(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
From a very early age, I remember I really liked Choose Your Own Adventure books. I used to look in charity shops for different ones. So when I had the opportunity to request a copy of a zombie interactive book… I jumped at the chance.
I found this book a really entertaining, engaging read. I particularly liked the opportunity to get bitten and continue on as a zombie. I also really liked the fact that there was some overlap with the different storylines. For instance, when you get bitten, you can go to places you as a non-zombie can go.
I was a little bit disappointed by the fact that the player-character wasn’t as explored as he could have been. There was very little about the personal life and I would have liked a bit more background. I can understand why the author didn’t go into a lot of detail… but I think it would have added more to the storyline to know the details.
Out of the three totally different storylines, I think I liked the one with Lucas and Rosie the best. There was more of a sense of camaraderie in that group than in Cooper’s. I think Lucas and Rosie were much more honourable characters… not to mention that Cooper’s group did make a couple of silly mistakes.
Although I know it’s nearly impossible to account for every variable, there were some parts where I thought that knowledge I as a reader would have gained was ignored. There was also at least one occasion where two different choices led to the exact same page.
When it came to playing a zombie, it was interesting to see the kind of thoughts going through its mind. On the other side, it seemed like the zombies were completely mindless… but there was as least some cognitive processes, at least when it came to getting food.
I would definitely be interested in reading the other book/s in this series at some point in the future. If you like zombie fiction and like books that give you some form of control over the story, I would definitely recommend this book as being entertaining and well-written.
Ink of Blood 