HEARTS STILL BEATING

For 17-year-old Mara Knight, the battle to become human again is just the beginning.

With the Tick—the ancient Letalis Tichnosis virus—wreaking havoc on the world, Mara gets bitten by someone who’s been infected, and she turns into one of the mindless, brain-eating creatures who aren’t dead but certainly aren’t alive, either. When Mara gains consciousness some time later (after being given Dyebucetin, an experimental drug), she’s deemed safe to be around and is resettled on the Island to live with her godparents. While Samantha and Isaac Blake and their two young children are pleased to see her, Rory, their older daughter, who used to be a close friend and crush, treats Mara with anger and suspicion. While Mara struggles to come to terms with the horrific time she spent as a murderous monster, traumatized Rory grapples to rediscover her trust and her own humanity. This original, adventure-filled love story unfolds in chapters that alternate between the two girls’ points of view. Their voices are at times difficult to differentiate, but the will-they-won’t-they tension between them is delicious. Readers will delight in this well-built near-future dystopian world, and they’ll root for Rory and Mara, who are cued white, on their journeys to find themselves and express their love for each other. A fascinating political subplot adds a rich extra dimension to this accomplished post-apocalyptic debut.

A richly realized and distinctive queer zombie romance.