Zombified:

After waking up in a strange, ruined town, Avery finds herself alone, with absolutely no other survivor than her in the ghastly town. To add insult to injury, she realizes that she has amnesia - a hindrance that prevents her from finding a plausible story (or reason) for the unexplainable event. Avery is horrified to know that almost all the Pokémon-friendly creatures-have been zombified by a dark, eerie force intending to destroy the whole Pokémon World. With the help from a few other survivors, will Avery be able to save the Pokémon World before it's too late? Or will fear become the source of her failure, bringing the whole world down to its doom?

F. E. A. R.

Forget Everything And Run; or

Face Everything And Rise?

It's time to find out.

Genre: Fanfiction

Scarlet (@Scarlet_Regnar)'s review:

This book, although on the short side and uncompleted, has become one of my favorite fics. Plotwise, the zombie setting was surprisingly believable, as I've seen so many zombie video games that I'm a bit numb to the genre. Each character was unique and fleshed out, and both the dialogue itself and the motions of the characters while talking were executed perfectly. The imagery was also commendable, as I could see things in my head as they happened. Also, amnesia is used a lot in fics recently, but this book handled it well, as the main character does begin to remember bits and pieces as she goes along. The fic also doesn't drag, much with the help of the mysterious "voice in the head", that I'm sure we'll see more of to come.

The two bits that lost me were the humanness of the zombies and the element of the sages, which may be expanded on if the book's continued. To me, it's beyond suspension of disbelief when the zombies can not only talk and think like humans, but train Pokemon like humans also. They seemed more like an evil team than dead people.

Also, i'm not a big fan of the whole "sages and prophecy" bit. It's been done a lot, and she basically told "you're the chosen one" with no explanation of how they know this and what she's supposed to do.

One last confusing bit was the grass gym with the phlegmy environment. Whatever that was / had happened was left hanging in the wind and I'm not sure how that was important besides a reason for Nina to get kidnapped.

But overall, the writing and story is top notch and does a lot better than my own writing. I hope to see more and maybe modify my criticisms as my questions are answered

Scarlet's Rating: 8.0 / 10

Thorn (@The_Dragons_Thorn)'s review:

If you didn't know already we are reviewing the book "Zombified" By our very own @Luminescence22. To be completely blunt and honest I absolutely love this book I was hooked, but as there is with almost all books there are some problems, this book for example has a very common plot, the main character, Avery, has amnesia this is seen in a lot of books and I mean a lot, and she has a connection with the champion and other famous figures in the Pokemon world. Now don't get me wrong I don't hate the plot it's just that it is used way too much nowadays, but there are good thing about the plot as well instead of having powerful Pokemon she actually has yet to start her training.

Now let us focus on some of the good aspects of this book. I was very surprised to see how Avery (the protagonist) is almost immediately thrown into danger, there is no build up to it it just hits you with it which makes it that more exciting. It also describes everything in such detail that it is mindboggling how she had the patients to do so.

Now we must move onto the negative aspects. It was extremely easy to get lost in the plot and trying to follow the storyline made it that much harder. The frequent use of commas is also very confusing. Other than this it was a fantastic book that I would recommend.

My rating for "Zombified" by @Luminescence22 is an 8 out of 10, in other words a good read but has some difficulties.

~ Interview with the author:

Q: Why do you write?

A: I write to express my feelings, to let out all the emotions that has bubbled up inside of me. I write mainly to find my inner peace and to escape the real world, even for just a short time. For me, writing is my safe haven.

Q: Do you work out an outline or a plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?

A: I make an outline of what will happen throughout the story, but I don't use it as my guide. Whenever inspiration strikes, I redo the outline all over again. It's tiring, sure, but definitely worth it in the end.

Q: When did you decide to start writing?

A: Ever since I was three. I bought numerous notebooks and made stories on whatever topics I feel like writing about. Eventually, I decided to test my writing skills on Wattpad, now currently focusing on Pokemon fanfics.

Q: How much research, if any, you do before you write?

A: I don't know exactly if you would call it 'research'. I have a few apps I installed to assure me of things I might miss or don't know throughout the story, and it helps a lot. In just a few clicks, I can find the answers to my problems.

Q: Did you have any goals for this book? If so, did you achieve them?

A: I do have goals for this book: first off, it was my first ever fanfic, and I wanted it to have at least five votes in every chapter. Just five was enough to make me happy. But I got even more than what I bargained for! And second, I wanted everyone to see that this isn't just about some silly apocalypse that's happening; moral lessons could be learned along the story. I don't know if I have achieved this yet, though. I'll let the readers decide on that!

Q: Could you give us an insight into your main character.

A: My main character is Avery Winston. For some unknown reason, she finds that she has acquired amnesia, but it just doesn't seem right. She has clear insight, for one, and she can sense things that most people -even those without amnesia- can't. She's thoroughly frustrated and very pessimistic about what may happen to her or those she cares for. However, Avery isn't all that bad. She may be moody and sarcastic, yes, but along the way she will soon learn about what's important and what's not. Avery is also the type of girl who would do things even though it terrifies her. She is also the seemingly hero of the Shining Region, and the one who would soon 'regain justice for the deaths of many'.

Q: Do you read as much as you write and if so, who are your favorite authors and books?

A: If we were to talk about authors of published books, then I would say John Green, Nicholas Sparks, and Lois Lowry for their wonderful and heartwarming stories.

Then again, if it would be on Wattpad, there are quite a lot. RiverIvy with her amazing The Secret of Absol, Grenineon for her Mastering Eev, Black, and My First Crush, Serena-Daniels with her To Steal The Heart Of A Thief, Castelia Lights, The Things That Define Us and Undesirables, SilentCopper with Just Too Complicated and Primary Colors, FloralArtistry for her Flaming Dreams, X with his The Return of Team Flare, and just about more than I can ever type. These books are what inspired me to start my own, and to do my best in each and every story.

Q: Do you ever get a writer's block? If so, what are your ways of overcoming and dealing with it.

A: Yes, I do! Sadly, it happens as often as once a week, twice if I'm unlucky. I overcome it by listening to music (typical) or working on another kind of story which inspires me. I get so into the book that once I get bored in it, my interest on continuing on my other books comes back!

Q: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

A: If I would give advice to aspiring writers, I would tell them, 'Don't write for the sake of others; write for the sake of yourselves. Writing is a way to express who we really are, and if we don't get to convey what we really want for that story, then it wouldn't be a story at all. It would just be a piece of fake work that was made for the pleasure of others and not the author.'

Q: To finish this interview, would you like to share your favourite quote, if you have one?

'Be weird, be random, be who you are, because you will never know who would love the person you hide within yourself.' ~Unknown

* * *

Credits:

Article written by: Helsu (@FloralArtistry)

Reviews by: Scarlet (@Scarlet_Regnar), Thorn (@The_Dragons_Thorn)

Interview conducted by: Helsu

Special thanks to: Lumi (@Luminescence22)

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We're really sorry if this article might be a disappointment, since we only managed to get in two reviews + the interview. Though, I really hope that you at least enjoyed what we had to offer and aren't too mad at us. We will make sure to get at least three reviews in the next article, or even more.

But I hope you still liked this and I wish you a good day,

~ Helsu