Twilight Of The Dead (Special Edition) Book

It's rare that I'm this disappointed by a book, but hey, I guess that's what happens when you pick a novel by random. But I was intrigued when I saw the blurb: zombies, dystopia, and an ass-kicking female protagonist? Count me in, I thought. But oh boy was I wrong getting my hopes high. And it wasn't because of the story - which is cliche - because this is a zombie book, so of course it's going to be cliche. But it's because of the protagonist. And Christ on a cracker, is she ever cringe-worthy. I lost count of how many times I shook my head reading this book.

But let me explain myself. Courtney is supposed to be this strong, ball-busting lady, right? I mean just read the blurb. Even the cover is supposed to hint that. But quite frankly, she's childish as hell. I know that's she's only 22, but it's just scratches the brain to constantly read how she calls pretty much everyone either gross, or a freak, or annoying. The only thing I can understand is that she can equally hate everyone. Not that it makes much sense for her to the one to save the world from a zombie invasion, but anyway.

Courtney seems to think that the world revolves around her. She keeps grudges, she hates anyone who looks at her wrong and by the looks of it, she despises men. She gets pissy when a guy asks her to climb a ladder first or tries to help her unfasten her seat belt when she's hammered because - and get this - she thinks the men are undermining her and making her look weak. So many times I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and try and shake some sense into her because all these things that make her act like a bitch are not a big deal. No one is undermining her, it's just some guys being nice to her. But no, tough ol' Courtney doesn't need no man being polite to her.

This isn't some character being a hardcore feminist (which would pretty damn annoying on its own), it's the protagonist being so damn insecure that it becomes tedious. It gets to the point where she can't even take a joke. So all this really made me side with the guys.

And speaking of that, here's another thing that bugs me to no end. The blurb (and Courtney herself) keep calling Leon a jerk and things like that, but let's take a step back and try and figure out exactly what makes him such an ass. At the beginning of the book he brings our protagonist some breakfast (+1 for not-asshole), he apologizes for being mean to her five years prior (+1), he makes a crass comment on her laundry (-1), tries to get her out of her rut (+1), helps her drunken ass home (+1). So yeah, what an asshole. [/sarcasm] Basically, besides the fact that he did something jerk-like to her years ago, the only reason we're supposed to hate Leon is because the protagonist keeps telling us to.

But let's get to the action parts. Our protag seems to be able to handle herself - no complaints there, so at least she's got that going for her. She doesn't really come off as such a badass when she's talking to the villain, but that's no big deal. What is a big deal, though is how she acts after she and her friends get attacked. After witnessing her buddies either dying or being basically mutilated, Courtney starts to worry about her burned pinky finger, whining that it's going to be deformed for the rest of her life. Gee, yeah lady, the guy sitting next to you has two massive gashes in his back, but oh no, your pinky is burned forever! Isn't that a major problem?

Okay, so now that I've bitched (way to much) about our main character, I have to assure you that this isn't the sole reason I dislike this book. It's also the writing and the pacing. The writing comes across as... newbie-ish. Like how the villain "smiled a very creepy smile" or Courtney's puking is just described as "gross" and nothing more. Then there's the pacing, which is all over the place. But to give you a better view of this, just know that there's an entire chapter dedicated to Courtney dressing up for her mission. Yep. Also, the book ends like it's been severed by someone. It's just abrupt as hell, so don't expect much resolution. All in all, I'd suggest giving this one a pass. There's nothing memorable about it, and will probably just give you a headache.