This review was originally posted to my blog Bookish as a part of the MEN in YA event 
 Jonathan Maberry + zombies = fan-freakin'-tastic post apocalyptic thrill ride! Seriously, this book is impossible to put down! I was sucked into the zombie-infested world of Benny Imura right from the get-go. All I wanted was to be left alone so I could sit down and read. Or even stand and read, doesn't matter. I could even read this book while hanging up-side-down from the tallest sky-scrapper in the city and I honestly wouldn't care! It's that good! I loved every second of it. It's not just a zombie book, it's a phenomenal, thought-provoking, insanely emotional wonder of a story. Pure awesomeness!!! 
 "There are moments that define a person's whole life. Moments in which everything they are and everything they may possibly become balance on a single decision. Life and death, hope and despair, victory and failure teeter precariously on the decision made at that moment. These are moments ungoverned by happenstance, untroubled by luck. These are the moments in which a person earns the right to live, or not." 
 Benny Imura is almost fifteen, which means soon he's going to have to find a job, otherwise his food rations will get cut in half and he'll probably end up starving to death. Ideally he'd like an interesting, but not too physically demanding (or dangerous) job, but oh-well, the world he lives in is far from anyone's definition of perfect. Benny ends up working for his older brother, Tom (a half-Japanese, badass zombie hunter ). He's not particularly happy about it, in fact, ever since the night when his mother was killed on their eyes by their virus-infected father, Benny hates and despises Tom. He believes Tom to be nothing more than a pathetic coward, who, instead of trying to save their mother, turned and ran. Their relationship is very complicated and heavy with all sorts of overwhelming emotions. The lack of civilized communication between these two doesn't really help improve it, either. It isn't until Tom takes Benny with him to Rot and Ruin (which basically is the world beyond the fence surrounding the city, a dangerous, zombie-ridden place) that he's beginning to understand how meaningful and important Tom's job is. Benny has a lot to learn, a lot to discover and understand. The world he sees from behind the fence is different from what he imagined. So is the world and the people on the inside. 
 "Closure isn't closure until someone's ready to close the door." 
 To say that I loved this book would be a major understatement. Rot & Ruin literally swept me off my feet. You may be wondering what's so special about this book that makes it stand out from the crowd of all the other zombie-apocalypse-sort-of-books. How different can it possible be? Oh, it's different, alright! This isn't anything like 28 Days Later or Resident Evil, although the premise might be similar. It's soooooo much more than that! Maberry's zombies are not vicious, evil beasts who will do everything to get their hands (or teeth rather) on your brains. These are tragic, sad, lost creatures, victims of a freak virus outbreak (of unknown origins), who, even though their human lives ended, can not rest in peace. The pages of Rot&Ruin are dripping with the overwhelming and omnipresent feeling of hopelessness and desperation. That's not to say that this books isn't scary, because it is. It's absolutely terrifying. But it's a different kind of fear than the one you'd expect from a zombie book. It's the kind of fear that slowly creeps up on you, get's deep under your skin and paralyzes you for a long, long time. Not the "OMG-zombies-are-chasing-me" kind of thrill, because, let's face it, that ceased to be scary long time ago. Rot & Ruin is horrifying for totally different reasons. In this book, Jonatham Maberry addresses our most basic fears: of being lost, abandoned by the society, lonely, misunderstood, of not living your life but merely existing. The zombies are not the bad guys here.. Sure they can hurt you and turn you into one of them. They'll follow you and try to get a bite of your yummy body, but it's not a conscious decision, or them wanting to harm you, that drives them. It's the disease. These zombies are more like plants, they follow the living just like plants follow the sun. It's a grim, depressing reality. I found myself emotionally wrapped up in this book. It's powerful and unforgettable. Brilliant. I can't emphasize enough how much I loved it. 
 I loved all the characters, especially Tom. He was wise, brave, patient, forgiving and ready to sacrifice himself for others. Benny was a great MC and, although I didn't care much for him at the beginning, as the story progressed he definitely grew on me. He went from a stubborn, slightly annoying brat who acted like he knew everything about the world around him, to a mature, thoughtful, understanding young man. I loved the transformation! All the characters in Rot&Ruin are three dimensional and complex like that, and it's impossible not to care about them. 
 Overall, Rot&Ruin made a huge impression on me and I'm definitely planning on re-reading it in the future. This is an absolute must-read, no doubt about it. I'm so happy that there will be not three but four books in the Benny Imura series - the more the better!