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Zone One
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
In this wry take on the post-apocalyptic horror novel, a pandemic has devastated the planet. The plague has sorted humanity into two types: the uninfected and the infected, the living and the living dead. Now the plague is receding, and Americans are busy rebuilding civilization under orders from the provisional government based in Buffalo. Their top mission: the resettlement of Manhattan. Armed forces have successfully reclaimed the island south of Canal Streetaka Zone Onebut pockets of plague-ridden squatters remain. While the army has eliminated the most dangerous of the infected, teams of civilian volunteers are tasked with clearing out a more innocuous varietythe malfunctioning stragglers, who exist in a catatonic state, transfixed by their former lives. Mark Spitz is a member of one of the civilian teams working in lower Manhattan. Alternating between flashbacks of Spitzs desperate fight for survival during the worst of the outbreak and his present narrative, the novel unfolds over three surreal days, as it depicts the mundane mission of straggler removal, the rigors of Post-Apocalyptic Stress Disorder, and the impossible job of coming to grips with the fallen world. And then things start to go wrong. Both spine chilling and playfully cerebral, Zone One brilliantly subverts the genres conventions and deconstructs the zombie myth for the twenty-first century.
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inthegreensandblues
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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#Zombie
I started this one a long time ago, got distracted, and never got back to it. Back on the stack 😂

#WickedWhispers @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Eggs I liked this one ☝️ 4w
28 likes1 comment
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Eggs
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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“We never see other people anyway, only the monsters we make of them.”

Cleverly written post-apocalyptic novel of NYC

#Monsters

#CoverLove

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Sounds good! 🖤 3mo
Eggs It was. 3mo
47 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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Ruthiella
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Mehso-so

The writing was impressive, elegiac, beautiful even, but in my opinion, overkill in what should be a plot propulsive zombie novel. Many of the sections that were flashback scenes to the narrator‘s life on the run between Last Night and relative sanctuary in Zone One would have made great short stories. But as a horror novel, it was too slow for me. The end is great, however.

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DHill
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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I‘m all for a post-apocalyptic horror novel. Let‘s go!

34 likes1 stack add
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jlhammar
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Whitehead is one of my favorite authors and I enjoyed his take on the zombie novel.

#OminousOctober #Undead
@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Eggs Perfect 👍🏼 2y
she.hearts.horror I need to finish this! 2y
AllDebooks I hate zombies but this sounds extraordinary 👌 2y
49 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Pedrocamacho
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Pickpick

The zombie 🧟‍♂️ apocalypse through the eyes of Colson Whitehead. It is not my favorite book of his, but it is an interesting read.

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WhiskeyMistress
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Panpan

Honestly, I did not like this book at all. I enjoyed the other books I‘ve read by this author, but not this one. The writing was pedantic, long winded, fancy just for the sake of being fancy. It was like he wanted to show off what a GOOD writer he was, but it came off all wrong, verging on ridiculous in my opinion.
⭐️ out of 5 stars
Read date: 2/21/2021

Mrs.C Yes! I‘ve read this one too and it was so difficult to get through! 4y
31 likes1 comment
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ImperfectCJ
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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"The plague touched them all, blood contact or no. The secret murderers, dormant rapists, and latent fascists were now free to express their ruthless natures. The congenitally timid, those who had been stingy with their dreams for themselves, those who came out of the womb scared and remained so: These, too, found a final stage for their weakness and in their last breaths were fulfilled. I've always been like this. Now I'm more me."

45 likes2 stack adds
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ImperfectCJ
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Pickpick

My first plague book since the pandemic began, this was a good read. Riding the second wave, I find the characters' philosophizing and coping mechanisms comforting, in a way, and realistic. Covid isn't as intense as a zombie apocalypse (knock wood), but Whitehead's musings about how the strengths and weaknesses of a society manifest themselves when all Hell breaks loose feel relevant to the situation. I'll post a quote shortly.

61 likes4 stack adds
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ImperfectCJ
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Thankful for a little post-pie zombie apocalypse.

63 likes1 stack add
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KVanRead
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Bailedbailed

I hate to bail on Whitehead but I can‘t make any headway with this—at 18% I‘m just slogging through an endless tide of zombies. There are many astute, sometimes wry observations and his prose is outstanding, even electrifying initially, but it doesn‘t seem to be in the service of any kind of plot. Maybe it‘s just a very slow start and eventually goes somewhere great but I‘m not invested enough to find out.

vivastory I've heard so many mixed things about this one. I've been pretty reluctant to read it bc I love his other books. Have you read Apex Hides the Hurt? 4y
MsMelissa Oh know! I just bought this one 😕 4y
KVanRead @vivastory I haven‘t but it sounds interesting! Did you like it? I‘ve only read Underground Railroad and Nickel Boys both of which I loved. 4y
KVanRead @Book_Fiend_Melissa I think it might work better in print than on audio. One of my problems was that it bounces around a lot and I kept feeling lost and confused which would be less of an issue for me in print. Also the prose is gorgeous and I can usually appreciate that more in print. 4y
30 likes4 comments
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Eggs
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Klou This sounds like a really good book! 4y
Eggs 💗Colson‘s writing style💗 @Klou (edited) 4y
58 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Godpants
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Mehso-so

Am I the only one that found this super boring? I‘ve loved everything else I‘ve read from him, so maybe I hyped myself up too much.

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Godpants
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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It‘s almost October so I needed some more spooky reads, and this has been in my TBR pile forever.

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HeatherBlue
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Reading a zombie book...look up to see this creeper. #catsoflitsy

ravenlee That...would be disconcerting. 4y
HeatherBlue @ravenlee Yup...the characters were sweeping a building in the book, I heard a noise above me, and looked up to see that. Heart stopped lol he‘s definitely not supposed to be up there...but cats. 4y
ravenlee I remember being in about eighth grade, reading RL Stine‘s Cheerleaders books in the middle of the night with nobody else awake. I got to a particularly scary part, and my mom‘s cat came tearing into my room and jumped onto the dresser where my lamp was, making a huge yowling racket and casting this creepy shadow. He wasn‘t usually crazy like that, either, but he scared the bejesus out of me! 4y
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HeatherBlue @ravenlee Eek!! I bet!! I feel like cats know when we‘re already freaked out and save their oddest behavior for then 🤣 4y
Reggie Lolololol to these stories. 4y
rubyslippersreads 😹😹😹 4y
wanderinglynn 😹😹😹 4y
Gissy Like the song, “ I got this feeling...someone is watching me....😻 3y
HeatherBlue @Gissy exactly!! 😹 3y
51 likes9 comments
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Rachiiebookdragon
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
Panpan

This was a very wordy book, which I know sounds strange but Jeez! A story of some sort was in this book but not really my cup of tea, was pleased just to finish it. 3/5

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BarbaraTheBibliophage
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Pickpick

This was so dark and so hard to read right now. However, Whitehead takes a dreadful post-pandemic situation and makes it sound poetic and literary. Mind you, he‘s still talking about zombies and skies raining ash. So, it‘s at the low end of picks. Because the cognitive dissonance of gorgeous prose and grimy story are hard to reconcile.

Full review http://www.TheBibliophage.com
#thebibliophage2020 #bookspin #bookinbonanza #litsyatoz #letterz

86 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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BarbaraTheBibliophage
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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For whatever messed up reason, I put a post-pandemic zombie book in my #bookspin for May. These two sentences kicked me in the gut today. Maybe we will avoid zombies, but I‘m relating 💯 to “tooth-fairy period.”

#bookspinbonanza #pandemicreading

KathyWheeler This book has been sitting on my shelf staring at me for years. I want to read it but I don‘t know if now is the time. 4y
Prairiegirl_reading See? Of the moment! Actually a genius pick if you can stomach it! 😄 4y
batsy Oh dear 😰 4y
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BarbaraTheBibliophage @KathyWheeler Well, it was the same for me. It‘s not at all what I was expecting, which is both good and bad. Should be reviewing this week as I‘m almost finished. 4y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @Prairiegirl_reading Haha. Thanks for calling me a genius. 🤪 It‘s kind a really long internal monologue (with lots of stories) about adjusting to a new normal. Yes, there are zombies but it‘s not much about running from them. So the adjustment discussions feel fairly relevant. But Whitehead‘s style is so literary and even beautiful. Just not at all what I was expecting. I should have the review posted by midweek. 4y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @batsy Right? See my comments above. It‘s not as stressful as thought it might be ... 4y
78 likes6 comments
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Branwen
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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⭐ Zombies! 😨😱

⭐ Kind of? 🤔 I haven't technically ordered any new books (aside from my BOTM picks for this month!) but there have been books that I preordered a while ago that have come in recently! In fact, Veronica Roth's new book is supposed to arrive today and I'm pretty excited about it! 💕📚

Tagging anyone who wants to play! 😘

@TheSpineView #twofortuesday

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Riveted_Reader_Melissa
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Bailedbailed

I had every intention of reading this one last month but just couldn‘t get into It... I‘ll try again and revisit it another time. 🤷‍♀️

mollyrotondo Oh no. I own this one but haven‘t read it yet. I hope it‘s not a bail for me. Was it boring? 5y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @mollyrotondo No, it wasn‘t that...that‘s why I‘ll revisit it later. I just wasn‘t connecting and falling into the story. So definitely a my mood didn‘t match the book thing, plus starting it around the time a pandemic starts dominating the real news probably wasn‘t the best timing. 🙈 5y
mollyrotondo @Riveted_Reader_Melissa oh yeah that makes a lot of sense 😷 definitely need to steer clear of pandemic stories right now 5y
63 likes3 comments
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Melismatic
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Mehso-so

“We never see other people anyway, only the monsters we make of them.”

I‘d assumed a zombie-in-NYC story would be right up my alley for my first Whitehead but this felt choppy and was difficult to follow. It got better as it went on, though. I am glad I toughed it out. 🧟‍♂️ 🧟‍♀️ 🗽 #authoramonth2020

Soubhiville Logged 📚 5y
23 likes1 comment
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Skygoddess1
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Mehso-so

This was an interesting take on the zombie apocalypse. In it Mark Spitz and compatriots are working on behalf of the government to eradicate New York City of the zombie population in order to allow the city to be reclaimed by the uninfected. Many a zombie story is filled with gore but Colson Whitehead stayed away from this aspect as the typical zombie book for the most part. Found it an enjoyable enough read. #AuthorAMonth #AuthorAMonth2020

Soubhiville Logged, that‘s 5📚 5y
17 likes1 comment
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dixi_e
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Bailedbailed

Struggling to get into this one and after reading so many weak reviews, I‘m not wasting any more time. #toomanybooks

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Melismatic
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Stalling on this chilly day. I want to like this but the author is making it tough. #authorofthemonth #authoramonth2020

Soubhiville I love your mug! 5y
Melismatic @Soubhiville thanks! It was an xmas gift 🥰 5y
23 likes2 comments
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BookwormAHN
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Bailedbailed

After about 2 hrs on audio I DNFed Zone One. For a zombie book it was rather boring.
Then I discovered Yaoi Mangas which is a Japanese term for a manga that features sexual romances between men that are mostly created for women. Thank you Google. The above 3 are free on for Kindle. They are short and entertaining.

phatsallylee I picked this one for #authoramonth but have seen many negative reviews. Still going to give it a try in a few days... 5y
kimmypete1 I DNF‘d this book years ago. Quite the disappointment, I also could not handle the SUPER EXTRA LONG chapters it had. (I think there were only 3 or 4 chapters in the whole book 😫)(I probably would have been ok in audio, but in print this is a big thing for me.) (edited) 5y
Soubhiville Logged, that‘s 4📚 5y
84 likes3 comments
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Bookwormjillk
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Mehso-so

Colson Whitehead is an amazing writer with immaculate attention to detail, but I just couldn‘t get into this book. #AuthorAMonth2020

Soubhiville Logged, that‘s 4 📚 5y
42 likes1 comment
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Eggs
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Mehso-so

Even if zombies are not your groove, Whitehead‘s writing acumen can win you over. With its urban post-apocalyptic setting, it‘s gritty and existential for the brave warriors who must monitor and eliminate the soulless morphs whose only goal is to feed on vulnerable humans! A Pick for the writing, a So-So for the content.

#authoramonth2020
@Soubhiville

Soubhiville Logged, that‘s 8! 📚 5y
Soubhiville Logged, that‘s 8!📚 5y
74 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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LauraJ
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Mehso-so

Very pretty writing about a zombie plague that questions whether the infected or the uninfected in Manhattan are really all that different. Dull characters, not much of a plot, mildly amusing satire.
#AuthorAMonth

Soubhiville Logged, that‘s 8! 📚 5y
55 likes1 comment
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5280reader
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Mehso-so

A genre I don‘t typically read, but wanted another Whitehead book after The Underground Railroad. Stories of Last Night and survival bounced me around a bit, and I seemed to lose focus.

Djspens Have you read the Nickel Boys? Another great Colson Whitehead book. 5y
5280reader @Djspens It‘s definitely on my list! I heard great things :) 5y
17 likes2 comments
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Vanessa
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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It‘s been a while since I‘ve DNF‘d a work of fiction... but this one is tempting me.

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GivenLemons
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Pickpick

I generally enjoyed this book, which is a testament to Whitehead‘s writing. But I didn‘t find the humour and satire (although I may have missed the window for the satire). I found it truly difficult to connect with the characters, especially Mark Spitz because he seemed to be lacking in character traits. It might just be me, but the philosophical point of humans being zombies before the plague didn‘t quite land because he felt so unrealistic.

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Exbrarian
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Panpan

Zombie novels are my guilty pleasure. I have easily read a hundred or more. This is the worst one that I bothered to finish. I kept thinking it had the potential to get better. Then it was over without ever approaching that potential.

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Pogue
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area a fan of Colson Whitehead? He is going to be at Dominican University on September 20th.

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Zelma
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Small library haul today. I don‘t know if I can handle Saga but I need to face it eventually. I know it will make me sad. I‘v has my eye on The Test and Zone One for awhile; been on a romance kick lately and need some sci fi.

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BookmarkTavern
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Mehso-so

The world has fallen to the zombie infestation, and some civilian fighters are cleaning Manhattan of the stragglers.

Something that doesn't change, no matter what you're reading, Whitehead's mastery of the English language is breathtaking.

Unfortunately, that couldn't really save this book from a dull protagonist, confusing flashbacks within flashbacks, and the fact that I really wanted the story that happened after "the end." ?????

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HeatherBookNerd
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Pickpick

A plague has converted half the country into zombies. By this point, most of the undead have been contained. Mark Spitz is part of a team helping to sweep Manhattan of the stragglers, making it possible to reinhabit the city. In flashbacks, Mark remembers life before the plague and trying to stay alive while the devastation spread across the country. The book is worth reading, but the audiobook is just so-so. I‘d read it instead.

Slajaunie I wish I could do zombies. They give me nightmares from watching movies as a kid. 😟. Sounds like a good book, though. 6y
HeatherBookNerd @Slajaunie I‘m super wimpy and can‘t do graphic, scary books. This focuses mainly on the main character‘s thoughts about he‘s thinking and what‘s happening to society. The gross zombie stuff is pretty limited actually. 6y
Slajaunie I will take a peek at it then. Thanks. 6y
See All 6 Comments
Lcsmcat Mark Spitz? Really? Like, the Olympic swimmer? Does he use his swimming skills to defeat the zombies ? 😆 6y
HeatherBookNerd @Lcsmcat it‘s a nickname that is eventually explained in the book. We never know his real name. 6y
ValerieAndBooks I wondered the same thing about Mark Spitz 😂! 5y
36 likes3 stack adds6 comments
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Plaidsticks
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Mehso-so

I loved Colson Whitehead‘s The Underground Railroad, so gave this a try despite zombie books not at all being my thing. Took me forever to finish for some reason, but I did enjoy it.

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Christyco125
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
Pickpick

Excellent narrative of the aftermath of an undead rising. It was a quick read and it definitely left an impression.

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Mrs.C
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Panpan

I am so happy to be done with this book!
It‘s a train of thought novel taking place in a post apocalyptic world.
While Colson writes beautifully, the book was boring and hard to follow. As a reader I struggled with the memories inside a memory to then be thrown back into the present day. It was very difficult. There was also very little dialogue, the book mostly consisted of his thoughts.
Overall it was a very tough and unenjoyable read

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Mrs.C
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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I am not a zombie fan, this book it killing me! 🧟‍♀️

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Mrs.C
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Happy Sunday all! 💋

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Mrs.C
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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I want to bail on this book sooooo bad, but of course it‘s a required reading! 😩

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Mrs.C
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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Tonight‘s reading material plus my new mug 🤓
BTW, I‘ve never used the word “fleek” on my life, but I loved the mug and it was only $3 so how could I not?!

Chelleo 🤣 6y
19 likes1 comment
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night_shift
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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#nightmare4christmas #n4c #swap
Thanks for hosting @teebe & thanks for this great box @Marmie7 - both these books sound interesting and we're all eating the heck out of the yum candy!

Happy christmas, everyone!!

tpixie ♥️🎁🎉♥️ 6y
Redwritinghood Merry Christmas!🎄 6y
84 likes2 comments
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Kristelh
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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15 likes1 stack add
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Mitch
Zone One: A Novel | Colson Whitehead
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SandyW 😂😂😂 When is escape ever an option? 6y
67 likes1 comment