Growing up during the zombie apocalypse
I think God took all the good people away. If there is a God. I'm not so sure anymore. Wait, will I go to hell for thinking that way?
-- Decay of Innocence
When the Dead walk the Earth, the REAL demons emerge...
-- Death of Innocence
First, I need to point out that these books were originally published as 6 separate graphic novels, Kellie's Diary #1-6. Then they were published as two compilations. Kellie's Diary - Decay of Innocence (Kellie's Diary #1-3) and Kellie's Diary - Death of Innocence (Kellie's Diary #4-6). I was confused about this and ended up buying Kellie's Diary #2 after reading Decay of Innocence. When I started reading, I was like, wait I already read this.. I eventually figured it out. Looking back, I don't know what confused me so much.
Decay of Innocence starts off in January of 1993. At the start of the book, Kellie is 9-years old and she is living a fairly normal life. Gradually, we hear that more and more people are getting sick. By Chapter 5, we realize that something is terribly wrong. Kellie is stuck by herself at school and trying to escape the zombies.
Kellie is very smart and resourceful, even though she doesn't seem to know anything about zombies. Her first goal is to get to her house. Once there, when she doesn't find her family, her goal is to get to Oregon (to where her grandfather lives). She is hoping to find someone from her family alive.
Throughout the series, Kellie is very strong and does what she needs to in order to survive. She protects those she loves and tries to protect herself as well. She meets many people along the way, some good and some bad. And it seems like the zombies are not the worst thing left in this scary world.
I enjoyed this series very much. I started reading the Decay of Innocence during the Readathon last Saturday and when I finished, I immediately bought Death of Innocence and kept going. It was hard to read about the abuse Kellie suffered. No child should be forced to deal with such evil. It was interesting to read about the zombie apocalypse from a child's point of view (a child who manages to survive on her own for quite a while).
Recommended to:
Fans of graphic novels and apocalyptic stories. This is definitely an adult book. There is a lot of graphic violence including child abuse and sexual abuse.
