Can You Survive?

I love Simon and Shuster’s GalleyGrab program. I have been able to get the opportunity to read some great titles, and check out books I never would have tried before.  On a whim I decided to grab Can Your Survive the Zombie Apocalypse?  This book releases today, make sure to track down a copy.

 

Ever since LTUE last year I have had a growing interest in zombies. 

 

I am pretty much a wimp; I don’t do anything that’s scary. Zombies for me are parts of horror films and not in the type of books I like to read, but when I went to the LTUE panels about zombies I loved hearing how they have transformed over the years.  Now Zombies are deeply rooted in ideas of dystopia and the end of the world. 

 

This book by Max Brallier is pretty awesome because it is just like those choose your own adventure books you loved as a kid but this one is for adults.  I was excited to see an adult choose your own adventure because I have been secretly longing for the opportunity to read such a book, even a kid’s one again. The zombie apocalypse is a perfect background for a choose your own story structure.  I also really enjoyed the quality of the writing.

 

Do you want to know the best part about Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? I survived a lot longer than I ever did as a kid.  When it comes down to it, no, I cannot survive.  And while that may be a little disappointing living longer than 5 page turns has it’s perks too.  The unique part about the path that I took was that it was the government that ended up taking me out, in true dystopian style.  I was able to ward off the zombies just fine, but I made the mistake of trusting the government and they killed me for it.

 

I think that zombies are the perfect type of story to use the second person perspective with.  Even in my writing above you can see how engrossing reading the story feels.  The writing is so attainable, realistic, that I don’t feel a disconnect that I often felt when I read these stories as a kid.  I couldn’t taste and smell those worlds.

 

The story sets up pretty well, telling you who you are and how you normally act. You are a 20 something at a job you don’t like when a zombie outbreak takes over Manhattan. You stand in horror in your New York City office.  But that is just where the fun begins.  There are 150 paths, 75 endings, and the best part, the countless references paying homage to zombie culture.  I also especially liked the great illustrations that really brought me back to my original choose your own adventure experience.