Dearly, Departed (Gone With the Respiration, #1) in And So It Begins Reading Challenge

Oct 27, 2016 Darlene rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Steampunk isn’t really my thing, but I really enjoyed this!

The protagonist is Nora Dearly, and the year is 2195. About 150 years before then, global disaster struck. The winters became incredibly long and the North and South Poles disappeared under ice. As a result, people had to migrate to the warmer zones near the equator. Incoming refugees from Canada brought a deadly strain of influenza that killed 25% of people. Famine struck, and then there was the Second American Civil War which used nucl Steampunk isn’t really my thing, but I really enjoyed this!

The protagonist is Nora Dearly, and the year is 2195. About 150 years before then, global disaster struck. The winters became incredibly long and the North and South Poles disappeared under ice. As a result, people had to migrate to the warmer zones near the equator. Incoming refugees from Canada brought a deadly strain of influenza that killed 25% of people. Famine struck, and then there was the Second American Civil War which used nuclear weapons and destroyed the United States. What wasn’t destroyed by the war was decimated when a volcano erupted at Yellowstone. The survivors had to find a way to use bio-fuel and solar power in order to survive. As they reinvented themselves, they settled upon the Victorian era of dress which they felt modeled propriety and class.

Teenage Nora is an orphan. Her mother died when she was just nine years old, and she has just completed the one-year mourning period of her father’s death as the book begins. She is returning home from boarding school to live with her aunt, when she is approached by a man with strange cloudy eyes who tells her that she is in danger. The stranger tells her that he was in the Army with her father, Dr. Victor Dearly, and that her father saved his life. Dr. Dearly was an expert of infectious diseases, and he was head of the Department of Military Health. The stranger insists that Nora needs to come with him, but he is scared off by police constables.

Nora returns to her home, but she is soon attacked by a group of monsters. She is not your typical girly-girl but a force to be reckoned with. She used to watch war movies with her father, so she grabs a weapon and starts shooting. The monsters should be dropping like flies, but they keep coming at her. The soldier that previously gave her the warning returns to help her, and he brings her to safety. The stranger is Bram Griswold, who has been affected by the Lazarus Syndrome or “The Z” named by her father. The virus reanimates the body after death, and the only way that someone afflicted with The Z can be killed is with a hit to the brain. Bram is somewhat of a refined zombie, and he does not feed on flesh. Dr. Dearly discovered methods of feeding the body to keep it from decomposing. There are other zombies, like the Grays who attacked her, who are nothing more than monsters with rotting flesh and exposed muscles and bones. Nora has to learn to trust these undead friends if she wants to survive.

This book was a pleasant surprise! I really enjoyed the world that Habel created, and I loved the different types of zombies. The only thing that I’m not really clear on is how the Lazarus Syndrome developed. Was it from the influenza strain brought by the Canadian refugees, or was it part of the fall-out resulting from the nuclear war? I am not really sure on that.

I honestly never thought that I’d be rooting for a human girl’s romance with a zombie, but Bram’s relationship with Nora was so sweet. I loved how he gained her trust, little by little. Nora is also a wonderful character, who is brave and determined and smart. I am very impressed with Habel’s debut novel, and I will definitely be continuing on in the series!

There were a number of narrators who brought this wonderful book to life! Kim Mai Guest narrated Nora’s parts, and she was new to me. I absolutely loved her. I do not know who narrated the male points of view, but he was fantastic as well.

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Oct 22, 2011 Lisa ILJ rated it liked it

Shelves: 2011

It has taken me a long time to write this review because I have had a hard time deciding what I was going to say. The bottom line is that I didn’t really like this book and the fault is completely mine. I want to be fair to the author and the book and write a review that does not needlessly criticize a book that I think would be enjoyed by a lot of readers.

What I liked. I really liked Nora, I thought she was strongly written character that make good decisions and I could get behind her. She nev It has taken me a long time to write this review because I have had a hard time deciding what I was going to say. The bottom line is that I didn’t really like this book and the fault is completely mine. I want to be fair to the author and the book and write a review that does not needlessly criticize a book that I think would be enjoyed by a lot of readers.

What I liked. I really liked Nora, I thought she was strongly written character that make good decisions and I could get behind her. She never truly presented herself as a damsel in distress and that is always a good thing. I thoroughly enjoyed her voice. Her lingering anger towards her father was a little annoying, but nothing I couldn’t get over. I also really enjoyed reading about the supporting cast of characters, both the good (best friend) and the bad (school nemesis, brother, wannabe suitor). I also really thought the author did a good job on the world building. When mentally picturing the world the story took place in I was able to follow along pretty well. There were a few times where I was confused on how all the locations worked together, but for the most part, a world was created that I could create a picture of what was going on. The other positive, is this has book has stuck with me. I read it a while ago and I still remember it.

What I didn’t like. I really believe that all of these issues are on me and not the fault of the author. The bottom line is I couldn’t get behind the romance. Every time Nora and Bram where together while it was sweet, all I kept thinking was “He’s dead, pieces of him are going to fall off.” Just the thought kept pulling me out of the story. My second problem is that I am just not sure that I love steampunk books. Once again, this is totally my hang up, and nothing to do with the book or the author at all. I don’t know if it was those two things which I have pinpointed, or if it was something else, but this book just did not work for me. It became a bit of a chore to read it.

Bottom line: Please ignore my rating. If you like steampunk and you like zombies and don’t get grossed out by the thought of a romance between a dead person and a living one, run out and grab this book. It is well written and may be the perfect book for you.
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