Review: Generation Dead (Generation Dead #1) by Daniel Waters

Title: Generation Dead

Author: Daniel Waters

Series: Generation Dead
            1. Generation Dead
            2. Kiss of Life
            3. Passing Strange

Format: Hardcover (392  pages)

Release Date: May 6, 2008

Genre(s): YA, Paranormal Romance, Horror, Fantasy, Drama

Rating:

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Summary

Phoebe Kendall is just your typical Goth girl with a crush. He’s strong and silent…and dead.

All over the country, a strange phenomenon is occurring. Some teenagers who die aren't staying dead. But when they come back to life, they are no longer the same. Feared and misunderstood, they are doing their best to blend into a society that doesn’t want them.

The administration at Oakvale High attempts to be more welcoming of the “differently biotic." But the students don’t want to take classes or eat in the cafeteria next to someone who isn’t breathing. And there are no laws that exist to protect the “living impaired” from the people who want them to disappear—for good.

When Phoebe falls for Tommy Williams, the leader of the dead kids, no one can believe it; not her best friend, Margi, and especially not her neighbor, Adam, the star of the football team. Adam has feelings for Phoebe that run much deeper than just friendship; he would do anything for her. But what if protecting Tommy is the one thing that would make her happy? Source

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Review

Plot: In Generation Dead, zombies are not a sign of the end of the world nor are they a hidden creature. They live among the living and are only young Americans. I was very curious why this was happening to a select group, but there was very little actually discovered apparently. In the book, scientists are trying to find out why it is happening, but I wish there was some progression so the reader wasn't so confused on how there are zombies. Besides that, the book is set in third person but has multiple viewpoints throughout the book, but the main character followed is Phoebe. She has a crush on Tommy who is a living impaired student at her school. He becomes more of a spectacle when he wants to go out for the school's football team. Throughout the book, you can see one football player's animosity towards Tommy grow to the point where he plans to hurt him. There is a lot that goes on in a book, but is slow at times. It is hard to sum up the book because there were so many questions left unanswered and so many things that were happening.

Character(s): Phoebe - I'm not completely sure whether or not I like her. I loved that she stuck up for Tommy and the other living impaired, but I wondered if she would have still done it if she wasn't into Tommy. I wish they went more into Phoebe before meeting Tommy because it seemed like there was no life to Phoebe before Tommy and the living impaired walked into her school. She does have personality and some fire in her, but I also wish there was more than just living impaired on her brain sometimes.
Tommy - He was definitely a person I wish we followed more. I wish it was more in his viewpoint since we all know how humans feel and it would be nice to go just between first person POV with Phoebe and Tommy. At first, I thought he was a great guy but after Phoebe started questioning his actions and how he acted towards her, I didn't know if he was what I thought he was. Hopefully, we learn more about him in later books.
Adam - I have to talk about him because he is a favorite of mine. I loved how simple his life was but also how much of an underdog he is in the book even though other characters assume he is not. He has feelings for Phoebe but they go completely unrequited or not recognized because her focus is on Tommy. I honestly wish he got some good luck because he absolutely none in this book, even after he continually helped Phoebe out. I'm hoping he gets more credit and is actually in Phoebe's focus now.

Cover: I love this cover because it reminds me of The Ghost and the Goth cover. It's bright and colorful, which is great when you're finding summer reads, but also has the darkness of paranormal from the cheerleader. It's beautiful and glad the rest of the series' covers look awesome as well.

Closing Thoughts: I'm giving this book a three out of four because it was interesting to read but not enough..."wow" factor. I wish there was something huge that happened or that the characters had a little more obstacles, but this is just the first installment. I would still recommend this because it is a fun read, but it is just a bit slow sometimes. However, I'm still going forward with the rest of the series because I really want to see what happens to the characters after this first book.

Where to find Daniel:

Website l Facebook l Twitter l Goodreads

Peace and Fangs,

Alisha