"Mortality" by Kellie Sheridan

Release Date: March 19, 2013
Publisher: Self-Pub
Pages: 271

From Goodreads: "After surviving a deadly plague outbreak, sixteen-year-old Savannah thought she had lived through the very worst of human history. There was no way to know that the miracle vaccine would put everyone at risk for a fate worse than un-death. 

Now, two very different kinds of infected walk the Earth, intent on nothing but feeding and destroying what little remains of civilization. When the inoculated are bitten, infection means watching on in silent horror as self-control disappears and the idea of feasting on loved ones becomes increasingly hard to ignore.

Starving and forced to live inside of the abandoned high school, all Savannah wants is the chance to fight back. When a strange boy arrives with a plan to set everything right, she gets her chance. Meeting Cole changes everything. Mere survival will never be enough."

While I love all paranormal beings, I must admit that zombies are by far my most favourite (I'm totally one of those people counting down the days until the zombie Apocalypse). Therefore when I heard about this book I knew that I HAD to get my hands on it. After having finished reading it, my overall impression of this book is, "OMG, Savannah is bad-ass." While she was the only girl running in her group of boys, she certainly never let that drag her down, going toe-to-toe with them on a number of instances. Furthermore, her loyalty to said boys was second to none- she was willing to sacrifice her own safety for them time and time again. That being said, she wasn't perfect, at times she didn't make the wisest of  decisions, but I do think that that made her much more relatable to the reader.

Therefore, because I liked Savannah so much, I must admit that I did put up a bit of a fight when it came to Zarah's side of the story (alternating chapters)- I didn't want to let Savannah and her gang go. However, I do think that Zarah's story is necessary to the book, it completely changes our perception/ understanding of what these zombies are. And after learning what they truly are you can't help but... pity them. Furthermore, Zarah and Liam's relationship brought the FEELS quite unlike those experienced in Savvy's side of the story.

All in all, I think that this was an amazing debut from author Kellie Sheridan! I think that this will equally appeal to male and female readers and those of all ages. Furthermore, I believe that zombie fans will appreciate Kellie's different take on thegenre (differing "waves" of zombies, zombies who react to the climate, and so forth). I cannot wait to see what she has in store for us in the next installment of her "The Hitchhiker Strain" series and I highly recommend checking out the prequel to this, "End Dayz", to have a better understanding of how the zombie Apocalypse came to be and how it truly impacted the characters lives.

Rating: 4/5

I received this book from the author to read and honestly review. I was not compensated in any way for said review.