This week
started off with a bang. A nearly apocalyptic bang. For this week, I read Servant to the Emerald, a tale of the
zombie apocalypse with plenty of bang. This eerie road-trip tale has plenty of
action and romance. Fans of zombie tales will be draw in by the creeping
creepiness, fans of YA will enjoy the young characters and romance, and fans of
sci-fi will be sucked in by the enduring mystery. Much like The Forest of Hands and Teeth with a
modern twist, Servant to the Emerald makes
a perfect light read. Though the text can be choppy and could have benefited
from a good editor in places—and though the characters can sometimes come off
as a little too simple—this is one book I wasn’t able to put down.
 |
| The sky's been decorated for the most depressing Christmas ever. |
As the
story starts, we meet Amy, a young girl who’s biggest problems are school and
dealing with her grandparents. That all changes when, on a weekend trip to her
grandparents’ farm, she wakes up to find that the farm—and all of Canada —has been
charboiled by some mysterious force. All the animals are dead. Her
grandparents’ house has been demolished. Scavenging in the ruins, Amy grabs
some weapons, food, and jumps on her beloved horse Emily as the two ride off
into a zombie-infested wasteland, in hopes of learning what has happened to her
family. The aura of mystery urged me to keep reading, even as I did notice a
few flaws in the plot’s logic.
Soon she
encounters Eric, a handsome boy her age who happens to be a trained marksman.
Lucky find! With Eric, she encounters and kills her first zombie. In this
story, the zombies have eerie green eyes and acidic green blood. There’s a very
sci-fi vibe to them—it feels more like an alien invasion story than a zombie
apocalypse, but in a fresh way. The party soon gains a third member in Cassie,
a victim of abduction who’s been forced to work as a sex slave for the past few
years. Together, they set out on a road trip from hell in an attempt to figure
out what’s happened to the world. Mad scientists and creepy pregnant women
abound. Tragedy nips at our heroine’s heels.
Servant to the Emerald doesn’t read like
a professionally published book, for all its strong storytelling. It can be
heavy-handed at times, and focuses more on telling us, not showing us, the
characters emotions. It could have benefited from a good editor. I also
thought the climax could have been moved up a little earlier—the climax in the
text is located slightly after the emotional climax of the book.
The POV can
be choppy in places, and I didn’t like the way the author switched back and
forth between Amy’s first person narrative and a third person omniscient POV.
The third person omni POV is a longstanding pet peeve of mine, mainly because I
feel like it’s a cheap way to show how characters really feel without using
descriptive language to convey their true emotions. Also, it’s quite confusing
to go from first to third person without warning. The first time this switch
happened, I wasn’t sure what was happening. Switching narrators is one thing,
but switching person is unnecessary and confusing.
Highs: Suspense.
This is one book that kept me reading until the last page. Character
development. I enjoyed seeing how Amy grew and matured over the course of the
book. Mystery. The story behind the crisis is revealed slowly, with every bit
luring you to read more. Creepiness. One part, where Amy and her friends stay
in an abandoned hospital, sent shivers up my spine.
Lows: Heavy
writing. There could have been a lot more description and a lot less saying “he
felt bad” or “she was scared”. Plot gifts. It’s awfully convenient that the
first person Amy meets after the cataclysm is a handsome boy her age who knows
how to use a gun.
Did I like this story? Yes. Would I
read it again? Yes. Would I recommend it to people who like YA zombie stories? Yes.
My rating? As a YA zombie story, four and a half stars out of five. As a novel,
three and a half stars.
--Liz Ellor, O43
No comments:
Post a Comment