Review: Passing Strange by Daniel Waters







Stats:

Publisher:

Hyperion

Series:

3rd A Generation Dead Novel

Passing Strange is a companion novel to Daniel Waters Generation Dead series. I wasn't really engaged with the first book in the series, but I'm very glad I picked this book up.

Karen Desonne is the narrator of this tale. In the town of Oakvale the dead teens who return to life are facing a lot of problems. Though they all were initially tolerated and even allowed to attend school, discrimination is now rearing it's ugly head.

Karen however is having a different experience. Unlike he fellow zombies Karen has been able to pass as normal . It's not something she planned but she enjoys it.
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She still has a place with her zombie friends and at a gathering she is at the center of an attack by some anti- zombie zealots.

Karen is attacked and she feels a strange relief knowing that now at last she will be revealed for what she is. Instead she wakes to find herself healed.

Karen also finds that her friends are wanted for murder. While at work Karen attracts the attention of Pete Martinsburg and learns that he and his fellow zombie haters arranged the whole thing with a fake victim and masks.

Karen now makes the bravest choice of her afterlife, she decides to date Pete in order to expose his crime. As she follows through with her plan we learn about Karen's past and the lost love that caused her to devalue her life.

I really connected with Karen in this book. She is a ghost in her afterlife and her families lives. The deep emotions that led her to take her life are still with her. By deciding to put herself at risk for her friends she begins to heal and face the demons in her past.

Not your typical zombie novel, there is lots of dramatic tension , but it's the quieter gentler moments that make this book a memorable read.

This book beautifully handles difficult topics and will speak to teens and adults alike.