Much like the other reviewer here(on the HB edition), I adored this book and was left feeling both more peaceful and oddly bereft at its conclusion and its new absence from my day. I also felt, quite strongly, that I'd like to go for a cup of coffee with Jason Mott to discuss his afterword and generally just listen to whatever is in his mind that he might fancy talking about. The premise of the book is explained in the synopsis, so I don't think I need to go over that, the aspects that are central to the synopsis are not the parts of the book that make this so wonderful. Instead it's the interactions, the love, the fear, the understanding, the allegorical characters and wry humour used throughout, that makes this so special. Mott's writing flows beautifully, and after reading more about him, I'm not at all surprised he's a poet too. I fully expect this book to be come a classic for various reasons: it's easy to see that it can provoke discussion, there are complex characters and no real 'right' or 'wrong', it's easy to use the themes and actions within it to discuss immigration, detention, existentialism and perhaps even the role of religion. All the while, this book doesn't preach or offer any obvious evil for the reader to root against. This is a very human story, beautifully written, that you'll no doubt laugh and cry at and will affect you for a while. Possibly my favourite book of the year so far and joins my all time favourites too. A must read that will surely become a modern classic.

I adored this book and was left feeling both more peaceful and oddly bereft at its conclusion and its new absence from my day. I also felt, quite strongly, that I'd like to go for a cup of coffee with Jason Mott to discuss his afterword and generally just listen to whatever is in his mind that he might fancy talking about. The premise of the book is explained in the synopsis, so I don't think I need to go over that, the aspects that are central to the synopsis are not the parts of the book that make this so wonderful. Instead it's the interactions, the love, the fear, the understanding, the allegorical characters and wry humour used throughout, that makes this so special. Mott's writing flows beautifully, and after reading more about him, I'm not at all surprised he's a poet too. I fully expect this book to be come a classic for various reasons: it's easy to see that it can provoke discussion, there are complex characters and no real 'right' or 'wrong', it's easy to use the themes and actions within it to discuss immigration, detention, existentialism and perhaps even the role of religion. All the while, this book doesn't preach or offer any obvious evil for the reader to root against. This is a very human story, beautifully written, that you'll no doubt laugh and cry at and will affect you for a while. Possibly my favourite book of the year so far and joins my all time favourites too. A must read that will surely become a modern classic.

Much like the other reviewer here, I adored this book and was left feeling both more peaceful and oddly bereft at its conclusion and its new absence from my day. I also felt, quite strongly, that I'd like to go for a cup of coffee with Jason Mott to discuss his afterword and generally just listen to whatever is in his mind that he might fancy talking about. The premise of the book is explained in the synopsis, so I don't think I need to go over that, the aspects that are central to the synopsis are not the parts of the book that make this so wonderful. Instead it's the interactions, the love, the fear, the understanding, the allegorical characters and wry humour used throughout, that makes this so special. Mott's writing flows beautifully, and after reading more about him, I'm not at all surprised he's a poet too. I fully expect this book to be come a classic for various reasons: it's easy to see that it can provoke discussion, there are complex characters and no real 'right' or 'wrong', it's easy to use the themes and actions within it to discuss immigration, detention, existentialism and perhaps even the role of religion. All the while, this book doesn't preach or offer any obvious evil for the reader to root against. This is a very human story, beautifully written, that you'll no doubt laugh and cry at and will affect you for a while. Possibly my favourite book of the year so far and joins my all time favourites too. A must read that will surely become a modern classic.

...wow. This is a glorious, sad, thought-provoking journey of a book that I've read over the course of a day, from the first intriguing ideas to the inevitable, heartbreaking end. I'm sitting here a few minutes after finishing it trying to construct my review and blinking away a handful of tears. It's something I think most - if not all - of us have thought about when losing a loved one: why can't they come back, why can't we say what we always wanted to say, please, can we just have a chance not to mess it up this time. And The Returned looks at that in deep, heartwrenching, disturbing detail. It's a wide scope - the idea that all over the world, the dead are coming back to life - and Mott has made the smart choice to confine the majority of the action and events to a small town in Southern America. Of course it's interesting to wonder how the world would cope with a sudden influx of people, and that's touched on here, but this is very much a novel that looks, not at the economic or infrastructural logistics, but the emotional, the moral, the spiritual ones. And it's stronger for it, I think. The Returned raises a lot of questions, most uncomfortable, some almost impossible to think about, and it's a fascinating examination of human nature: both the good and the bad. There are endless shades of grey here, far too many awful truths to look directly at, and while I often find myself resenting the 'what would you do' Picoult-esque nature of books that raise questions like this, I did find my mind lingering on this concept, trying to figure out where I placed myself, what I would do in this situation. Mott has a gorgeous turn of phrase, a deft way with establishing characters whether they appear as a brief fragment or throughout the novel, and I think it would be very hard to read this and not personally connect with at least one person. This isn't a particularly easy read: while not a horror story of crudely shuffling zombies or even one overtly exploring an Us/Them divide, there's an edge of menace threaded throughout the book, a ticking clock, a burning down fuse, that inexorably carries you through to the shattering end. I want to say so much without wanting to ruin any of it for any prospective readers, so I think I'll just tell you, once again, that this is a clever, beautifully written, slow devastating twist of a novel, one I could barely bring myself to put down and one that I think is going to stay with me for a long time. I want to meet Jason Mott now, and maybe cry all over him. But I'd settle for shaking his hand, and perhaps for thanking him instead.

I was really intrigued by the premise of the book; loved ones coming back to life after years-how would you react? I found myself pondering a lot through this novel as I followed the main characters and their lives and their reactions. It's not a zombie novel like World War Z-give this a go if you want some interesting fiction that's a bit unusual, but very good.