Title: Candy Pop Corpse

Author:  spicy_sweets

Genre: Horror/comedy

Quick Summary: A newly-risen zombie stumbles through her new life.

Thoughts:

This is a weird book.

I don't mean that in a bad way. It's got its mix of old and new concepts - or, concepts that seem new the way they're used. It reminds me a bit of Warm Bodies. I also really like the chapter titles.

Except, and this is the crux of the issue for me, I'm having trouble discerning just what it is the plot is? A main thread is Lulu's need to find her brother, which is either a pressing matter or not depending on which chapter we're on. Another main thread is Lulu getting used to her newfound life. Both are well and fine, but it really feels like there's a good amount of padding that keeps us from getting to the point. This is explained in the summary, but that doesn't mean I'm particularly fond of it. Not to mention she forgets quite often to go after her own brother but then decides she has the attention span to go to...basically school. What are her goals? By the end, I can't really tell.

This also has the trappings of a first/second/new-ish draft. The point gets across, but there's a lot of awkward sentences that muddy things up a bit. The segment with the "Mortem" troupe also made me scratch my head a bit, and I can't tell if that's because Lulu is more of an immature character or not. She has quite the obsession with sugar, which makes for an interesting character quirk, but more than once I've been confused as to if it's actually sugar she's eating or not.

And speaking of Lulu, it comes across that she's not "all there" in the head. If this is intention, it's for the most part well-done, but still is not incorporated quite well enough to assuage aforementioned confusion I brought up. And if she's not meant to come across as out-of-touch as she is, then it sounds to me like she needs a bit of an overhaul.

I do like the contrast between human and mortem and... zombie? I'm not entirely sure what the inhumane mortem are called. I like books that call into question what makes someone human versus otherwise, and how we can slip between those categories. I'm not sure if we're meant to take it that seriously, though.

On a final note, the mortem group. I know Wastia and that there are other members, but they tend to blend together a lot. I think by the end I was starting to understand who Charlie is, but I really wish we would've had more distinction sooner.

It's quirky in its own right. Not something I normally read, but still kinda cute.