Book Review: Zomburbia

Zomburbia by Adam Gallardo
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Publication Date: August 2014
Source: Netgalley review copy

My name is Courtney Hart, and I'm here to tell you about things that suck. Being born in a podunk town like Salem, Oregon, for one. Living in a world infested with zombies? That, too. And the meat heads I go to school with? I think I'd actually take the undead over them most days. But I have a plan to get out of here and move to New York. I just have to keep selling Vitamin Z along with your fries at The Bully Burger. The secret ingredient? Zombie brains.

I've noticed things are getting even worse lately, if that's even possible. The zombies seem to be getting smarter and faster. If I can avoid being arrested, eaten by shufflers, or catching the eye of some stupid boy, I should be able to make it through finals week still breathing. . .

There was really nothing particularly special or memorable about this book. It's supposedly a different take on the zombie novel, but I didn't find anything all that different about it. I guess people are supposedly going on with life as usual, but they still have to fight and try to avoid zombies.

The main character is extremely unlikable. She's rude to everyone, including her father (her only family) and her friends. She's hypocritical; at one point thinking badly of one of her peers for buying a bunch of alcohol to serve to underage teens at a party, but then proceeding to drink said alcohol.

There were a couple of excitingish things that happened during the story, but for the most part it was just dull. I kept waiting for the point of the story, and didn't feel like it ever got there. Then realized at the end that this is part of a series, and I have absolutely no intention of continuing on. I wouldn't recommend this one.

Married With Zombies

A heartwarming tale of terror in the middle of the zombie apocalypse.
Meet Sarah and David.
Once upon a time they met and fell in love. But now they're on the verge of divorce and going to couples' counseling. On a routine trip to their counselor, they notice a few odd things - the lack of cars on the highway, the missing security guard, and the fact that their counselor, Dr. Kelly, is ripping out her previous client's throat.
Meet the Zombies.
Now, Sarah and David are fighting for survival in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. But, just because there are zombies, doesn't mean your other problems go away. If the zombies don't eat their brains, they might just kill each other.

I hadn't heard of this series at all until I got the third one from Netgalley to review. It's a really fun, brainless (ha!) read. There's something about zombie stories that I really like. I think it's that there's so much potential there. It can be funny, scary, apocalyptic--this particular book happened to be more funny than anything else.

There is a whole lot of swearing, and for that alone I'd say this is definitely an R-rated book. Right from the first couple of pages, we learn that Sarah and David aren't dainty characters, and can not only swear like sailors, they don't mind killing zombies left and right either. But you kind of have to. After all, when the zombies start coming, there's not much else you can do.

David and Sarah argue a lot--they're going through marriage therapy when the story opens, but they're still really likable characters. I don't remember getting annoyed with them at any point, which is usually pretty common in stories like this. There were side characters, but they just weren't around long enough to get to know or care about any of them. Although, even with the side characters, there were some emotional parts, which was good to balance out the funny.

The one thing I didn't really care for was that the author used the same action bit over and over. Just as Sarah was getting ready to shoot a zombie, somebody from behind her (that she didn't know) would throw some type of knife and kill it. There's gotta be another way to introduce new characters than doing the same thing over and over.

If you're looking for a light romp, and don't mind a lot of language and gore, this may be a good book to pick up to pass an afternoon. It's very short, but it left me wanting to pick up the second in the series (which I already have).


Book Details

Title: Married with Zombies (Living with the Dead, Book 1)

Author: Jesse Petersen

Genre: urban fantasy/science fiction

Page Count: 244

Publishing Info: September 2010 by Orbit

Why I Read It: Have 3rd in series for review

Grade: B

Cover Thoughts:

Review: Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse?

Book Details

Title: Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse?

Author: Max Braillier

Genre: horror

Page Count: 288

Publishing Info: February 8, 2011 by Gallery

My Review

Why I read it: Received review copy

The Plot: Inside these pages lies unspeakable horror. Bloodsplattering, brain-impaling, flesh-devouring horror. You’ve probably read your fair share of zombie stories. But this time it’s different. No longer can you sit idle as a bunch of fools make all the wrong moves. All hell is about to break loose—and YOU have a say in humanity’s survival.  (This book is in the classic "Choose your own adventure" style, which was very fun!)

The Characters: There really are no characters here.  You are the main character, except that you're a young man.  So, if you're a woman like me, it can be a little harder to put yourself in the slot of the main character and play along.

The Setting: I think most of the story takes place in New York, but that doesn't really matter so much.  All you need to know is that there are zombies!

Who Should Read This? Fans of the old Choose Your Own Adventure books, fans of zombie books.

Final Thoughts: I had a lot of fun with this one, but the one thing I realized is that you can't read it for any long periods of time.  Even though you can pick different paths and read a different scenario, after awhile I forgot what had happened in my current path and what was from a different one, and it all just blended together.  Not to mention that you kind of get sick of it after too long.  This is a fun one to pick up here and there when you don't have much time to read.

Grade: B

Cover Thoughts: I like the cover.  It's definitely not boring, although one could argue that there's too much there.

 

Thunder and Ashes Review

Book Details

Title: Thunder and Ashes
Author: Z.A. Recht
Genre: Apocalyptic Fiction
Page Count: 304
Publishing Info: Permuted Press, November 2010

My Review
Why I read it: Received review copy from Gallery Pocket Books 
The Plot: This is the second book in the Morningstar Strain trilogy.  I haven't read the first one, but I didn't feel lost at all.  This book follows a couple different groups of people as they're making their way to a research facility to hopefully find a vaccine for the zombie virus that is taking over the world.  The story is very fast-paced with tons of action and fighting scenes.  It seems like the author knew his stuff when it comes to guns and military lingo. 
The Characters: There were a whole lot of characters here, and I would say the plot/action drove the story a lot more than the characters, so there wasn't very much character development.  I did like Krueger, the sharpshooter of the group.  There weren't really any unlikable characters (except for the bad guys, which is obvious), but that could also be because of lack of character development.
The Setting: This was a pretty good dystopian type world, and I definitely felt the bleakness of it.  It's not someplace I'd like to visit, that's for sure.  If zombies ever do come, I'd almost rather be one of the first to go. 
Recommended for: I think fans of zombies would definitely go for this one.  I also kept thinking this would be one I might even be able to get my non-reader husband to read.  I think it will definitely appeal to male readers, and those who like their stories action oriented.
Final Thoughts: I'm glad I read this, and I was very sad to discover that the author has died.  I'm planning to go back and read the first book, and I read that there is a ghost writer working with what notes were left for the third book, so we'll see how that works out.  I really enjoyed this one, and was very pleasantly surprised.
Grade: B
Cover Thoughts: My cover was the one on the right, and while they're very similar, I like the look of the one on the left better.  They go well with the story, and are suitably scary.