Reviews

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris

curiousnico's review against another edition

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3.0

It was a good fun read, enjoyable but it sort of went from point A to C in a way that entirely skipped over B. It felt rushed, and rather quick without getting into depth with things.

ambeesbookishpages's review against another edition

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5.0

Kick ass Zombie book!


I am not a fan of zombie books but this, I really enjoyed. Carrie had me on the edge of my seat all through this book. Though the begging was slow this is a ending you do not want to miss, the book is filled with geeks, cheerleaders, Hunky football players, immature 15 year olds, and ZOMBIES! Great read and there is another book coming out in this series that I can't wait to read!

mehsi's review

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5.0

Absolutely wonderful book. It got all the ingredients that made me love the book:

Geeky Girl, Cute Boy, Zombies (though not like your normal average zombies, though body parts fall off and they are quite hungry for some nice girls), Sarcasm, Humour and more. :)

I would recommend this book to everyone. :)

charms1976's review against another edition

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2.0

I was first intrigued by this book because of the cover. I thought it was creepy and eerie with the frost covered lips. I also have been trying to read more books about zombies lately since they seem to be the new rage in the book genre. Unfortunately, this book fell flat as a dead zombie for me.


Within the first chapter of this book, I could already tell that it was not going to be a book I would enjoy. The character is suppose to be in high school, yet her actions and personality of her friends made me feel like I was reading a book focused more on the younger teens. The writing, in my opinion, needing much more work to be considered a young adult genre book. I would classify this one to be more middle grade in writing style. I wasn't a fan of the main character, Kate, who was suppose to be smart but was naive most of the time. Now don't get me wrong! I didn't hate the book, but it is not a favorite of mine.


This is more of a fun and light read that you could easily finish in a day. I took it as a mindless read that you don't have to put much thought into the plot as you read it. You just go with the flow and try to enjoy the story line that the author created.

squirrelsohno's review against another edition

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4.0

BAD TASTE IN BOYS by Carrie Harris is a short, fun little book for those who like their zombies with a dose of comedy and fun (and maybe just a bit of horror). Following protagonist Kate, we are dropped into the mind of a high school student and future doctor who has science on the mind. She works as an athletic trainer with the school’s atrocious football team, and its coach may or may not have been giving the players something to turn them from blah into BRAIIIIINSSSSS.

Okay, fine, he was. That’s pretty obvious.

Kate deals with boys, her family, and her health all while facing the threat of a zombie apocalypse. The results range from scary to comical at times – mostly the latter for those of you who are squeamish. I learned an important lesson from this book – the crush of your dreams showing interest in you while the entire football team turns into zombies and begins to infect your town and school is very inopportune.

This book mixes humor and horror extremely well. By no means does the plot really make any logical sense in my opinion, especially how nobody besides Kate apparently noticed that member of the football team had suddenly developed a taste for brains and lumbering around in a daze. Everyone was apparently unaware that kids were turning into zombies left and right until the very end of the book, which also came very fast. I liked that the book was short, but at the same time I wished that at times it would have been faster paced and included more action. The sudden revelation of the villain was also a letdown, mostly because I had no idea who that character was even though they played into the plot early on apparently. The villain was a letdown, but the rest of the book was awesome with only very minor exceptions.

VERDICT: A fun little comedy/horror crossover with a letdown of a villain. For a few hours of fun, though, it’s a great read.

audreychamaine's review against another edition

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3.0

Kate Grable is a smart, borderline nerdy girl, and proud of it! She’s the student trainer for the football team (it will help her eventually get into med school), so she knows something is wrong when the coach starts injecting players with unmarked syringes of liquid. Initially suspecting steroids, after an incident at a party Kate knows it’s something much more sinister than that: it’s a compound that turns people into flesh-craving zombies. Now the zombie infection is spreading throughout the school, and Kate will need to use her smarts to find a cure and put an end to the zombies, before the zombies put an end to her.

Bad Taste in Boys is as much fun as a campy B-movie, and much more accessible to a wide variety of readers. Harris writes with the same pacing and tongue-in-cheek humor that you might get in the silliest of zombie films, like Dead Alive. She builds up the action and tension, and skillfully diffuses otherwise terrifying circumstances with absurdity and wit.

Kate is a really great character, and one that girls can look up to. She revels in her intelligence and trusts her own ability to think through problems. Kate is also very secure in her identity as the kind of geeky science fiend, knowing that she’s passionate about science, and that her intelligence and perseverance will someday land her a great job as a doctor.

Bad Taste in Boys might be a bit light on the zombies for those seeking hard-core zombie fiction, but I think this book can appeal to a wide cross-section of readers who want a screwball comedy mixed with action and a dash of horror. This is a zany peach of a debut for Harris, so I can’t wait to see what adventures Kate will have the next time around.

bmg20's review

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4.0

I can’t remember the last time that a book made me laugh till I cried and made me feel like if I didn't stop reading right this second I just might wet myself. I think I timed this read at the perfect moment. I’m stuck at home on Friday night working from home… fortunately work is slow so all I have to do is sit here and… sit here. So I decide I’m going to start ‘Bad Taste for Boys’. My Friday night did a 180° to the point where I’m actually enjoying ‘working’ from home right now. :D

Keep in mind, this book is meant to be funny… there is no seriousness involved, there is no world building, there are zombies, and NUMEROUS hysterical lines that had me dying to share them with someone.

Kate Grable is the student trainer for her school’s football team. When Kate finds unmarked vials in the Coach’s office she immediately thinks he’s giving illegal steroids to the players in order to try and recover their losing season. Later that night at a party with her classmates, Mike, a football player, collapses and appears to be dead. As Kate examines him prior to the EMT’s arriving she finds a bruise on his arm that looks suspiciously like an injection site. Thinking that he’s dead and fearing the worst she’s scared out of her mind when Mike suddenly jumps up from the ground and proceeds to grab her butt. When she regains her senses and takes a good look at Mike there’s something about him… something’s different and she doesn’t know what. That’s when he kisses her suddenly... and takes a chunk of her lip!

Being gnawed on had pushed me over the edge. Mike had always been a tool, but not the kind of tool who bit people when he had the munchies.

It’s all up to Kate and a few of her friends to find the antidote in time to prevent the entire town from becoming mindless flesh-eating zombies!


This book is highly recommended for anyone in dire need of a good giggle. :D
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sebinsangel's review against another edition

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5.0

Hot Boys, Zombies, and a strong female lead. What more could you want from a book? I was in love with this book from the very beginning, I can't lie. A stunning cover with an amazing story line, Bad Taste in Boys is way more than a zombie filled horror read. Of course like I've mentioned a million times before, the cover really is what first drew me to this book. I mean come on, look at it, doesn't it make you want to pick it up and read it? But what really hooked me was the story.

I remember being in high school and what it was like to have a crush on the high school jock, who doesn't? So the fact that Kate is just a normal teenage girl in the same kind of position that I have found myself in, made her extremely likable. The book hooks you in by getting to the point right away and I really liked how easy it was to be able to understand what was going on.

Bad Taste in boys is a fast paced quirky read about a zombie plague infecting a school, and one girl's fight to save her friends, family, and love. The witty remarks alone are something that should make you want to read this book. I found myself laughing while reading it and getting weird looks from my parents, but those I'm used to. So I would highly recommend picking up this book, and I know I'm adding Bad Hair Day to my list to read, I mean come on more Kate and werewolves, sounds perfect to me.

pitmanj18's review against another edition

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5.0

Really good read. Funny in parts. Great for zombie fans.

amandawije's review

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3.0

This was a fun, quick read. I got through it in an hour and a half so I obviously had to enjoy it for that to happen. I felt like the story was very quick. The plot moved fast without getting into too much detail so I felt like this read as if it was a light, humorous short story rather than a 201 page book. This was a nice change from reading series and gave me the brain break I was looking for.