The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell
Series: Reapers #1
Published by Holt Paperbacks on August 3, 2010
Pages: 240
Genres: Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic, Horror, Zombies
Format: eBook
Source: Library
Amazon
Goodreads

Zombies have infested a fallen America. A young girl named Temple is on the run. Haunted by her past and pursued by a killer, Temple is surrounded by death and danger, hoping to be set free.

For twenty-five years, civilization has survived in meager enclaves, guarded against a plague of the dead. Temple wanders this blighted landscape, keeping to herself and keeping her demons inside her heart. She can't remember a time before the zombies, but she does remember an old man who took her in and the younger brother she cared for until the tragedy that set her on a personal journey toward redemption. Moving back and forth between the insulated remnants of society and the brutal frontier beyond, Temple must decide where ultimately to make a home and find the salvation she seeks.

This contains some spoilers and is a bit of an ‘all over the place’ type of review. I had a hard time gathering all of my thoughts into an organized review.

The world that Temple lives in is the only world she’s ever known. She never lived in a world where there weren’t any zombies, a world where everyone was peaceful and didn’t have to wake up and fighting to survive each and every day.

“The world, it treats you kind enough so long as you’re not fightin against it.”

Temple is a great character. She somewhat reminds me of Saba from Blood Red Road, but Temple seems to have a better grasp of the English language. She’s a survivor and definitely far beyond her years; I never would have pegged her to be 15. This is obviously due to the world she’s had to live in, the things she’s had to do to survive, and the things she’s had to experience. She’s a very emotional character and it’s quite sad how she keeps it all inside.

She ends up on the run from Moses Todd after accidentally killing his brother. I was a bit upset at that whole aspect of the story because it lacked a purpose. He became intent on killing Temple as retribution for his brother but there seemed to be another reason entirely that was never explained and something I never ended up understanding. I really wish the ending had been different… it ended up being an awkward piece that didn’t quite fit the rest of the puzzle.

High Points
The author’s writing is outstanding. Even though this seems to be your typical end of world/zombie novel where it’s not another person out there trying to survive… it’s not. It’s another book where I would say it’s not even a zombie novel per say, it’s a novel about survival (not just from zombies) and about living.

Temple is the main focus and what a great character she was; definitely a multi-faceted character with each new facet a new surprise. Don’t take her at face value – she’s more than meets the eye.

Low Points
I enjoyed this book. That said I love books that have fabulous world building that manage to completely absorb me into the story. This book lacks any sort of world building so that was kind of disappointing for me. When reading a new dystopian novel I always find it interesting to see how the author decides to create the world and how the world came to be how it is. A lot of things weren’t exactly explained and I ended up questioning a lot of it: how she’s able to stop at several gas stations and there are peanut butter crackers, how she’s also able to stop at several gas stations and be able to fill up her car, how do people have electric fences set up around their property, and where did they get the chicken, peaches, and everything else for dinner?? And will somebody please explain to me the tracker used on Temple’s car?

Like other reviewers, I had a big problem with the lack of quotation marks. At times the author would get so into describing things and situations that when someone would start speaking I’d have no clue and be so confused I’d have to backtrack to figure out what the hell was going on. At first I thought that it was an issue with my ebook, but apparently others had the same issues.

My main issue didn’t even have anything to do with the book or the story itself; I loved the story. I have a huge problem with books that are tagged as YA that I would never let my children read in their teens. Just because the main character is a 15 year old girl does not automatically make it YA. (view spoiler)

The Reapers are Angels is a sad, very moving and emotional read but still highly enjoyable.

”And the beauty he looks over is fathomable only by a girl who would have felt the measure of it as deep as to her dazzled soul.”