What is The Undead Truth of Us about?
Sixteen-year-old Zharie Young is absolutely certain her mother morphed into a zombie before her untimely death, but she can’t seem to figure out why. Why her mother died, why her aunt doesn’t want her around, why all her dreams seem suddenly, hopelessly out of reach. And why, ever since that day, she’s been seeing zombies everywhere. Then Bo moves into her apartment building―tall, skateboard in hand, freckles like stars, and an undeniable charm. Z wants nothing to do with him, but when he transforms into a half zombie right before her eyes, something feels different. He contradicts everything she thought she knew about monsters, and she can’t help but wonder if getting to know him might unlock the answers to her mother’s death. As Zharie sifts through what’s real and what’s magic, she discovers a new truth about the world: Love can literally change you―for good or for dead. In this surrealist journey of grief, fear, and hope, Britney S. Lewis’s debut novel explores love, zombies, and everything in between in an intoxicating amalgam of the real and the fantastic.There’s more to life (and death) than zombies
Lewis artfully blends the real with the surreal in her debut novel and in doing so, teaches readers that there is more to life than death. The Undead Truth of Us is filled with beautifully descriptive images and is immediately captivating thanks to its gorgeous van Gogh-inspired cover. Protagonist Zharie is a big van Gogh fan, and she extrapolates his art into her world in both literal and metaphorical ways. The use of color and symbols integrated with memory and emotion makes for truly lovely and engaging reading. Some of my favorite passages from the book include the following:“… I used to think that Mama would protect me always, that she was invincible from the world, and when I snuggled up to her, I imagined she was bigger than the sun… I used to think that she’d be around forever, and that I’d make fun of her when she got her first gray hair. But now that she was gone, the rain didn’t sound so chaotic anymore. It sounded like her favorite song—smooth and subtle, wonderfully sweet.”
“This undeath was the undoing of an old story I used to tell myself. It was immensely different, yet that was okay. The stitching of these new pieces being pulled together shouldn’t feel the same. It should tug and stretch, and I felt that now.”The underlying theme of the story is moving too. In the dedication, Lewis writes: “To you, reader. Don’t let the monsters of the universe keep you from living. Take risks, fall in love, create your own path.” While moved by the message and sensory images, the story itself was very slow in parts. Although this is a character-driven rather than a plot-driven novel, some chapters dawdled too long in the minutiae, and I grew impatient with getting to “what happens next.” In some ways, that is the point – the character is working through grief and learning to “live” again, which takes time – but as far as storytelling goes, some moments felt a bit too stagnant. Zombies add an interesting, gruesome, and admittedly fun flavor to the story. The trajectory of the journey is Zharie figuring out why she is seeing them everywhere and the reader travels alongside her trying to work it out too. The ending ultimately wraps it up neatly (with a bonus twist at the very end), I just wish there was more meat on some of the bonier chapters along the way. Overall, striking images and themes, as well as useful tools for combatting the fear that often accompanies grief, The Undead Truth of Us takes risks and defeats monsters. The Undead Truth of Us was released on August 9th, 2022.
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