Books for YA!: ARC Review: Sick by Tom Leveen

Title: Sick
Author: Tom Leveen
Genre/s: Young Adult, Horror, Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic
Released Date: October 1, 2013
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Synopsis:

Breakfast Club meets The Walking Dead as a group of unlikely allies tries to survive a deadly outbreak.

Brian and his friends are not part of the cool crowd. They’re the misfits and the troublemakers—the ones who jump their high school’s fence to skip class regularly. So when a deadly virus breaks out, they’re the only ones with a chance of surviving.

The virus turns Brian’s classmates and teachers into bloodthirsty attackers who don’t die easily. The whole school goes on lockdown, but Brian and his best friend, Chad, are safe (and stuck) in the theater department—far from Brian’s sister, Kenzie, and his ex-girlfriend with a panic attack problem, Laura. Brian and Chad, along with some of the theater kids Brian had never given the time of day before, decide to find the girls and bring them to the safety of the theater. But it won’t be easy, and it will test everything they thought they knew about themselves and their classmates.

My Thoughts:

Sick by Tom Leveen is an intense heart-pounding zombie novel that is jampacked with fight scenes, marrow-eating zombies and lots and lots of gore. A scary page-turner that zombie fanatics will surely love.

It was just an ordinary Tuesday for Brian and his friends -- doing their usual shenanigans and skipping classes to hang out in Chad's house -- unaware of the horror that will happen later that day. They were in the theater department when all hell breaks loose and the school announced a lockdown. Brian, along with his bestfriend Chad and a few drama geeks boarded up all the entryway after witnessing the attack of the infecteds, killing their teacher and some of their classmates and friends. They're safe and stuck inside but Brian's sister, Kenzie and ex-girlfriend, Laura, were still out there, in danger and in who knows what condition. The disease was spreading fast all over the state and with their calls not connecting to 911, Brian doesn't know how long they will last inside. How will these misfits and outcasts escape this hellhole, you ask? Well, you have to find that out for yourself.

Anyway, Sick was horrifying and very graphic, I'm surprise I didn't lose my lunch while reading it. But even though it was grossing me out and gave me the creepy chills, I can't seem to stop reading it. It was so exciting and I was so eager to know about what will happen next.

Brian was a well-developed character. He was a good guy with flaws, a risk-taker, a good friend, a loving brother, and a caring boyfriend. I was really touched when he told everyone what happened to his sister when she was nine and tears ran down my cheeks when Kenzie thanked him for everything before they head out to their last plan.

I also loved Chad. He acted as a tough guy, hot-tempered and always looking for a fight but I can see that he can be a really sweet guy, if he wanted to. He was a bit of jerk with Travis, the gay drama actor, in the beginning but that changed in the latter part of the story. The other characters who also stood out was Damon(the comedian), Jaime(the Mexican drama geek leader), and Cammy(the badass cheer captain).

Also, this book has character development, depth and emotion in it. It is not just about marrow-eating, zombie killing or ass-kicking. It's more than that. It's about life, family, friendship, survival, decisions and sacrifice. And even though it ends with a heartbreaking death and an open ending, it still leaves us with a tiny glimmer of hope that maybe, someday, everything will be back to normal.

Overall, Sick is an awesome book, a perfect read for the upcoming Halloween season. So if your not squeamish and like bone-breaking, flesh-eating, blood-spewing, face-melting, not-technically-dead zombies and doesn't mind a few profanity here and there, then this book is for you.

My Rating