The Aussie Zombie

I loved the first book in this series, Stitch - it was a fantastic blend of great characters and a genre mish-mash that I've never enjoyed quite so much - starting as a contemporary, it twisted through dystopian and paranormal and introduced some fantastic, realistic characters.

Shudder takes off not long after the end of Stitch, but for the first few chapters I was a little lost - it was only 8 months ago that I read Stitch so I remembered the basics, but there's been a fair few books in between, so it took me a little time to get back into the story and characters. Having said that, I did like that there was no massive 'info-dump', it was more a gradual reintroduction to the story which had me feeling far more settled by page 50, and from there on I was sucked right back into the world of Alessa, Isaac and Paragon.

What I really liked about Shudder was the continuity of the characters - they held the same realistic, admirable qualities that they had in the first book, and Alessa continued to struggle to decide between what is right for the greater good, and what is right for the people she loves the most. This is what I like most about her as a character - it makes her realistic and I felt emotionally connected to her in the difficulties she faced.

Shudder is perhaps easier to genre-ise than Stitch in that it's firmly in dystopian/post-apocalyptic territory with a little bit of paranormal thrown in for twists and turns, and Samantha Durante again has them seamlessly meshed - both feel right for the story and for the tension that builds as the story progresses without being gimmicky.

It's hard to say much more without giving away the storyline itself, but Shudder is a great follow-up to Stitch - the characters continue to grow, the pace is fast yet detailed and I can't wait to find out what happens next.

Read more of my reviews at The Aussie Zombie