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Book Review of Working Stiff (Revivalist, Bk 1)

Working Stiff (Revivalist, Bk 1)
reviewed on
Helpful Score: 1


I've enjoyed other Rachel Caine books, particularly the Weather Wardens only to find myself really disappointed about this one.

My impression was that Caine was trying to play with the idea of what happens if your zombies have real feelings and a sense of humanity. The execution seems to fall flat. In reading other similarly minded reviews through Amazon. I agreed with these reviewers that the main character's supposed military background did not seem to mesh with her actions in the story. Caine could have cut it out and made Bryn seem more plausible. Many readers also felt they didn't connect with Bryn as compared to Caine's other characters. I agreed with this too.

My next areas of dislike are things that I feel come to a matter of taste. Compared to Caine's other books, this series is pretty bleak and I feel that it lacks the wit and charm of other characters she has written. If bleak is your thing, you might be okay with this book. Finally, like man of Caine's books there is a romantic sub plot in the works. Given that the main character is a daily chemical shot away from decomposing, it felt really icky/necrophilia to me but other readers may not feel that way. I did not feel that the romantic characters had the same chemistry as Caine's previous couples.

Overall, I don't think that this book reflects what most readerS expect from Caine, but there's also a few aspects that are very dependent upon an individual reader's tastes. If you're uncertain based on this description, you may want to try a borrow before you buy.