The Undead City by Osman Deen

 Assalamualaikum, good day dearest!

Title: The Undead City

Author: Osman Deen

Pages: 143

Genre: Middle-schooler, Apocalypse, Fantasy

Publisher: Bookiut

Year published: 2023

ISBN: 9789673697052

Blurb:

Rumi, a young man with schizophrenia who has a voice that narrates his life 24/7. Eve, an albino vampire who is running from the police. And the world - infested with flesh-eating zombies.

In an apocalyptic world riddled with ruthless zombies, Rumi must fight the past that haunts him and survive if he wants to meet his family in Perak.

But when the greatest enemy is not the zombies but Rumi himself...

Will he make it?

The first page of the book kind of throws me off. The narration of the story is the voice inside Rumi's head. In other words, the voice inside my head while reading the story is the same voice inside Rumi's head. So, I am Rumi? With that, I stopped reading and waited until the morning to read it again.

I expect this book to have a fictional world but instead, it is not as it took place in Malaysia, making it feel closer than expected. The plot itself is straightforward filled with several moments of humour, pain, nerve-wrecking, friendship, empowerment and love. Rumi's mission is to survive the apocalypse until he reunites with his family in Perak. Meeting Eve, the albino vampire murderer is a coincidence and somewhat their mismatched personality shines throughout the story.

There was good information on mental illness, especially regarding Rumi's condition. The voice inside his head aka Lipur was really witty and savage at times. Narrating Rumi's life is his job and won't go away with meds taken. I found myself laughing quite several times over his narration. The zombie apocalypse described was so scary and it was widespread across Malaysia and even the neighbouring countries.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the journey with Rumi and Eve. One complaint (which I am sure many others have) is the ending. Why does it end? And why that way? I'm really hating that zombie uncle. I refused to believe that is the ending and I'm making an alternate ending of my own. 

-thes