The Risen Courage : This Zombie Novel Brings Tears!
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Synopsis:
When everything shatters into madness, how do you pick up the pieces that are left? When your friends lie bleeding around you, which ones do you fight to save? To find these answers, Helena Hawthorn will have to face the ghosts that now walk the halls around her.
In the wake of J.D.’s madness, Helena and G.R.I.T. will have to find the courage to fight for their home and for each other as a new evil takes hold of their lives. The biggest threat to the high school and its survivors is no longer the Risen, and G.R.I.T. will have to fight to survive.
Review:
Grade: A++ (Five Stars and Beyond)
I love this book. I don’t think I can express that in words honestly the roller coaster ride this book took me on. It’s tough because basically this book has got all the feels in it, plus a little bit of laughter, and a whole heaping helping of CRAZY! But, it starts out after the chaos we dealt with in Dawning. We’re throwing right back into the waiting arms of G.R.I.T and it’s a pretty sad place to be. Crow doesn’t hold back, you don’t expect an author to throw you in with a bunch of dying or severely wounded people, but she does… and I loved it!
I think the approach Crow takes to zombies is perfect. You don’t hold back, and you don’t ease into things. This is a really screwed up world. You don’t get time for a nice calm intro before the chaos, you get brought right into it, and you’ve gotta sink or swim. That’s what her writing does to the reader. You’re either in or out, but there’s no in between here. By this point, people who have read all the books are fiercely loyal to someone, or to a bunch, but you’ve got your emotional strings all kinds of tied up in this story, and Crow starts pulling at them, one by one. It’s going to hurt, I expected this going in… Crow’s FB status’s were a pretty clear giveaway, but I still loved it!
Personally, I liked the twist. If you read The Risen Remnants, there’s a part in there with bodies in a tree, not a majorly significant part, but Crow takes this and works it into Courage as well, and I did not see it coming. I was hit over the head a couple times throughout the book, like, “Come on, wake up, look at this major twist!” and it was great! The pacing of this novel was outstanding, it kept you at a constant high pace, and then it got higher. I couldn’t say there was one moment where I was bored or disinterested. Crow knows the right way to weave the horror with the humor, and really give us some great moments. I personally laughed at “What is it, kick the blond day?”, priceless moments, where humor just breaks through. Not good-hearted humor, but snarky, sarcastic, realistic humor.
Overall, Crow’s characters really grow in this novel. I’ve always loved Helena, I think that giving us a female character, who can hold her own, was such a great decision. It’s so frustrating when all we see is the cowering females, but not Helena, she’s strong, smart and has got a whole lot of heart which makes her do a lot of dumb things, but honestly, put yourself there, and all your friends and family are in serious danger, and you might be able to help by doing something stupid.. would you do it? It’s a good question to ask, and a lot of us would probably say one thing and do another if the zombie Apocalypse does happen, but I think Crow got Helena right on the money. She’s flawed but she’s the backbone. G.R.I.T really finds some new footing in this book, without giving spoilers away, and I like how the dynamic works. Crow does a great job getting into the characters of this biker gang and really bringing out their individual personalities in the series. We don’t’ get one personality for G.R.I.T, we get all the ones that make it what it is.
So, wonderfully well written book, twists and turns galore, great characterization, and honestly, the ending is going to make you pick your jaw up from the floor. We are in for SO MUCH more in the next book… so jump in, read this series, and join in the Crow club! You won’t regret it!
*I was given a copy of this book for review. All opinions are 100% honest and not influenced.
About The Author:
Marie F Crow is the author of the post-apocalyptic series, The Risen. She weaves her stories around the human element of the horror verses the “monsters” themselves. She believes that the real horror of life does not come from the expected, but from the unexpected responses of the human nature and what depths of trauma a person has to survive in certain situations. She began writing The Risen series when feeling that the popular genre was slipping too deep into the realm of pure “slasher” and forgetting what the horror of zombies can mean for a story.
Now with her children’s series launched, Marie hopes to use her favorite “monster” as a teaching tool to inspire children to understand that not everything that looks scary, is scary. With Abigail and Her Pet Zombie series, Marie hopes to further spread her love for all things “that go bump in the night” with small children showing them that it’s okay to be different and to embrace those same differences in those around them.
Marie F. Crow
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