I'm not much one for zombies. Vampires and werewolves have been my monsters of choice, tho even those tropes have become a bit stale over the past few years as books about vamps & shifters have flooded the market. Everything about this novel - a story about a little girl named Melanie during a zombie apocalypse - it is just about perfect. The story, the characters (whether I hated them or loved them), the world building, the narrator (Finty Williams, who is so good!), even the ending, which I admit I did not see coming, though I should have. It has horror, though not your Friday-the-13th kind of horror. It has gore, though not in-your-face-until-you-want-to-vomit gore. It has suspense and pathos, skullduggery and heroism. It's pretty much my favorite book so far this year, and it's about zombies! Who'da thunk it? 
 Note: I've been in a reading slump since - well, to be honest, since 11/9/16. A lot of the pleasures in life have paled since then (like unbroken sleep), but the pleasure I missed the most was reading. With this book, I have renewed hope that the slump has ended.