Review - The Weepers: The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker

Author - Susanne Winnacker
Publisher - Marshall Cavendish
Release Date - May 15th, 2012, 352 Pages

3 years, 1 month, 1 week and 6 days since I’d seen daylight. One-fifth of my life.

Sherry and her family have lived sealed in a bunker in the garden since things went wrong up above. Her grandfather has been in the freezer for the last three months, her parents are at each other’s throats and two minutes ago they ran out of food.

Sherry and her father leave the safety of the bunker and find a devastated and empty LA, smashed to pieces by bombs and haunted by ‘Weepers’ - rabid humans infected with a weaponized rabies virus.

While searching for food in a supermarket, Sherry’s father disappears and Sherry is saved by Joshua, a boy-hunter. He takes her to Safe-haven, a tumble-down vineyard in the hills outside LA, where a handful of other survivors are picking up the pieces of their ‘other lives’. As she falls in love for the first time, Sherry must save her father, stay alive and keep Joshua safe when his desire for vengeance threatens them all.

               *A copy was provided by publisher through Netgalley for an honest review*

Wow, so um…yeah. I love dystopians, I cannot deny nor hide it, so when I read the synopsis for The Other Life of course I wanted it in my hands like that minute. Tried finding the UK one but everyone was sold out and that is when Net Galley came to my rescue as it had been posted under the US cover – The Weepers. Did I like it? Of course! This world that Susanne has built is one that I wouldn’t want to be in!

The message went out for people to take cover in their bunkers or public ones if they didn’t have one of their own, that the rabies problem would be fixed soon, weeks at the most and so far it’s been 1139 days since their bunker door was sealed and they’ve just ran out of food. Sherry’s father steps up to go out and get food but Sherry fought to be out there with him. When they open their bunker door they are in for a huge surprise, one that they never saw coming. After finding a local Walmart to get some food all hell breaks loose when the Weepers attack. Sherry is saved by Joshua but her dad isn’t so fortunate, he is taken and Sherry is now on a mission to find, save, and bring her father home.

I devoured this in mere hours because I just couldn’t put it down. It was paced perfectly, action packed, gruesome monsters that make me shiver picturing them in my head. I loved that even though Sherry wasn’t the best at everything she gave it her all and refused to back down, she was determined to save as many people as possible risking her own life by doing so at times. The bond that comes between her and Joshua is one that is treasured. It wasn’t an instant “OMG I love you and can’t live without you”, it was built up throughout the novel and seeing what becomes of them left a smile on my face. Of course Joshua is troubled with his thoughts with everything that he has went through. Sherry is understanding of that and gives him his space, doesn’t push him too much for the answers…she has a wonderful personality and has the mindset that if it’s something that the person wants to share it will be done when they are ready.

I loved how everything was weaved in so neatly, we got to see bits and pieces – even as small as they may be – of the life that Sherry had before the rabies broke out and they were locked in the bunker waiting for word…for help. The Weepers are the infected ones and man just picturing what they may look like just gives me chills…I may end up dreaming of them and that just won’t be cool but that is how much Susanne went into detail. I could see the Weeper as if it was in front of me (and sooooo glad that one wasn’t). It makes you want to look under your bed before going to sleep, makes you wonder if that noise scraping your window at night is a tree branch or something far far sinister. I kept thinking of the Weepers and seeing the last scene with Cato from The Hunger Games. I am in no way comparing these two novels because they are sooo different but the way that the Weepers are described I could easily transfer them into The Hunger Games and they would fit just perfectly in that messed up situation. I really hope that there will be a sequel to this because with everything that was revealed I have so many questions and I want to know what will happen next. Is this something that I would recommend, um….yes! If you haven’t read this and love dystopians, do yourself a favor and pick this up. You won’t be disappointed. 

-Shellie