The Undying is an apocalyptic thriller and was sold as similar to The Walking Dead. Jeanie and Ben, two American tourists must get to the Arc de Triomphe as it’s, supposedly, a rescue point. On the way, they find two of their friends and a newly born baby.
The Undying could have been so good. The premise was what made me want to read it. I really did want to like it. I thought it would help me get over the awful apocalyptic book that is A Mathematical State of Grace. Unfortunately They Undying just didn’t live up to my expectations.
I enjoyed the first chapter, we were straight into the aftermath of an apocalyptic zombie style event. Unfortunately, the second chapter skipped back to before it occurred. I switched off a bit because I knew something bad was going to happen and I just really wanted it to start straight away. The characters introduced in the second chapter, were glaringly obviously missing in the first. Jeanie and the baby are clearly going to survive because they’re present in the first chapter.
I really enjoyed learning about the zombies, as much as our characters could when on the run. The zombies could get into your head slightly, they fed off emotions which was unique. They’re also not The Walking Dead style zombies, they can be quick and they evolve and get stronger as the apocalypse goes on.
Zou Zou, our resident Parisian was a walking stereotype. Plus, the characters kept speaking French. But in the middle of English sentences. I couldn’t immerse myself in this world because I had to stop and try and translate the characters. I took French at GCSE, and I was struggling. Anyone who doesn’t know any French would not be able to read The Undying properly.
As we follow Jeanie through her first day of the apocalypse, it flashes back to her losing her father to cancer. There’s a slight analogy between the horrible things happening to Jeanie and the loss of her father. I understand there’s a message trying to be conveyed. I just wasn’t convinced to care about Jeanie, so I just didn’t feel for her the way I think I was meant to.
The baby in the story is an odd plot device. Even the other characters think Jeanie is stupid for taking the baby with them. The baby is meant to give Jeanie a reason to continue fighting and moving forward. But, it felt quite flat and a stupid decision made purely for plot furthering. I would have suggested the baby being Jeanie’s or Zou Zou’s to make it feel more genuine. I think making it a family relation or a close friend’s child would have made it more obvious that Jeanie had to take the baby.
The zombies or moribund were amazingly written. Unfortunately all the effort seemed to be towards making the perfect horror zombie. Therefore the characters and plot suffered. It would have worked so much better if the book didn’t start at the end. We could have learnt to love characters and actually felt something when we lost them. The thriller aspect could have been improved upon if I thought the main character was actually at risk of dying.
I received The Undying* by Ethan Reid as an e-book from the publisher via Netgalley. This is an unbiased and honest review.
