Review: Mortality by Kellie Sheridan

What: Mortality (The Hitchhiker Strain #1) by Kellie Sheridan

Who: Patchwork Press

When: 2013

How: A copy of this novel was provided on behalf of Patchwork Press via Net Galley.

After surviving a deadly plague outbreak, sixteen-year-old Savannah thought she had lived through the very worst of human history. There was no way to know that the miracle vaccine would put everyone at risk for a fate worse than un-death.

Now, two very different kinds of infected walk the Earth, intent on nothing but feeding and destroying what little remains of civilization. When the inoculated are bitten, infection means watching on in silent horror as self-control disappears and the idea of feasting on loved ones becomes increasingly hard to ignore.

Starving and forced to live inside of the abandoned high school, all Savannah wants is the chance to fight back. When a strange boy arrives with a plan to set everything right, she gets her chance. Meeting Cole changes everything. Mere survival will never be enough.

Since the second wave of infection practically decimated the human population, those remaining have been hiding in abandoned houses, or in Savannah Cooper’s case – abandoned high schools. Bored with her current state of living, Savannah yearns to be out in the big bag world; fighting the undead. And then one day, her wish comes true. Savannah and her friends are sent out on a mission to gather some medical supplies for their community. This mission is the event that changes everything.

I was so, SO close to giving Mortality four stars. I read it so quickly, I was loving every second of it. There are only two things that stopped me from giving this book four stars.

The first is the different tenses used between the chapters. The book has two main characters; Savannah, and Zarah. Savannah’s chapters are told in the past tense, whereas Zarah’s are told in the present. I didn’t really understand this, as some of Zarah’s chapters were set a while before any of Savannah’s, which was kind of confusing. Perhaps it was so the chapters could be easily distinguished, but each was titled according to name, and they both had very different character voices.

The second reason for my refrain of giving this novel four stars is the ending. The last chapter seemed to jam-packed with information. So many things happened at once, and something happens to one of my favourite characters, and the ending elicited a: what the? response from me. Such a random last sentence.

What I loved about this book was the writing style. It was engaging, and easy to read, and I really enjoyed it.

Savannah was a kick-ass female character, and I warmed to her immediately. She didn’t feel unrealistic, as strong female characters in YA books often do, and I felt that she was a believable character facing the zombie apocalypse.

There was one chapter that I absolutely ADORED, and it made me laugh about 100 times, but if I reveal anything, then it will take away a major surprise, so I will just say that it is a Zarah chapter towards the middle of the book.

I liked Cole as a character, and I am hoping we will learn more about him in the second book (maybe some Cole POV chapters? I would really like that).

The romance in this novel took a back seat pretty much the whole way through (at least for Savannah’s character), and I really liked this. It meant that the plot of the story didn’t centre on teenage romance, and that the state of the world and the zombies were highlighted and focused on. There was a tiny bit of insta-love, but I didn’t really mind, because, hey, they are living through the zombie apocalypse; I don’t think there’s time for flirting and guessing.

Overall, I did really enjoy this novel, and I can’t wait to read Duality, due to be released in December 2013. I am really eager to know what happens to all of the characters, and how/if the zombies are eventually defeated.

© 2013, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity. All rights reserved.