Title: The Other Life (The Other Life #1)
by Susanne WinnackerPublishing Info: February 1, 2012 by Skyscape
Source: Netgalley
Genres: Apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Young Adult, Zombies
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: August 4, 2012
Sherry has lived with her family in a sealed bunker since things went wrong up above. But when they run out of food, Sherry and her dad must venture outside. There they find a world of devastation, desolation...and the Weepers: savage, mutant killers.
When Sherry's dad is snatched, she joins forces with gorgeous but troubled Joshua - an Avenger, determined to destroy the Weepers.
But can Sherry keep her family and Joshua safe, when his desire for vengeance threatens them all?
Breaking It Down Further: After a vicious virus spreads throughout California, Sherry and her family have spent the last few years in a bunker, tucked safely away. When Sherry’s family runs out of food, she and her father venture out into the danger zone, where the Weepers roam. Weepers, the creatures that have become of the virus – former humans turned animalistic and vicious killers. Now out of the bunker, Sherry feels responsible for the safety of her family.
Well, I actually felt like I’ve read this story before… in the sense that it felt like several other zombie/post-apocalyptic stories. I felt like the plot wasn’t that original, but even still I enjoyed reading it.
I really liked the relationship between Sherry and her younger siblings. I liked her younger brother Bobby who seemed to look up to Sherry even though he likes acting tough. I adored little Mia, Sherry’s youngest sister, and how protective Sherry was of her.
Unfortunately I think too much of the things I didn’t like stand out more than the ones I did. The whole counting the days thing really bothered me. Sherry kept counting, “It’s been this many days since…” (I had chicken, I ate chocolate, I felt rain) — But really? Does she really know the exact last day she had chocolate? Did she really start keeping track of the last time she laughed without feeling guilt? That’s way too many things to keep track of.
I also didn’t really like the concept of the Weepers. I understand some regular zombie plots, but for a virus to change a person’s physically appearance so drastically? I’m not sure I bought it.
I didn’t really feel the romantic connection between Sherry and Joshua either. It felt a bit like the typical bad-boy plot, and just a little bit of insta-love. I can see how you might connect with someone so quickly when there are so few people left, but still.
Skip it
Just okay. It was worth finishing the book but it’s not my favorite!
10 thoughts on “The Other Life (or The Weepers) – Susanne Winnacker”
Aw, man. :{ I was hoping this would be good. It had so much potential… I’ll still be reading it though. Maybe I’ll like it more than you did. Thanks for the review! ^__^
For sure! I’d say definitely still check it out! You never know 🙂
I was wondering if I should read that one… I guess I won’t now 😉 The Passage was a great book, but SO LONG that by the end of it I just wanted to get it over with. Are you planning on reading Book 2 (I think it’s called The Twelve, but I may be wrong)?
Yeah, I’d say this would be an okay one to skip. It wasn’t bad but I wouldn’t really recommend it! 🙂
I AM planning to read The Twelve – I agree, the Passage was suuuper long, but I ended up enjoying it a lot. I was upset that it was cut halfway through into two seemingly non-related stories (even though they tied together later). I felt like I read a whole book and then started a brand new one!
I haven’t really read any reviews of this that were anything but “eh, it was okay.” I’m not really wanting to read this – not really feeling the plot. Glad you tried it out though! 🙂
Yeah, I probably wouldn’t recommend it! It wasn’t bad but just really average. If I hadn’t gotten it from Netgalley, I probably wouldn’t have picked it up. I’m glad I tried it too! Sometimes I almost feel good about not liking a book if that makes sense. It just makes me realize how my taste in books evolve and I like being able to analyze what I liked and what I didn’t 🙂
It does make sense! Sometimes I think I’m able to be more analytical of books if I don’t like them and give a more honest review. Because if I like a book, 9/10 times I usually just fan girl over it and use lots of exclamation points!
Hahaha same here!!! I definitely agree. If I find things that I don’t like, I can take a step back and actually analyze. With books that I adored it’s basically like <3 <3 googly eyes!! <3 <3 Okay…. Maybe not that bad! But it's hard for me to break it down if I loved it so much 🙂
Yeah, I was a bit unimpressed by this too. I mean it was okay…but that’s it. I was hoping for something super awesome but it ended up being fairly generic. The ending was pretty interesting but it felt like too little, too late.
I totally agree. It did start to get interesting towards the end, but it was like everything lead up to that was just “meh” – Not bad (some parts I rolled my eyes at though) but nothing to really stand out.