When I first heard about Suzanne Winnacker’s debut THE WEEPERS thanks to its gorgeous UK edition cover (and title of THE OTHER LIFE), I knew I had to have this book. So I got my hands on a Netgalley copy, forgot about it for a few weeks, and then came back to it when I started the Bout of Books marathon. Once again, this was a book I went in with very high expectations for, only to find myself extravagantly disappointed when I turned the last page.THE WEEPERS follows 15 year old Sherry, a girl who has spent the past three years in a bunker beneath her house after a rabies epidemic that killed people – and turned others into zombie-like creatures. Her family has run out of food, and the only answer is for Sherry and her dad to go out and find some, but when he’s captured by the monsters and she’s saved by a hunter named Joshua who takes her to a safe haven along the outskirts of town, Sherry has to stand up and fight back if she is to save her family from the remnants of society.I think my name and the phrase “WHERE IS THE WORLD BUILDING?!” have almost become synonymous. If the world building is lacking, I am going to point it out. For me, there was world building here, but what it brought to the story was nothing new or remarkable – a government experiment gone wrong. The specifics of the story here are a spoiler, so I won’t go into detail, but it really isn’t anything new for the zombie genre. Also, there are some rather unbelievable escapades, events, and decisions that make little or no sense. It kind of distracts you. Kinda. But I think where this story fell flat for me was in the characterization. We have Sherry, a shell-shocked girl who loves to count the exact days since she last saw rain, last had chocolate, last heard from her best friend, and so on. I actually kind of enjoyed this – up until the point where it became a several-times-a-page thing. The story is told in her first-person narration, which helps the reader connect with Sherry and her plight, but outside of Sherry, we find a cast of very flat, cardboard characters, from Sherry’s family (parents, grandmother, brother Bobby, and little sister Mia) to the designated love interest Joshua to the people we find at the safe haven. There is little development or background about these people, and the dialogue doesn’t help us get to know them. By the end, I was still confused about who anyone was – Geoffrey and Tyler, for instance, are still one character in my mind.Oh, and Sherry dear? You’ve known the boy for what, a week tops? That’s not love. Feel free to make out with him all you like, I don’t care, but don’t risk your life for him when you know he’s an idiot. Signed, Megan.I don’t know with this one. The story zipped along at a great pace, but it was really short. Goodreads claims it is 352 pages long and it’s lying. In fact, I am going to change that when I post my review. Right when you get into the story and you are thrown into their world, guess what? The story is over! You have to wait until book two to find out anything else because the ending hits you out of nowhere almost. The pacing is excellent, I will give Winnacker that – she knows how to pull you along, and you can finish this story in two hours or so if you read at an average pace and take ice cream breaks.My final issue with this book that leaves the story at two stars only? For a story about rabid Weepers, there aren’t nearly enough. I wanted more horror, more action, and instead I got make out sessions in the vineyard and grandma knitting. I might check out book two, but I will be waiting for reviews before I make up my mind. THE WEEPERS just didn’t do anything for me. And this book is not dystopian, people. Seventy five people on Goodreads shelved it as dystopian?!VERDICT: THE WEEPERS doesn’t bring anything new to the zombie/post-apocalyptic table besides a crash-course in shoddy characters. Skip this one.
