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Teen Read Week: Book Review-Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

Teen Read Week Friday: Seek the Unknown-Book Review “Rot & Ruin” by Jonathan Maberry

Rot & Ruin (Benny Imura #1)It has been almost fourteen years since First Night, when the zombie plague took over the world turning millions into the living dead. Most of those who remain live in small towns surrounded by guarded fences, believing they are “safe” from the zoms that roam the Rot & Ruin, the area that used to be the rest of America.

Benny Imura has just turned 15, the magic age where you must find a job or risk losing your food rations. He has a guaranteed spot in the family business although he’s willing to try anything to avoid it. Benny’s brother Tom Imura is a revered zombie hunter, but Benny’s hatred for Tom runs deep, all the way back to the night their parents lost their human lives.

Tom wants to show Benny what the Rot & Ruin is really like, opposed to the notorious tales of other bounty hunters or the fun of trading and collecting Zombie Cards, which bare images of famed zoms, and bounty hunters. What Benny encounters on his journey coupled with finding a rare Zombie Card of the “Lost Girl”, who is supposed to be legend, may change everything Benny has ever believed. The action that follows will pit good and evil and the living dead may be the least of Benny’s fears out in the Rot & Ruin.

Why I picked up the book: It is a Soaring Eagle Nominee this year. It has been popular since it was released and I’ve always thought about picking it up. We needed a book to start off our book club at Roosevelt and many of the members of our group requested it last year.

Why I finished it: It isn’t what I expected. I thought it would start right off with zombie killing but it is more like a teenage boy trying to find his place in a world that just happens to be filled with zombies. That said, there are plenty of zombie fight scenes!

I’d give to it: Anyone who wants zombies, such as fans of The Enemy by Charlie Higson. Fans of post-apocalypse fiction, like Ashfall by Mike Mullin.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars (Really Liked It!)

Review by Jenn, YA Librarian (View all my Goodreads reviews)

Want to read it? Click here to place the book on hold!

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