Review of Mortality (The Hitchhiker Strain) by Kellie Sheridan

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Description (From NetGalley)

After surviving a deadly plague outbreak, sixteen-year-old Savannah thought she had lived through the very worst of human history. There was no way to know that the miracle vaccine would put everyone at risk for a fate worse than un-death. 

Now, two very different kinds of infected walk the Earth, intent on nothing but feeding and destroying what little remains of civilization. When the inoculated are bitten, infection means watching on in silent horror as self-control disappears and the idea of feasting on loved ones becomes increasingly hard to ignore. 

Starving and forced to live inside of the abandoned high school, all Savannah wants is the chance to fight back. When a strange boy arrives with a plan to set everything right, she gets her chance. Meeting Cole changes everything. Mere survival will never be enough.

My Review

Mortality is written from the point of view of two different characters, Savannah and Zarah, and their stories run parallel to one another and I think this works really well.

I think it's important to mention here that I have never read a zombie book before because it's not an area that typically interests me, but when I read the description of this one I was intrigued and decided to give it a go. I'm glad I did. The storyline is really good, providing a new twist on the zombie theme, and the pacing is excellent.

It was the story and pacing that pulled me through and made me want to find out how it would all end though and not the characters. I liked them but for me they felt a little flat and despite being told in first person I felt a little distanced from them and found I didn't really care what happened to them. That being said, this is a YA read so at 33 I'm not exactly the target audience and maybe that's the reason. Definitely worth a read though and I would be interested in reading the next book in the series.

I give Mortality 3 out of 5.

Disclaimer - I was provided with a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.