Duality (The Hitchhiker Strain #2) by Kellie Sheridan - Ashley's Review

*I received an eARC of this book from Patchwork Press on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Title: Duality (The Hitchhiker Strain #2)
Author: Kellie Sheridan
Publication Date: February 21st, 2014

My End Dayz (#0.5) Review
My Mortality (#1) Review
My Mortality (#1) Pre-Reading

Synopsis: The end of everything came quickly, but the road back is endless and full of heartbreak. 

After months of only death and loss, Veritas may be the answer everyone has been searching for—a cure. Savannah wants nothing more than to begin rebuilding, but with both the Initiative and the United Militia vying for power, there are no easy answers. Ending the threat for good could mean becoming something far worse than the monsters she is fighting against. 

The infected will not go quietly. For Chelsea, the choice to step back into the world of the living is anything but simple. No miracle can erase the memories of the things she saw or the people she killed. While the girl she was struggles against the beast she became, Chelsea must make a choice—succumb or fight.

-----------------------------------------------------

Review: I really enjoyed Mortality. It takes the whole zombie trope and makes it something new and unique. The characters were (mostly) likeable, and I really wanted to know how things were going to play out for Savannah and her friends. Even though we no longer have Zarah's story to follow, we still get to see things from the zombie perspective, which is always a welcome change of pace.

Although I did like Savannah in the first book, I think I liked her even more in this book. She's less obnoxious, and she's trying to make the best decisions for herself, her friends, and her world. She just wants to do right and save as many people as she can, and I think she's doing a fairly decent job of it. There was a little bit of romantic drama going on that just annoyed me more than anything, but it's not the main focus of the book and it gets easier to ignore as the book goes on. I also thought having Savannah in both books are the anchor of the series was a really smart idea, especially since our zombie narrator gets switched up. 

In this book, we get to see things from Chelsea's perspective. She's a new kind of zombie - smart and fast, still hungry for human brains and human meat in general, but still aware of what "The Beast" is doing. Human Chelsea takes a kind of backseat to her own life, and can only watch as her body and the virus kill more and more survivors. She keeps count of how many people "The Beast" kills, but she's nearly powerless to stop it. There are some times when Chelsea is able to gain control, but these moments are short lived and few and far between. Like with Zarah's sections in the first book, I think Chelsea's were my favorite chapters in this book. 

It's rare to find a book that tells the story from the perspective of the monster, and I think Kellie Sheridan does a great job of showing us the world from opposing sides. Veritas has its pros and cons, and I think its easier to see things like that when we're not restricted to just one character on one side of the war. Duality ends well and I was actually kind of happy that the ending was so open. Sometimes it's nice to be able to imagine what happens next and not be told exactly who goes where and does what. 

I'd definitely recommend this series to anyone looking for a fun, easy, zombie read. This one does kind of feel like a second book though, and there were times when I thought the pacing was a little slow, but it does a nice job of wrapping up the series. I didn't think it was as great as the first book, but  I still really enjoyed it! 3.5/5


--Ashley

End Dayz (The Hitchiker Strain #0.5) by Kellie Sheridan - Ashley's Review

*I received this novella as an eARC from Patchwork Press on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Title: End Dayz
Author: Kellie Sheridan
Year Published: 2013

My Mortality Review

Synopsis: It's a month after the dead first began to walk. The miracle vaccine that was supposed to save us all has failed.

Now, four teens fight to stay alive as a stronger, smarter breed of zombie begins to appear, threatening to end humanity for good.

-------------------------

Review: I was really excited when I saw that there was a prequel short story collection for Sheridan's Hitchiker Strain series. The zombies were different and interesting, and I have been wanting to learn more about the world she created. I also absolutely love seeing things from minor characters perspectives, so this collection was absolutely fantastic for me. 

There's a little bit of background that's hinted at in Mortality but never really explained that really makes everything come together so much more cohesively. We get to see things that happen to Alex before he even meets Savannah and her friends, and we see how Pierce ends up in the US in the first place. And then there's  Zach and his adventures in the high school when it was being cleared, and Belle before her father took charge of the remaining survivors. I really enjoyed seeing things through their eyes, since they're all so radically different from Savannah and Zarah, and even each other.

The plot isn't really anything terribly exciting, but the expansion of the world and the characters makes this a must read for anyone who was read and loved Mortality. It's almost enough to tide me over until the next book in the series is released! I would give this collection a 3/5, although I do hope that we get more like this as the story progresses. Anyone who loves zombies and zombie culture should definitely check out this series!


--Ashley