Today, I’m delighted to be reviewing One Yellow Eye by Leigh Radford. I am drawn to fantastic stories that promise a new take on a familiar trope and this promised a unique slant on the zombie apocalypse. It delivered with heart and horror in equal measure.
Thank you to Olivia-Savannah Roach at Tor UK for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This review originally appeared on The Nerd Daily.
Kesta’s husband Tim was the last person to be bitten in a zombie pandemic. The country is now in a period of respite, the government seemingly having rounded up and disposed of all the infected. But Kesta has a secret . . .
Tim may have been bitten, but he’s not quite dead yet. In fact, he’s tied to a bed in her spare room. And she’s made him a promise: find a cure, bring him back.
A scientist by day, Kesta juggles intensive work under the microscope alongside Tim’s care, slipping him stolen drugs to keep him docile, knowing she is hiding the only zombie left. But Kesta is running out of drugs – and time. Can she save her husband before he is discovered? Or worse . . . will they trigger another outbreak?
Publication Date: 17th July
CW: death, murder, violence, gore, blood, infection, virus, pandemic, grief
My Thoughts:
One Yellow Eye was an impressively strong debut novel with a unique take on the zombie apocalypse, strongly centred around grief.
This has such an interesting slant on the apocalypse – what happens when the dust has settled a little and the world is starting to rebuild? How do you live through something that life-altering and then return to a job? Here, Radford dives headfirst into that conundrum as Kesta is pulled into a shadowy government search for a cure to the zombie virus that ravaged everything she knew. The catch is that she is particularly desperate as she is hiding her undead husband in her flat. That concept is instantly gripping and opens up the door for plenty of insightful conversations. It is murky moral territory that forces you to confront the choices that you would make. From there, you are in for a wild ride as the stakes keep escalating and actions set in motion a devastating sequence of events.
Kesta is a wonderfully three-dimensional protagonist. She is incredibly smart, loyal and loving, as shown through her increasing acts of desperation. She has been pushed to the brink by the events she has lived through and she refuses to ‘let go’. As an aside, the way Radford talks about the language of grief in this book is astounding and impactful. She says the quiet parts out loud and that takes real guts. Kesta is nowhere near perfect – taking incredibly selfish actions in order to keep the spark of happiness. We can all wish for more time with those we love, making you empathise with her even as she risks everything and everyone for just one more day. Radford’s writing is rich and almost languid at times, keeping you in the same stasis Kesta’s life has fallen into since Tim was bitten. For me, it felt so authentic and raw – like a festering wound starting to open again.
Through this speculative lens, Radford captures that aching gap of grief in such a compelling and truthful way. It is dark but there is a powerful truth in there that will resonate with readers. This is a heart-wrenching ode to grief and guilt – an extreme survivor’s guilt and examination of the way trauma continues to reverberate through your life. Throughout the narrative, Radford weaves in the story of Tim and Kesta throughout the book – a poignant and beautiful story that you are desperate will turn out different this time even as you know the tragedy it is hurtling towards. It twists the knife a little more and your heart aches for the countless other tragedies in the background of this narrative. There’s these little moments that speak to stories we don’t hear – the fabric of this entire world is loss.
Radford contrasts this aching essence of humanity with the cold, clinical studies of this research. There are plenty of political allusions that feel extremely timely around capitalism and those seen as expendable for ‘the greater good’. It is biting and angry. Kesta’s scientific prowess is her shield trying to ground her in unshakeable facts as her world falls apart. That contrast between science and emotion is a core interplay in the book, but Radford allows more nuance than polarised sides of the debate. Kesta is desperate and that may drive her into darker and darker territory. At the same time, there is plenty of bleak humour which I adored. It is jolting at times but also feels like a natural aspect of a world trying to live with the unimaginable. Comedy is a coping mechanism and it is deployed to great effect here.
Radford weaves an emotionally rich and compelling story full of humanity and science, often undermining expectations. It moved me to tears.
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