Dearly, Departed: A Zombie Novel

Dearly, Departed: A Zombie Novel - Lia Habel "Hey, she's hot. Literally. And circulation, I find that very, very attractive in a woman."
In a world where more than half the population is undead, having a heartbeat and circulatory system that still works is a plus in the dating pool.

I was curious and excited about this steampunk, zombie romance. In the year 2195 the world as we currently know it doesn't exist and there is a new Victorian society full of hollagrams, steam carriages and computers. One day Nora Dearly meets a new group. Soldiers who although infected with the zombie virus are still functioning and sane. Here she meets Abraham Griswold and life is not the same for either.

I enjoyed the overall story. The steampunk and romance aspects are very subtle. Both Nora and Bram were likeable characters full of spunk and heart. I did have a hard time with Bram being a slowly rotting corpse and all... It was very hard to think of him as "sexy" when I kept wondering if he smelled or... he's a walking corpse! Yet, I pushed. Somehow it works.

The story is told through different POVs and that's where it gets tricky. I didn't like Nora's friend Pamela. Unfortunately she has a lot of story time and I couldn't just ignore it. She was dull. Whiny. Boring. I found myself skimming her chapters and wishing she would get attacked and become a zombie.

Without Pamela this would have been a 4 star book but because she takes up at least a quarter of the book - 3 stars.