with stage 1b melanoma in 2017.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 27, 2019
In the future, when scientists and researchers have discovered how to transplant the brains of the terminally ill into new bodies, and later how to capture memories and personal experiences on a hard drive to insert in the brain of a new body, despite these breakthroughs, human nature is to fear the different or unknown. So the "dead," as they are called, are shunned and evacuated from the communities of the Living, kept outside patrolled walls. One young woman decides to do good despite the societal strictures and despite the fact that her mother is the governor of the community. As often as possible, Zaila Lockhart goes over the wall, locating provisions including clothing, and distributing them to families in need, of which there are so many. THE LIVING AND THE DEAD is a romantic YA Dystopian, with a strong female protagonist bent on doing good and learning truth. I think this novel will be very appealing to readers of this genre, and to any reader who admires a determined heroine.
March 6, 2019
I had my difficulties with this story. The timeline felt mixed up, with the “inhumans” forbidden for 50 years but still new ones were made (ok, there is an explanation given but still). Also Pax mentioned living outside the colony in his youth (approx 10 years ago) but on the other hand the colonies were described as the way of living since a long time. Other things, like the high tech of the “dead” and the poor living standards in the colonies, seemed strange too. I think it could have spent some more time into world building.
Also, Zaila was too perfect for me at the beginning (cue: “yellow dress”) but then she trusted Pax who literally blackmailed her.
It was pretty clear that Zaila's view of the “hollow ones” as dangerous and inhuman would be revised. And another twist in the story was obvious to me from the beginning.
I am halfway through and I don't see where this is going- does it try to explain what makes one human? Emotions? The hollow ones had those. Free will? The hollow ones had that. The ability to die? Well, they can. So it's maybe more a “humans fight what they don't understand” story. And under this premises, it's done a good job, although not in a mind-blowing way.
Also, Zaila was too perfect for me at the beginning (cue: “yellow dress”) but then she trusted Pax who literally blackmailed her.
It was pretty clear that Zaila's view of the “hollow ones” as dangerous and inhuman would be revised. And another twist in the story was obvious to me from the beginning.
I am halfway through and I don't see where this is going- does it try to explain what makes one human? Emotions? The hollow ones had those. Free will? The hollow ones had that. The ability to die? Well, they can. So it's maybe more a “humans fight what they don't understand” story. And under this premises, it's done a good job, although not in a mind-blowing way.
February 28, 2019
I received a free copy of this book from Hidden Gems in exchange for an honest review.
The Living and the Dead is basically human vs. machine science fiction. It was pretty cliché and nothing original. It was an ok read, it kept moving and I had no trouble getting through it. However, I never felt any attachment to any of the characters and I felt indifferent towards their outcome. The dialogue felt forced and didn’t flow. No one in real life talks the way the characters in the book talked. And the author really likes the word countenance, as evidenced by her overuse of the word, which is seldom heard in every day conversation. She attempted to delve inside the characters heads, but again, it felt forced, superficial and not at all authentic.
If you’re really bored, it passes the time. But I wouldn’t add it to my “must read” list.
The Living and the Dead is basically human vs. machine science fiction. It was pretty cliché and nothing original. It was an ok read, it kept moving and I had no trouble getting through it. However, I never felt any attachment to any of the characters and I felt indifferent towards their outcome. The dialogue felt forced and didn’t flow. No one in real life talks the way the characters in the book talked. And the author really likes the word countenance, as evidenced by her overuse of the word, which is seldom heard in every day conversation. She attempted to delve inside the characters heads, but again, it felt forced, superficial and not at all authentic.
If you’re really bored, it passes the time. But I wouldn’t add it to my “must read” list.
March 3, 2019
I am thankful to Hidden Gems for providing me an ARC.
The whole time when I was reading this book, I felt like i'm watching a dystopian movie like "I, Robort". From the beginning I was hoping for only one thing, there has to be a happy ending. It took a while for me to get into the story, its because I usually don't read books about far ahead future. Anyway, as I moved along to the half of it..i got pretty much intrigued. I was curious all the time what will happen next.
I liked the way how the future was depicted... and people having different perspective about the Hollow ones. It actually made me think, on which side I would be if I were there...!
Overall, I liked the book.
The whole time when I was reading this book, I felt like i'm watching a dystopian movie like "I, Robort". From the beginning I was hoping for only one thing, there has to be a happy ending. It took a while for me to get into the story, its because I usually don't read books about far ahead future. Anyway, as I moved along to the half of it..i got pretty much intrigued. I was curious all the time what will happen next.
I liked the way how the future was depicted... and people having different perspective about the Hollow ones. It actually made me think, on which side I would be if I were there...!
Overall, I liked the book.
April 29, 2023
Outstanding
I was happy, sad, and mad! Was a great book, but I still have questions. The writing depicted a clear vision of the world and made me feel for each character. Highly recommend.
I was happy, sad, and mad! Was a great book, but I still have questions. The writing depicted a clear vision of the world and made me feel for each character. Highly recommend.
October 22, 2016
The start of what will hopefully be another fantastic saga by Sara whose 'Enigma Black' series is one of my all-time favorites! This story beings in 2111 and is told in chapters that alternate in viewpoint between the three main characters: Zaila, Pax and Flint.
Zaila is the daughter of the governor of her colony, the walled off city of Stasia. The walls protect the people from the 'hollow ones', artificial bodies containing the memories and thoughts from the dying in an attempt to live forever. However, society shunned them and eventually battles broke out between the factions leading to the formation of various colonies set up to protect the living. Her only real friend is Pax, a boy in her class.
To help the people in her colony, Zaila sneaks out of the colony in search of food and material goods. On one mission, Pax joins her and they are ambushed by a group of scavengers. Zaila is injured and taken by the scavengers to their base in former Detroit. There she meets Flint, a hollow boy and discovers that things are not what they seem.
I really enjoyed the story as it played out, and once again find myself torn between the characters that Sara has created. I'm really hoping it does become a series as while it is not a cliffhanger ending, the narrative could definitely be extended into another book if not more...
Zaila is the daughter of the governor of her colony, the walled off city of Stasia. The walls protect the people from the 'hollow ones', artificial bodies containing the memories and thoughts from the dying in an attempt to live forever. However, society shunned them and eventually battles broke out between the factions leading to the formation of various colonies set up to protect the living. Her only real friend is Pax, a boy in her class.
To help the people in her colony, Zaila sneaks out of the colony in search of food and material goods. On one mission, Pax joins her and they are ambushed by a group of scavengers. Zaila is injured and taken by the scavengers to their base in former Detroit. There she meets Flint, a hollow boy and discovers that things are not what they seem.
I really enjoyed the story as it played out, and once again find myself torn between the characters that Sara has created. I'm really hoping it does become a series as while it is not a cliffhanger ending, the narrative could definitely be extended into another book if not more...
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews