Book Review: Alice In Zombieland

Author: Gena Showalter

Publication Date: September 25, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Series: White Rabbit Chronicles # 1

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….

I wish I could go back and do a thousand things differently.
I'd tell my sister no.
I'd never beg my mother to talk to my dad.
I'd zip my lips and swallow those hateful words.
Or, barring all of that, I'd hug my sister, my mom and my dad one last time.
I'd tell them I love them.
I wish... Yeah, I wish.

“Mom was still trying to soothe him. Thank goodness she’d managed to disarm him before we’d left the house. Usually he carried guns, knives, and throwing stars whenever he dared to venture out.” – Finished Copy pg. 23

“No, they weren’t men, I realized they couldn’t be. They had sagging pockmarked skin and dirty, ripped clothing. Their hair hung in clumps on their spotted scalps, and their teeth…so sharp as they…fell upon my dad and disappeared inside him, only to reappear a second later and…and…eat him. Monsters.” – Finished Copy pg. 29

“I would never mention the fact that my mom had been in the car when I first opened my eyes after passing out. But the next time I’d opened them? Her body had been outside the car, the headlights spotlighting her just as they’d spotlighted my dad, her body jerking and writing as the things dove inside her, disappearing for endless seconds before coming back up for air. Her skin had bubbled up, as if burned and turned black, before finally splitting open and welling with blood.” – Finished Copy pg. 33

“Only a single beat of silence this time. Then he uttered one word. Just one. But that one word forever changed my life, as feared. ‘Zombies.’” – Finished Copy pg. 175

 

 

This book would have been the perfect read for Halloween. I am so upset that I didn’t get to it sooner, but review books come first! Alice Bell’s story is one that I am sure just about anybody would not want to miss. Her dad, whom she believes to be crazy, warns her of what lurks in the shadows at night, but Alice is tired of being inside by five in the evening and never journeying out anywhere with her family outside of their home. Until one night, when her entire life changes forever and she finally realizes that her father was not so crazy after all.

 

At the start of this book I thought to myself that Alice Bell was not the ideal for fighting zombies. Boy, was I ever wrong! Alice turned out to be one awesome heroine that I cannot wait to read more about. In the beginning of the book she just seemed like an awkward and misunderstood teenager, but as the book progressed I began to see a girl on the road to revenge. I liked it! Alice’s story is creepy and eerie and sometimes the way she describes things just send chills up my spine. She is one of those girls without a weak stomach, which she would about to have to be as strong as they come after everything she has recently witnessed. This is a heroine with some tough skin.

 

Let’s talk love interests! Oh boy, were they ever juicy in this book! Cole Holland was mysterious and a little bad boyish! Ok, a lot bad boyish! There is a possible love triangle, but I don’t want to get too in depth into this because it could give away important parts of the story.  I just want to talk about Cole. He is the leader of the bad boy club and a zombie fighting machine! I kept trying to picture him in my head and I believe that he and Alice would fit quite nicely together. The “love” scenes in this book are not overdone but actually keep you guessing for more. Cole is a little stand offish when it comes to Alice and another girl, Mackenzie, who brings out Alice’s jealous tendencies. Some rather intense scenes take place where some not so nice words are thrown around over these girl’s affections towards Cole. I know, I know let’s not get carried away, girls. But, trust me; Cole Holland is worth fighting over.

 

This was my first read by Gena Showalter and I am anxiously awaiting more from her. I think at this point that I would try any genre that she wrote because from this book she made me feel eerie, scared, made me laugh, and made me question the existence of zombies when I go out at night. Seriously, I was looking around corners and up alleys! I highly recommend this book anytime of the year, not just Halloween!