Ever After

Seeking a friend and forgiveness at the end of the world. It's been two years since the zombielike outbreak started, but life in the walled city of Weimar, Germany, is relatively safe. The hospital warden dotes on once-blond Vivi, even obtaining pink hair dye for her, but nevertheless sends her to the barricade to help fend off the hungry hordes. After a bite puts a sudden end to a fleeting new friendship, Vivi ends up on the run with irritated (and now infected) fellow fighter Eva. Caught in the wilderness beyond the walls, auburn-haired Eva repeatedly and reluctantly saves the hapless Vivi. Opposites in lethality, both are haunted by the dead--Vivi by those she couldn't save and Eva by those she's killed. The palette is vivid and warm, an unusually cheerful choice for a typically bleak subject, with hints of a manga influence. Although the undead--here, blank-eyed biters, some sprouting vines and tendrils--follow the usual zombie behaviors, the tale deviates from some standard tropes, beginning in media res, with characters aware of the infection but not all-knowing, and throwing a curveball of a conclusion. Offering minimal history and concrete context, Vieweg offers an art-house take on a normally gory and typically action-packed subject and focuses on the now, rather than the how, of the apocalypse. Main human characters are white. A melancholic but multicolored apocalyptic tale told with originality. --Kirkus Reviews -- Journal (7/1/2020 12:00:00 AM) Weimar, Germany, is protected from raging hordes of zombie by a barricade; those assigned to work shifts must keep the fence in working order. Teenage Vivi stays at the mental hospital, where she gets special attention, since she reminds the warden of her daughter. But even the warden can't keep her from serving a shift at the barricades, where she and a younger girl, Isabelle, are assigned to Eva's team. Tough Eva is unafraid of zombie killing and decidedly uninterested in being a part of a group. When the barricade is breached, both Eva and Isabelle are bitten; in a gruesome sequence, Isabelle dies, but Eva conceals her bite. She and Vivi try to make it to the allegedly safer town of Jena, and they find themselves on the same cargo train out of the city. The teens have to work through past grief, and though they are different, they manage to connect with each other. Ideally suited for this dark fairy tale, Vieweg's art is dreamy and pastel, save for the splatters of blood and the horrors of nighttime and attacks by the undead. First published in Germany, with a film adaptation, this is a unique addition to the zombie apocalypse genre. VERDICT Both thoughtful and terrifying, and an unexpected take on a familiar premise.--School Library Journal -- Journal (7/1/2020 12:00:00 AM)