Review Detail

When I first picked up Contaminated, it sounded like the average run of the mill zombie book. And don't get me wrong, I love those books. They are great to bring to the beach or to curl up under the covers with at night. But Contaminated is so much more.

Velvet narrates her experiences with the "zombie plague". She is quick to explain that that's just what the government thought- zombies-just like in the movies and popular tv shows. This leads the government( and society) to mass murder of people who, aren't really zombies at all, but contaminated with a disease that ate at parts of their brains. This disease was transmitted in a weight loss drink. The whole scenario makes the events in the book seem more plausible than any other description of a "zombie plague."

Contaminated is not your average zombie book. It isn't the sort of book that describes how people hunting down zombies or goes into gory details about how zombies are violently attacking civilians and eating them. The book focuses more on the reality behind what happened first and how society tries to rebuilds itself. It makes you think of the bigger picture- not just what would happen if there were "zombies". What happens when the government is wrong? What if we follow orders from others without thinking, without using are brains- what happens if we are the zombies?

Em Garner is a fantastic world builder, who creates a story that teens and adults can connect to without feeling weighed down by too much details. If you are looking for a lit summer read that has some depth- read Contaminated. Zombie lovers will enjoy the book and those who like stories of survival, family, and the power of the human mind will never want to put this book down. Can't wait to read more from Em Garner.