Title: Alice in Zombieland
Author: Gena Showalter
Release Date: September 25, 2012
Source: ARC from BEA
She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.
Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.
Her father was right. The monsters are real.
To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies.
Luigi’s Review:
So when I first heard the title of this book I immediately got very excited. The cover alone is very exciting and I expected something along the lines of American McGee’s Alice, which, for those of you who don’t know, is an exciting twist to the Alice story which was brought to the computer and Xbox as a video game. It took the wholesome and magical tale of Lewis Carol and twisted and mangled it into a grim and ghastly world of terror and bloodshed. I expected something in the lines of this and was more than eager to begin reading.
Reading is not my strongest suit, and a book usually takes me a few days to read it, even if I really like it. However this book kept me turning pages for the whole day, and by day two I had finished the book. It was absolutely, amazingly written. It is nothing like American McGee, it’s more like a Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but it’s Alice the Zombie Slayer and it’s absolutely divine. It’s an easy and entertaining ride that you’ll want to read all at once. Just like you’d devour a delicious meal, you won’t be able to scarf this book down fast enough.
The author has an amazing ability to make characters that you can identify with almost immediately, which is one of the hardest things to do in writing. You become completely ensconced in this world, which has amazing characters and a completely original definition of the word zombie, a refreshing twist to the stale world of flesh eaters. Zombies in this novel will be like no other zombie you have ever met. The action is very vivid and fluid, so there were very few lulls in the reading. Aside from the action the twists and mysteries will keep you saying “Just one more chapter…” and before you know it you’ll be done.
I also like how the author gave Alice a voice. Her main character has this way of speaking to others and an internal monologue which are so compelling that you don’t feel like you’re reading about someone made up, you feel like you know Alice and you understand her thoughts because they are normal thoughts. She reacts to situations, not like a hero would, but how you would if you were a teenage girl dealing with these issues. Her parents, her crush, and everyone else just seems so genuine that you feel you know them.
If there is anything negative to be said about the novel, it’s that the sequel won’t be coming out for another year. I have been reading for 24 years and in those years I’ve never looked forward to a book. I can honestly say I will be eagerly waiting for the second and third book in the series to come out. I will read and reread them. The book is fun, funny, and very compelling. If action, zombies, ghosts, the occult, or any young adult books are things you like you are going to LOVE this book.
When a book breaks your heart when you’re done with it, you know the author has done an amazing job. Showalter did an amazing job, and I thank her for her work. I’m definitely going to go and read some of her other work, as I can only imagine they would be just as good.
