Swarm by Alex South (Good)

*Note: This book was given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review*

I am usually up for a well-written zombie apocalypse novel and Swarm did not disappoint.  Some people don't read books about zombies simply because they believe the entire category to be overdone, but I do not believe that is the case.  In fact, the well-covered topic forces authors to do something original with the general premise.  Zombie novels are great because they are all so different and unique.   Alex South created his own niche in the zombie world.

The cover:

The cover:

There really isn't much to say about the cover.  It looks like zombies, which is exactly what it is.  The only comment I feel needs to be said is that Swarm isn't a comic book/ graphic novel.  It's a legit book.  For some reason, this cover makes it seem otherwise to me.  

Official Description:

John has a dead-end job, doesn't see enough of his friends, and struggles to find meaning in his life. These everyday concerns vanish on the night he’s jerked awake by screams. 
Frenzied figures roam the streets. A helpless onlooker, John tells himself that this isn't like the films. This is real life, with real people. 
He and his neighbours band together over a small supply of food. Tensions brew, and a difficult choice arises. Risk starvation, or attempt escape? Conflicted over the cause and scope of the apocalypse, the group struggles to work together. 
At first John clings to logic. The zombies do not drink or eat. Organic matter cannot sustain itself under these conditions, but things grow more complicated as the behaviour of the infected makes a drastic and inexplicable change.

My review:

In one word, I would describe this book as contemplative.  It focused less on the zombies and more of John's thoughts about the entire situation.  The entire book took on a bit of a philosophical tone, but it did not overwhelm the plot line of the story at all.  Alex South struck the perfect balance between being thoughtful and being exciting.  

My thoughts on the characters, however, were conflicting.  On one hand, I loved their relationships to each other.  Laura and John were in love and understood that their love was more of a reaction to their situation than a result of true compatibility   I thought that realization in particular was so rare to have in a novel.  Also, Mary and Tyler had a very realistic relationship to each other, and both of their characters offset the other to make them more complex and interesting, as a result. However, I did have an issue.  I was a bit unsatisfied by how much we knew about any of the characters.  Their backstories rather didn't exist or only appeared when convenient to the plot.  Even John, the main character, had an underdeveloped backstory.  It's understandable why that happened.  I can see that, perhaps, the point was that the zombie epidemic created a rift between the characters' past lives and current lives.  A life with zombies and one without.  But it caused me to have trouble imagining the characters throughout the first half of the book.  Eventually, all of their personalities became distinct and it wasn't an issue anymore, but I still wished I knew a little bit more about them.

All of that said, Alex South did a great job of distinguishing the characters' patterns of speech.  They didn't all sound the same.  They had different quirks on how they spoke, which added to the book.

I would recommend Swarm if you typically like zombie apocalypse books.  If you can't stand them, Swarm is probably not the book for you.  If you can, it is a entertaining, speculative read that you will most likely enjoy.  

Overall, I would give Swarm by Alex South a 4/5 rating.

*Note: This was the first book in a series.*

Phrase:  This is real life.  It can't be like the films.