"Rot & Ruin" by Jonathan Maberry

Title: Rot & Ruin

Author: Jonathan Maberry

Series: Benny Imura, #1

My rating: 5 of 5

(Book re-read on October 21st-22nd, 2013, for a read-along.)

Summary:

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. 

 

  

 

 My Thoughts on the Book:

I first read Rot & Ruin in 2010 when it was published, and I totally fell in love with it, and I've wanted to read it again since then, and I finally did, and I'm so glad that I did. Even though Rot & Ruin for me was one of those memorable books that left me remembering lots of details about them, even after years of reading them, I loved reading it again because of all those tiny details I didn't picked up on the 1st time, because it was my 1st Jonathan Maberry book, but now I totally did.

In Rot & Ruin, we meet Benny Imura, who just turned 15, and now has to find a job, so through his & his best friend's eyes (Chong), we see how their town survives in this post-apocalyptic world. Benny has an older brother Tom, who is a bounty hunter, but because of his own reasons, Benny doesn't like his brother, so he doesn't want to work for him. But, when he ends up not having a choice, he agrees to be Tom's apprentice.

Everything outside their town they call Rot & Ruin, and there's no law in the great rot & ruin, only danger, zombies, and just about everything out there wants to kill you, and when Tom takes Benny outside for the 1st time, Benny's world changes forever.

I love how the author starts gradually introducing Benny's world, and how he thinks everything works & what he thinks about everything & everyone, so you can say Benny is your typical teen in an untypical world, he thinks he knows best and that he's right, while not realising that he's naive when it comes to some things, so that's what makes him quite a realistic character. Also, I love how much Benny changes & grows up through the book, I really love him as a character.

And then there's his brother Tom Imura. Oh, how I love Tom Imura - without doubt Tom is one of my most fav characters ever, he's just so amazing, and I can sing his praises quite a lot, so I'll stop here.

I also really liked Nix, Lilah, Chong, and even Morgie, they were fun & interesting characters, as for the villains in the story, they were quite villainous, and once again I loved seeing them get what they deserved.

Once again I was wrapped up in this story, and couldn't stop reading it, even though I already knew how it ends since I've read it before. Rot & Ruin is one amazing post-apocalyptic YA book, filled with amazing characters, action, zombies, suspense, adventure, heartbreak, and I know it will always be one of my favs, so I can't recommend it enough!

 

 

 

Challenges:

2013 Books-In-A-Series Reading Challenge

2013 Read-along Challenge