RATING: 
(Benny Imura #1)
In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn’t want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash, but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human.
Literary Awards: 2010 Bram Stoker Award Nominee for Best Novel; 2010 Cybils Award for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction; 2011 YALSA Fiction for Young Adults
*****
Closure isn’t closure until someone’s ready to close the door.
RELENTLESS.
Rot & Ruin intensified my ultimate love for reading in full force! Once again i was duped by a zombie book – and still i was deliriously happy to be duped because this is unlike any other zombie read i’ve had. Rot & Ruin actually reminded me of The Knife of Never Lettting Go by Patrick Ness – i never know where the author will take me! Every chapter end is as nail-biting as they come! The non-stop action, the constant feisty humor, the unforgettable nuggets of wisdom about life, love & family – these elements made Rot & Ruin truly deserving of literary awards and nominations.
I have a love-hate relationship with Benny. But given he’s fifteen, i think it’s natural that he’s immature, vindictive, and thinks only of himself. I’m irritated with him most of Part 1, but i think this kind of portrayal of him is necessary so I can connect with him in the end in so many levels. Later on, Benny grew up, became remorseful and thought that there is life besides hating zombies and worrying about his daily rations.
Now, i am in love with Tom Imura! Such patience to his half brother Benny, such conviction to his work, and such lethal ability towards zombies and bounty hunters alike – surely this is one hero that deserves my worship 🙂 and i am so raising the roof for Tom. woot woot!
Rot & Ruin is a gripping, shocking, soulful read – definitely a must read for all dystopian and post-apocalytic lovers out there. It made me realize that besides the obvious abomination that are the zombies, the cruelest monsters (more often than not) are humans.
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.: maria :.
“giving up is the ultimate tragedy.”
reading is the ultimate aphrodisiac. 