Find my reviews on Blogger ~ Reviews by Bookish Sarah 
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 *This review may contain spoilers for Dearly, Departed!* 
 Dearly, Beloved picks up a few months after Dearly, Departed. Z-Comp has split up, the vaccine for The Laz didn't take, and Bram & Nora are happily in a relationship; a relationship that is frowned upon by most of New Victoria, including Nora's father. 
 Many old characters return in this novel. Pamela is dealing with anxiety after everything that happened in book one. Michael Allister is determined to punish Pamela and Bram for taking Nora from him. Vespertine is working behind the scenes to help, but you never really know who she's helping 'til the end. There are also lots of new characters in this novel. We learn more about the bird-masked group of terrorists. We're also introduced to a group called "The Changed" - they want the living and the dead to live together in peace and harmony. 
 Nora's father is working on a vaccine to fight The Laz (a new strain included!). Nora and Bram get caught up in all the crossfire between The Murder and The Changed. All the while, Bram's second life is slowly wilting away. 
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 I really enjoyed this installment of the series! I have to say, though, that it moved very slowly to start. There was also a lot of info-dumping going on - just like in the first book. I am glad for the details, but they weren't spread out enough; just lumped all together. I'm really not a fan of pages and pages of descriptions and back-story. Especially when all of that should've been finished with in the first book. 
 As for the rest? It was fantastic. 
 The story is told through multiple POVs. Nora, Bram, Pamela, Michael, Vespertine, and Laura. I think that's all of them. Anyway, I really enjoy this about the book. It lets us see what is going on from many different angles and keeps the book action-packed and fast paced. 
 I really enjoyed the characters. Nora and Bram are too sweet as a couple, and their crew of zombies is as spunky as ever! Pamela is inspiring in the fact that she deals with being so low on the totem pole of New Victorian society and yet has the strength to handle her PTSD and the whole issue of zombies with such grace. Laura is a new zombie character, but I think she's my new favorite. She is so interesting and colorful. I really can't wait to read more from her perspective (hopefully) in the upcoming installment. 
 Habel really knows how to weave a plot! She has all sorts of things going on in this novel. First you have the new strain of The Laz - what's going on with that? 
 Then you've got the two groups. First, The Murder - a bunch of rich boys who want to kill all zombies and bring chaos to the city. Then you have The Changed - a group who wants peace and harmony between zombies and living people. They sort of remind me of gypsies. They travel in a caravan-esque group and they have the same sort of community aspects going. They are really interesting to say the least. These two groups are pretty much yin and yang. 
 There is also a lot going on between the characters. Nora and Bram are separated at one point. Michael is determined to make Nora his. Pamela isn't happy with Nora. You don't know where Vespertine's loyalties lie. Nora's father is hiding something and being completely unreasonable for most of the book. You've got Coalhouse holding Nora at gunpoint and being completely erratic. There is also the enigma that is Smoke. He's a zombie, but something isn't right about him. He looks dead, but his organs seem new and alive. There is also a huge surprise at the end involving him. It's just a whole lot of separate storylines that eventually meld together perfectly. 
 All in all, Dearly, Beloved is a fantastic follow-up to it's predecessor. There is a wonderfully colorful cast of characters (both old and new). The romance is subtle, but intense. The steampunk/neo-Victiorian world is vivid and easy to envision thanks to Habel's descriptive writing. The book moves a bit slow in some parts, but once it gets going, it really goes. It's action packed and full of surprises. The plot is deeply thickened with this novel, and I can't wait for a third installment! If you enjoyed Dearly, Departed, you'll love this one! 
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 Book source: NetGalley 
 Publisher: Del Ray/Random House Publishing Group