The Enemy (Enemy Series #1)

Great Imaginations Review of The Enemy

There are exactly 665 ratings of this book on Goodreads. Only 665. It's a travesty. Why? This has to change. I'm going to do my part to help it along. There's an influx of dystopian and zombie novels as of late. It's the latest craze apparently. So why is the best one I have read yet not more popular? I don't get it!

I'm not saying the others aren't good, but The Enemy is like a non-stop roller coaster ride. And there isn't a single lull in the action. It's full of gore, heart-stopping moments, and places where I forgot to breathe I was so scared. And the best part? There's a second book!

Look I'll admit that the idea of "grown-up" zombies feeding on children is a slightly amateurish idea. But I promise you that the minute you start reading, you will completely forget this.

Some of my reviews get technical where I talk about story elements, pacing, characterizations, and the like, but I don't really want to do that with this review. It's not necessary. Charlie can write a killer action story and that's all you need to know. He's not afraid to do what he needs to do to keep the story moving along, even if things have to get really scary.

I guess I would call this a young adult novel. But it's very violent. You know how the Hunger Games is violent? I think this is even worse than that. I found myself cringing in a lot of places. But it didn't really bother me. I really, really loved this book. Zombies are like my favorite thing to read about lately. I don't really see that changing anytime soon. They scare the bejeezus out of me.

So do me a favor. If you love dystopians, if you love reading about zombies, you need to add this one to your TBR list. Then you need to click on that list and move this book to the top. After you read it, come back here and let me know what you thought. I can't think of a single person that I wouldn't recommend this book to.

7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Could be the beginning to a great series

I found this book by accident and I'm very glad i did! Unlike a lot of stories, it doesn't just follow one main plot with one main character. Instead there are several thrilling, action packed story lines with the reader getting to see through many different characters perspectives. I was hooked by the end of the first page and ended up finishing the book in one day. After the cliff hanging ending, I am now eagerly awaiting the sequel!

7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Awesome!

Great book. Thrilling an it will keep you guessing what will happen next. It has a suspenseful ending that keeps me yearning for the next book.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

BEST BOOK EVER!!!!!

This is by far the best book i ever read!!!!! Its full of action and fast paced. Which is why i love it so much. I read the first 2 books and now im waiting for the 3rd book. It beat the "Hunger Games Series" and the "Maximum Ride Series" on my list!!! Its great. I totally recomend it! :)

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

The most terrifying zombie book I've ever read...

The Enemy / 978-1-423-14504-2

I'm a big fan of zombie lit, and have read quite a lot of what's out there, but I can honestly say that "The Enemy" scared me far more than most anything else I've read.

"The Enemy" starts hard and fast by plopping us in the middle of the zombie apocalypse, as a rag-tag band of kids struggle to survive against the infected grown-ups. We rapidly learn that some time ago, everyone over about sixteen became incredibly sick and eventually started shambling around killing and eating the uninfected children. The children that have survived thus far have banded together into small, tightly-knit tribal groups, struggling to eke out some semblance of survival. Without any adults to guide them, the children hover between disaster-induced maturity and touching youthful naivete, as the older of the children try to look out for the smallest and youngest in the groups.

Part of what makes "The Enemy" so frightening is that the reader is frequently and harrowingly terrified for the young protagonists. Author Higson does a wonderful job of characterizing the many children that fill the pages of this excellent novel - the point of view switches frequently between the children, and each child is fleshed out thoroughly and realistically. The children are attuned enough to the realities of the situation to allow the reader to identify with and care for them, but they still make enough foolish mistakes to retain their childlike status in the eyes of the reader. And once the reader becomes intimately familiar with all the characters, and grows to like them, the dangers of Anyone Can Die really hit home - this is not a book where battles feel bland and anti-climactic because you *know* none of your favorite characters will get offed.

I really cannot rave enough about the wonderful writing here - everything from the world-building to the characterization to the point-of-view switches is done remarkably well. The switches between the characters always flow naturally and never feel forced or clunky or cheap. The children are often delightfully Genre Savvy, as you would naturally expect urban children familiar with zombie lore to be, but always remain ultimately vulnerable, particularly as things get worse and the younger children are forced to confront the horrors of this new world. And the world building is done so well that I started to become deeply concerned about the fate of the older children - is the danger of infection over for them or are they inexorably doomed like their parents?

If you like zombie books even a little bit, then you will love "The Enemy". I'm not 100% certain about the age target audience - personally, I found this book to be terrifying, and I'm an *adult*, but probably older kids can handle it as a solid horror/adventure story written from their perspective. While there is no sexual content, there is quite a bit of horror and violence, obviously, so do keep that in mind when shopping.

~ Ana Mardoll

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Awesome

I am not even close to page 50 and already its awesome

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Dead people

The main character dies in the middle. Hahahahaha!!!!!

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

WORST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ, DO NOT BUY

This book was THE worst book I have ever read. The chapters didn't end well, you felt no connection to the characters, the whole concept was stupid, and the writing was so bad I could have written it better (I'm only 12 by the way). I will not even buy the sequel it was so bad. AVOID BUYING THIS BOOK!!!

1 out of 14 people found this review helpful.

This book is AWESOME!!!!!!

This book by Charlie Higson is action packed and will keep you on the edge of your seat. I would recommend this to any zombie-lover or action-lover!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Enemy

The Enemy is a great book it has a ton of greatness to it. If you liked the hunger games you will deffently love this book it has 75% fighting 20% of them running away from the zombies and 5% romance i highly recamond this book

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

a very very good book, everyone should read this

i found The Enemy while browsing the teen section at Borders. It is not all that easy to find books like this. The book starts off with a great opening story, that leaves you with some questions that you have to read a little farther to find out. As the book goes on, it has something for everyone. It has action, drama, horror, romance, and zombies. If you like any of these types of writing, then you should find this book, make sure your in a nice comfy spot, and turn the first page. This book also is good at keeping you glued to its pages. each tiny little story is almost over when you finish a chapter, and you feel like you have to keep reading to find out what happens next. One of the major themes in this story is about how well strangers can work together. With all these kids under 16 running around with lead pipes and baseball bats, you would think that this would all go to hell. But it does the exact oppisite. The gropup of kids this book focuses on, is well organized and well defended. Overall, this is a very very good book and i would recomend it to every teen out there. Why? Becuase this book holds your attention and doesnt let go. It has a little something for everyone in the world.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book was not very good

This book does not go very deep with details or characters. Throughout the book I felt no relation to the characters. It did have a good story, but the writing was not very good. I felt thte characters had hardly any personality, and the characters that did show the most were usually the bad guys. Overall, I would definetly not recommend this book.

1 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

Thrilling

Loved this series. Could not put it down.

Amazing

Awesome book and had fun reading it. I could not put it down. I did not understant the last chapter at all though bt a really good book.

David McLaughlin awesome book

Really good it was awesome I read it twice I recamend the second one to

Best book ever

I loved it. Your living as the character until they die. But if u dont like violence steer cleer but good story and they give u every detail and if u liked it get the second the dead and the third the fear but the fear is not in the US yet

No adult situation

When reading it i could not get the adult situation that i can in books like rise again the fact that it was kids took some of the mature situation, dialouge, etc. The age level also affect some of the decisions in adults might of made. The concept of the book was good was not bad.

Amazing Book! MUST READ.

I haven't read a lot of books, mainly because none of them were interesting. I recently went to a book fair and saw this book. It looked very good. I purchased the book and started reading. Boy, Am I glad I did. I finished the book a few minutes ago. The action, The description, Everything, I Loved. I would recommend this book to people who are older than 12, only because there are a few curse words in it. Other than that, everyone would enjoy this book. THIS IS A MUST READ NOVEL.

I used to b indecisive but now im not so sure...

Okay... i read a lot of reveiws and i found a lot of controversial answers. I dont know if i should get the book or not!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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