I absolutely loved Something Strange and Deadly and you should read it. It wasn't perfect, but it was close. And it was a whole LOT of fun. The story was brilliant, original, and so richly imagined that I spent a good portion of my reading time flabbergasted that someone actually THOUGHT this up in their head. I would do just about ANYTHING to be this creative and have a mind this imaginative. I give the author so much credit for that. Her brain is spectacular. I had a few technical issues, but not many. I thought the book started off with a bang. Eleanor is trapped in a train station (I think it was a train station) and a zombie shows up with a letter from her brother. The way the scene was described gave me the shivers. I was pretty creeped out. The sensory language had my skin crawling and I loved it. But after that...it was slow for a bit. Not a whole lot happened. Until it picked up again right around page 116. That's where it happened for me--where I became hooked and had to keep reading. Now normally I would put the book down and read something else if it took that long to interest me. But...and here's the big but--I LOVED the writing. I thought the style and tone were appropriate for the time period the story was written in. I loved the dialogue and the fashions and the setting--I loved it all and even though I wasn't completely hooked, I kept reading until I was.And then magic happened. And I became immersed in this world and its characters. This book was so OUT THERE, nothing like this would ever happen in real life, and yet...I felt like it could. I felt like everything was real and I wanted to be a part of the world that this book was set in. I wanted to KNOW these people. Be their friends. Kill zombies with them. Walk the exhibits at the exposition with them. I was in love. I'm STILL in love. I want the next book NOW.The ending was so frustrating. Part of the reason this book was so special for me was the banter between Eleanor and Daniel. They were fantastic characters. I thought maybe they could have been developed a tiny bit better, but I still loved them. But the cliffhanger. My god the cliffhanger left me SO empty. I don't want to spoil anything, you just have to read it. It isn't that none of the story was wrapped up and concluded; it was, it just wasn't all resolved. And the ends the author left loose just KILLED me. I wanted to start drinking, it was that bad. So keep that in mind. Just read it. I WILL say that if you liked Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel, you will probably love this book. And if you DIDN'T love Dearly, Departed, there's still a chance you might love this book. The styling and atmosphere between the two books is a little similar. And as a huge fan of the aforementioned book, I adored this one. I can't wait for A Darkness Strange and Lovely. Favorite Scene:"So how did you meet Joseph?" I asked, hoping to change the subject."We were all three at the same saloon."My eyelids shot up. "A saloon?"She chuckled and waved in Daniel's direction. "He got cheated at cards, yeah? And a fight broke out. Joseph saw the whole thing, and when the police came, he vouched for Daniel."I rolled my eyes, amused. The story definitely fit with what I knew of Daniel--and I almost wished I could have seen it."And you?" I prodded. "What were you doing there?"She grinned wickedly. "I was the one who cheated Daniel."
