The Weepers (The Other Life #1)

The Weepers: The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker
Publishers: Marshall Cavendish
Release Date: 12 May 2012
ISBN: 9780761462750
Source: Netgalley
Target: Young Adult


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Weepers were neither animal nor human. They were something else. Something wrong


When an outbreak of rabies occurs, people are told by the government to hide in bunkers until they get the situation under control and to wait to hear from the military before they leave. Sherry and her family have been living in a sealed bunker for over three years and they have just run out of food. Updates from the military have stopped coming. The time has come to leave the bunker but they don't know what's on the outside. Has anyone else survived? Are they all still in their bunkers? Is the rabies under control?


This is an excellent dystopian novel. Susanne has done a brilliant job building this world that is over run with weepers. It seems there are very few humans left and like the ones who are left, are fighting a losing battle. Sherry is a very tough character from the get go. Even living in the bunker, she seems to be dealing best with the isolation from the world. When she meets Joshua, who saves her from being killed by Weepers, they become a great team. Joshua likes to hunt the weepers and he helps Sherry to find her dad and get her family to safety.


Joshua is a very closed person and keeps his feelings to himself, but as the story progresses, we gradually get to hear about what he went through before he came to Safe Haven. Every character has a horror story to tell and we hear most of them throughout the book. All of the characters are likeable though we don't really get to know the rest of them too much. This book is fairly short so we didn't seem to spend a lot of time with the rest of the characters and I would like to think that there could be a lot more to come from some of them.


I could really feel myself in this world and Susanne did a great job of portraying the despair, isolation, abandonment, panic, terror and anger that these characters were feeling.


This is fast paced with a lot of action and also some romance. I just wish it could have been longer. I am really looking forward to the next in this series, The Life Beyond, as there is a lot left open ended and I can't wait to see what happens next.

His lips brushed against mine, his palms warm against my cheeks. Our kiss tasted of blood and tears. Of rain and dirt. Of pain and relief. But more than anything, it was a promise. An oath to never let anything happen to the other.