The World Didn’t End When The Zombies Came.

We Just Wished It Had.

Blackout is the third and final book in Mira Grant’s Newsflesh trilogy. And if you haven’t read book one or two – Feed and Deadline – you need to stop reading right here, right now. Because there will be spoilers. I promise. If you’d like to read more about Feed and Deadline, why don’t you head on over and check out my reviews[intlink id=”8508″ type=”post”] here[/intlink] on Burn Bright of those little (or rather large) gems.

Now, if you’re ready to read on and hear about Blackout, one more thing: this is one of those books that kinda crosses over between Young Adult and Adult reading. It’s in a tricky space. Bottom line is, if you’re not so good with the occasional swear, a little sex, blood, brain matter, moaning zombies, mad scientists or – and this could be scariest of all – political conspiracy – then Blackout isn’t for you.

I haven’t scared you off yet? Excellent. Because Blackout is one of the best books I’ve read in a very long time, and a most fitting end to the Newsflesh trilogy. In Feed and Deadline, Georgia and Shaun Mason tell us their stories. Set in the early 2040’s, and around thirty years since ‘The Rising’, when man cured cancer and the common cold and the dead stopped staying dead, bloggers like Georgia and Shaun are how we get our news. Their news site, ‘After the End Times’ is one of the highest rating in the country. By the time we get to Blackout, the world has gone mad. Well, madder than it already was.

If you’ve read Feed, you’ll know that something big and bad happened to George in the final chapters, and if you’ve read Deadline, you’ll know that Mira Grant did some serious messing with the reader’s mind in the last chapter of that one too, again to do with George. The whole ‘is she dead, alive, a clone or just some new breed of sentient zombie?’ makes the reader sit up and take notice. In Blackout, that head-messing continues, so this isn’t really a book you’re going to only pay half your attention to, or hope it sends you to sleep at night. Grant will pull you through her world at break-neck speed, she demands you stay on the ball, use that grey matter (sorry, couldn’t resist) and keep up with both the characters and the science. All our favourite characters are back in their best form (well, the living ones anyway. Actually, that’s debateable…) Angry, sceptical, brave and more than a little bit mad, Shaun and Georgia’s quest for truth again puts their lives on the line, along with their loyal staff. The science of Newsflesh is nicely played out and explained to the reader, though I wouldn’t try multi-tasking while you’re reading. It might prove hard to get your head around.

What makes Blackout and its predecessors stand out from other zombie novels isn’t just the science. Sure, the back-story and the corruption are important, real and plausible; the bones to the story, but it’s not what makes the novels so un-put-downable. It’s the flesh (ahem) that makes these books amazing – the characters and how we care about them. In a world overtaken by the undead, it’s how the living manage to go on doing just that – living – that makes the story so real. Shaun and Georgia share an impeccable sense of humour, although their ‘voices’ are so different to one another. Shaun in particular is more than a little twisted, but his loyalty to George and their band bloggers is without fault. You’ll laugh out loud through this story, be horrified and disturbed and if you don’t shed a tear (or at least be tempted to) then you better check to make sure you’re not entering the amplification stage of Kellis-Amblerlee yourself.

If Feed, Deadline and Blackout aren’t enough Newsflesh for you – don’t despair. Available as e-books are the novellas Countdown and The Last Stand of the California Browncoats. I can highly recommend them both. Whedon fans will love the Browncoat reference – and seriously, a zombie apocalypse set at Comic-Con? Omg.

*Mira Grant is also known as Campbell Award winning author Seanan McGuire.

Blackout by Mira Grant

Published by Orbit

Paperback, 574 pages.

ISBN – 978-1-84149-900-0

Here are five ideas for things to do over the September holidays in and around Brisbane, ranging from free to $100. There are plenty of things to do.

~ A little crafty and wanting to delve into the world of Steampunk?

1. Steampunk Scrap Jewellery

Create your own wearable steampunk art and stun the brass goggles off your mates. 12 – 17 years.

Dates / Times

Redcliffe Library, 26 September 2012, 11.00am – 12.30pm

Deception Bay Library, 26 September 2012, 2.00pm – 3.30pm

Caboolture Library, 27 September 2012, 10.00am – 11.30am

Strathpine Library, 27 September 2012, 2.00pm – 3.30pm

Cost Free/ Bookings for this event are required.

Contact Your local library to book libraries@moretonbay.qld.gov.au

~ Wanna learn about special effects make up? Head to Marsden Library (and others in the Logan Shire)

2. Zombie Apocalypse – blending in

Who says Zombies don’t care about the way they look!!

Participants are introduced to a variety of products including fake blood, pus, theatre wax and gelskin which will be used to create the Zombie look. Bring your camera!

Age Group(s): Young Adults

Date: 4/10/2012

Start Time: 4:30 PM

End Time: 5:30 PM

Where:Marsden Library 35 Chambers Flat Road Marsden 4132

Location: Meeting Room 1

Registration Ends: 4/10/2012 at 4:00 PM

Contact: jo beazley

Contact Number: 0411 421087

Presenter: Cathy Booth

For More Information: http://loganlibraries.org/events_calendar

~ For the history buff…

3. Mummy: Secrets of the Tomb

See my blog for a write up https://www.burnbright.com.au/by-the-bel-whoa-mummy/

When – until October 21st

Where – Queensland Museum, South Bank

For more information – http://www.mummy.qm.qld.gov.au/

~ Looking to maybe pick the brains of a well-known Aussie author, or maybe buy a Christmas gift or two, (nothing like a signed book to make someone very happy)…

4. Meet Di Morrissey

Join one of Australia’s most successful and popular authors for an exclusive evening conversation.

Di Morrissey will discuss her new book, The Golden Land, a story built upon classic themes in a modern Australian dimension. It powerfully brings together tragedy and trauma on public and personal scales.

With over 20 years in publishing and already 20 books to her name, Di will share her experiences in writing and research.

Books will be available for purchase on the night from Dymocks Brisbane.

WHEN Friday, October 26, 2012, 5:30 – 8pm

VENUE Brisbane Square Library

VENUE ADDRESS 266 George St, Brisbane

BOOKINGS Required. Please phone (07) 3403 8888 to reserve your place.

COST Free.

~ For the flexible and fit, here’s a great workshop being taught by a friend of mine…

5. TUMBLING

(Adults 15+)  Learn how to tumble with the first ever Australian male to compete a triple back somersault in competition at 19!

Taught by Mark McLauchlan, a State and National Champion and member of the Australian Trampoline and Tumbling team. Mark has workedinternationally with Cirque Du Soleil, his specialties including tumbling, trampoline, hoop diving, bungee and Russian bar.

Who Adults (15+)

When Thursday 27th September 6:00 – 9:00pm

Where Circa Studio, Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts 420 Brunswick Street (Level 3)

Cost $100

Bookings – info@circa.org.au | 3852 3110

Website – http://www.circa.org.au/training-center/about/special-programs

If none of this suits you, then there is always a good book to read at your local library.

*Wipes away tears*

Hello, *sniffles* and welcome to my review of We’ll Always Have Summer, by Jenny Han. This is the third and final installment in the Belly Conklin Summer Series. The first thing I always tell people is, yes the title of the first book is a little cheesy (“The Summer I Turned Pretty”) but this series is AMAZING for the summer! Once you pick up the first book, I can’t promise that the series will last you very long! From my own personnel experience I tried to read as slow as possible and savor every page, making the story last…but I couldn’t help myself and finished it in less than two days!

(*note to self, read more Jenny Han books*)

We’ll Always Have Summer takes place two years after It’s Not Summer Without You leaves off. Belly and Jeremiah have been dating ever since, they both attend the same college, and neither can wait for finals to be over! Why? Because once finals are over, schools over, meaning summer is here, which ultimately means they get to go back to their beloved beach house.

But before their departure, at an “end of the year” party hosted by Jeremiah’s Frat brothers and Sorority sisters, the two get into a huge argument. Belly ends things between them. She never thought he would do something this horrible to her, and hurt her this much. Belly never thought her Jeremiah would cheat on her…

When Jeremiah finally apologizes, he pulls out a small box out from his pocket, and when he opens it, Belly can already see what’s inside…a ring. Getting to his knees, Jeremiah proposes to her. Saying I do, does not only mean she forgives him, but also seals her future with him. Maybe.

Belly’s mom and Susannah (the boys’ mom) always knew Belly would marry a Fisher, but which one? They weren’t sure.

We’ll Always Have Summer had my jaw to the floor throughout the entire story! I couldn’t believe the ending and the decision Belly made, as to who she wants to spend the rest of her life with. This series is the perfect way to end your summer, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a light and lovey dovey, yet drama filled summer read!

Summer is the best part of the year in Winston, California, and the Fourth of July is the highlight of the season. But the perfect town Clare remembers has changed, and everyone is praying that this summer will be different from the last two—that this year’s Fourth of July festival won’t see one of their own vanish without a trace, leaving no leads and no suspects. The media are in a frenzy predicting a third disappearance, but the town depends on tourist dollars, so the residents of Winston are trying desperately to pretend nothing’s wrong.

And they’re not the only ones hiding something.

Clare, a seamstress who redesigns vintage clothing, has been blessed—or perhaps cursed—with a gift: she can see people’s pasts when she touches their clothes. When she stumbles across a denim jacket that once belonged to Amanda Stavros, last year’s Fourth of July victim, Clare sees her perfect town begin to come apart at the seams.

In a town where appearance means everything, how deep beneath the surface will Clare dig to uncover a murderer?

Hardcover, 288 pages

Expected publication: September 11th 2012 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

ISBN 0385741049 (ISBN13: 9780385741040)

Clare loves to design her own clothing, sometimes even sell her designs. Her main passion in life is shopping for vintage items at charity shops to redesign into an outfit of her own style and making.

Clare also happens to have visions. When she touches fabric she has visions from the lives of those that wore them. As she loves to design her own clothes and shop at used stores she has these visions often. But when she happens upon one particular girl’s jacket, visions pulls her into the mystery of what really happened that night the girl went missing a year ago. Clare is torn over how deeply she should get into investigating the visions that the jacket is causing. It scares her how vivid they have become. But when Clare’s friend receives a threat, the mystery of what the jacket is trying to tell her about the murders becomes a priority. It may just be a matter of life and death.

Clare is an eclectic character. She has a few but dedicated friends, she has a passion for clothing and designs and style. The family dynamics and relationship between herself, her mother and her grandmother was my favorite part of the story. They struggle to put together lost relationships and work through their past disagreements.

At first Clare, like a lot of others, suspects it is the boyfriend who caused the girl’s disappearance. But upon making friends with him, she can see that he would not have done it. She continues to ask questions and has several visions that pull her deeper into the mystery.

She is a very caring person and even though her visions are scary and most would not get involved, she reaches out and in the end we have a story of loss, mystery, family and friends. Through Clare’s investigations and visions we get to see how close the people in the town are to each other.

Seventeen-year-old Ellie Spencer hangs out with her best friend Kevin, she obsesses over Mark, a cute and mysterious bad boy, and her biggest worry is her paper deadline. But then everything changes.

The news headlines are all abuzz about a local string of serial killings that all share the same morbid trademark: the victims were discovered with their eyes missing. Then a beautiful yet eerie woman enters Ellie’s circle of friends and develops an unhealthy fascination with Kevin, and a crazed old man grabs Ellie in a public square and shoves a tattered Bible into her hands, exclaiming, “You need it. It will save your soul.”

Chance is a funny, funny thing. If I had never watched once particular book haul video a few years back, I would quite likely have never known of this novel’s existence. But now, having read both of Karen Healey’s YA titles, I can safely say that her writing has come to mean something quite definitive for me: originality. While her debut, Guardian of the Dead appears to contain many of the expected trappings of a paranormal romance – complete with a ‘typical’ heroine who has secret powers, a gorgeous yet mysterious love interest, and a high school backdrop – it actually manages to surprise you on many occasions.

Most notably, this novel is set in New Zealand and is adorned with varying elements of Maori mythology throughout – so much so that there is a (much-appreciated!) glossary of terms included. This lends some of the more traditional supernatural aspects, such as fae involvement and magic, an altogether different, exotic flavour, and I personally think it makes for a fantastic introduction to Maori culture, especially for international readers.

Plot-wise, the novel does seem to follow the much-trodden path of girl at school – sudden strange happenings – girl suspects boy of magic – all hell breaks loose. However, what truly sets these events apart is the atmosphere depicted and the characters involved.

The lush, dense wilderness of New Zealand’s north island is given ample attention despite much of the narrative’s action occurring in and around a high school. Healey describes the natural world with evocative flare, which certainly aids in the unsettling, unnatural events that occur within it.

The novel’s protagonist, Ellie Spencer is many, many things that your typical YA heroine is not: she has a black-belt in karate, she has an asexual male best friend, she is half-Maori, she is slightly overweight, and she is angry. Really, really angry. While her abrasive personality and tendency to whine is most likely a major deterrent for many readers, it was oddly one of the things I appreciated most about Guardian of the Dead. For all of her flaws, Ellie seemed to me always believable and still, a year on from reading the book, remains memorable.

I do wish that more people could encounter Karen Healey’s works, if only for a slight, refreshing change from the standard fare of YA paranormal. We really do need more works that embrace cultural and sexual diversity, innovative mythology and which also aren’t afraid to end things on a relatively sombre, bittersweet note. I am very thankful to have watched that book haul video back in 2010!

Guardian of the Dead – Karen Healey

Allen and Unwin Australiamore details…

ISBN – 031604430X

346 pages

April 1^st, 2010