Kiss of Life by Daniel Waters

When Phoebe’s best friend Adam takes a bullet for her, she finally understands that he loves her. And when Adam comes back as a differently biotic, Phoebe vows she’ll do all she can to bring him to a higher level of functionality. The theory goes that love is what helps zombies function more normally, but in order to devote himself to Adam, Phoebe must break up with her differently biotic boyfriend and zombie leader, Tommy Williams. Matters are made even more complicated by Tommy’s crusade for zombie rights and recognition. While there are some people who are open to the differently biotic and want to help them, still others are convinced the teens risen from the dead are evil and need to be exterminated. Will the zombies’ uphill battle for the right to exist be successful—or will their efforts only bring them in harm’s way?

Kiss of Life is a fantastic sequel to Waters’ awesome debut Generation Dead. The writing and characterization were great and the plot satisfactory, but what stood out most to me was the unmistakable, if possible unintended, social commentary. Although America prides itself on being an advanced and modern nation, it is still capable of quite heinous crimes against minority groups and the unfamiliar in the spirit of fear and intolerance; the evidence is stacked through history, which Waters may or may now have been discreetly referring to throughout the novel. I saw so many parallels between the zombies’ struggle in this story to the civil rights era, to name a historical example. What it all boils down to is acceptance and tolerance; it’s frightening how some people can lose sight of those qualities so quickly. I also really liked how this novel didn’t automatically assign the religious to the intolerant list, because while there are the zealots, the religious can also be some of the most generous and kind people. Aside from the fact that this novel is mostly about zombies, the situations it presents are scarily realistic. Kiss of Life is just a great read both for the story and the simple truths about life and love it presents.

This novel will be eagerly enjoyed by fans of its prequel Generation Dead as well as by those who liked Night Road by A.M. Jenkins and Peeps by Scott Westerfeld.

Rating: 4.5

Review copy from publisher Simon & Schuster UK