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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
What a clever way to retell a classic story. These zombies are intense!!! They do't eat your flesh....they eat your soul. The attraction between Alice and Cole (Mad Hatter) is very hot and full of fighting. YUP!! Cole is Alice's Zombie Slayer Trainer and Alice is going to be kicking some major butt! If you enjoy classics and love zombies I think this is the book for you. Really meant for girl though, it walks a fine line between literature and 50 Shades. (LOL)
I really loved this book the romance the unique take on Zombies I have never came across anything quite like that. I really liked the characters especially Alice and Cole their romance was so well written I liked that Alice was the I do what I like and you can't stop me type it made for a great dynamic. What I really liked about Alice even through all the pain she has suffered she is strong and does not let anything keep her down. I also really liked many of the other characters like Kat she makes for an amazing best friend always is on Alice's side no matter what. I really liked the plot it started out with a tragedy moves on to a great romance and a really action packed story that I really loved.
What a disappointing 400 odd page volume of utter drivel this is. Maybe if you're an hysterical 14 year old teenager this might be entertaining, but... I suppose it's clever marketing, putting an adult Alice picture on the front and calling it Alice in Zombieland, so getting fans of Alice in Wonderland, fans of apocalyptic and zombie stories, and fans of the gothic fairytale drawn in. You can sell a lot of books this way. This has precious little to do with Alice in Wonderland other than that the main character is Alice "Ali" and she sees cloud shaped rabbits. It's not gothic and the zombie side of things is very lame. Curious as well that it's got the goody-two-shoes mindset of church every Sunday, no sex before marriage, everything is purely good or evil. It doesn't make for much of a gothic tale, or any kind of gritty tale. And given that Miraink looks to be an imprint of Harlequin, which is part of the Mills and Boon family, it doesn't seem to match there as you're not going to get a lot of romance/erotica/whatever here other than the hysterically blushing, 'oh that boy kissed me!' squealing.
A lot of this book is about American teenagers. I'm not a fan of the teenager and these are particular cliched posers and squealers. I can't say I liked any of them. The book is very easily skim read without missing anything. There's a lot of high school conversations, bitching, information on their outfits and general posturing. Alice is attracted to that hunky boy with muscles and violet eyes who likes fighting. There's a lot of punches here - that's how we resolve arguments. The teenagers are leading the battle against the zombies with the adults helping them and there are two factions of teenagers and oh... it just drivels on. Need I say more.
I have to admit I was attracted because of the Wonderland connection and the hope that this would be a clever gothic apocalyptic type fairy story. I got this volume off bookmooch. Books you want rarely appear, so you've got to be quick, and someone offered the first three books, so I nabbed them all. What a fool! I'm now left with the dilemma of giving the other books a go to see whether she - the insane woman who wrote this - manages to take this idea anywhere worth going.
A lot of this book is about American teenagers. I'm not a fan of the teenager and these are particular cliched posers and squealers. I can't say I liked any of them. The book is very easily skim read without missing anything. There's a lot of high school conversations, bitching, information on their outfits and general posturing. Alice is attracted to that hunky boy with muscles and violet eyes who likes fighting. There's a lot of punches here - that's how we resolve arguments. The teenagers are leading the battle against the zombies with the adults helping them and there are two factions of teenagers and oh... it just drivels on. Need I say more.
I have to admit I was attracted because of the Wonderland connection and the hope that this would be a clever gothic apocalyptic type fairy story. I got this volume off bookmooch. Books you want rarely appear, so you've got to be quick, and someone offered the first three books, so I nabbed them all. What a fool! I'm now left with the dilemma of giving the other books a go to see whether she - the insane woman who wrote this - manages to take this idea anywhere worth going.
I don't recall how I even heard about this book; however, I'm glad I found it. I absolutely loved it. Zombie books aren't my typical read, but Showalter's writing pulled me in. I adored the main character, and her descriptions were incredible. I can't wait to read Book 2 in the series.
I was not prepared for the awesomeness of this book. On to #2!
Oh oh oh, to have read the reviews before I checked it out.
Five minutes of cool development plot and action...
Horrifying scene which leaves me crying.. (I cry easily)
150 pages of liking the bad boy at first sight. Terrible choices and absolutely no zombie butt kicking. Also, the bad boy is so unbelievably controlling I just want to punch him in the face.
That said, if you can get past that to the laset 100 or so pages, things do get good. Butt kicking occurs and the zombie lore is pretty cool. It's a new take, and follows its own logic which is always refreshing.
Two Ratijngs
First 150-200 pgs classic teen romance, destined instalove, badboy with all the answers, yada yada yada - 1 star
Last 50-100 pages, zombie butt kicking, plots with what zombie are and why some people can see them and others can't. There's some romance too, but nothing too heavy. Four stars
Positives
Alice stands up for herself against boys
Nice balance of it's an individual's choice to have sex, but take it seriously/be safe/never pressure anyone or be pressured yourself.
Interesting characters
Negatives
Heartthrob is ridiculously controlling. 50 Shades of Grey style
During the first 100 pages it's all classic teen likes badboy drama
Interesting sometimes means irritating
All in all I wasn't sure I was going to read this book but the end won me out. I'm going to read the next and see if it is more of the second half or more of the first. Hopefully it was just a mis-editting that she spent so long on the romance aspect and not enough on the zombies.
Five minutes of cool development plot and action...
Horrifying scene which leaves me crying.. (I cry easily)
150 pages of liking the bad boy at first sight. Terrible choices and absolutely no zombie butt kicking. Also, the bad boy is so unbelievably controlling I just want to punch him in the face.
That said, if you can get past that to the laset 100 or so pages, things do get good. Butt kicking occurs and the zombie lore is pretty cool. It's a new take, and follows its own logic which is always refreshing.
Two Ratijngs
First 150-200 pgs classic teen romance, destined instalove, badboy with all the answers, yada yada yada - 1 star
Last 50-100 pages, zombie butt kicking, plots with what zombie are and why some people can see them and others can't. There's some romance too, but nothing too heavy. Four stars
Positives
Alice stands up for herself against boys
Nice balance of it's an individual's choice to have sex, but take it seriously/be safe/never pressure anyone or be pressured yourself.
Interesting characters
Negatives
Heartthrob is ridiculously controlling. 50 Shades of Grey style
During the first 100 pages it's all classic teen likes badboy drama
Interesting sometimes means irritating
All in all I wasn't sure I was going to read this book but the end won me out. I'm going to read the next and see if it is more of the second half or more of the first. Hopefully it was just a mis-editting that she spent so long on the romance aspect and not enough on the zombies.
SHORT REVIEW: No tie to Carroll's creation. Flippant, stupid dialogue with a lot of cliche sass and absolutely no substance. Blah characters, including Alice's megalomaniac boyfriend and twerpy best friend. Ridiculous concept riddled with plotholes ... but pretty, pretty cover.
LONG REVIEW: HOW DARE YOU SULLY MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE CHILDHOOD BOOK??? I get that re-makes of childhood favorites have been popular in teen fiction recently, but if you're going to associate with Lewis Carroll's beloved ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, at least do it PROPERLY. As in, have there be a Wonderland, for starters! And Alice may be Alice, and she may have a (younger) sister, and there is a girl who smiles a lot named Kat, and a rabbit-shaped cloud... but that's where the Alice allusions end. Yup, very shallow, unimportant references. Seriously. If you wanted a girl named Alice, just name her Alice. (Though she spends the majority of the book going by Ali, so there's not even that.)
I don't mind that zombies are different... but I do think that the concept has not been fully fleshed (haha) out. For example, zombies are "spirits" and cannot be seen by the average human. They also cannot really interact with physical things ... oops, wait, somehow they can. Like when they stumble into trees, though they cannot actually eat people's guts. Also, you do get "infected" when zombies bite you, but you can be bitten, and pretty much devoured, but still be cured! Hurray. As long as you get the magical antidote within an hour of (the first?) bite. Which goes against all zombie lore. Because if you can be bitten, where is the harm, the danger? Oh sure, it hurts. A lot. But that's okay. It just means the author can write loads of prose about how painful it is to be bitten.
And the characters. Alice isn't bad ... but she goes from being a meek homebody (not really her own fault) to an aggressive battle-queen within the span of like a chapter. I understand that certain antagonistic people will draw that rebellious and snarky nature out of a quiet person, but the change was a bit overdramatic and unrealistic. I like that she's not a "Princess" character ... but what YA heroine is? Also, I was irritated with how Showalter wrote her following the first "Incident"; Alice's emotions and stop-start thoughts read contrived and forced. I almost didn't care what had happened because it felt so much like a flashing plot point. I saw that it didn't matter because death is not, apparently, eternal, in any way, sense or shape.
Cole Holland reads like a hero in an adult romance novel (at least I imagine, as I've never actually read one, besides the first 25% of Fifty Shades) ... which is not good, considering he's like 16? 17? Not because I'm lusting after him, because I'm not. He completely turns me off, which sucks because it's fun rallying for the love interest(s) in teen series. He goes from being taciturn and beast-like (he snaps his teeth at Alice) to over-possessive and ridiculous. All with a slick coating of testosterone. Yes, it's a simple part of human nature to feel flattered when someone is enraged with jealousy over you, but at the point that Cole enacts his jealousy, he has no claim to or relationship with Alice. So he just ends up looking like a douche-bag.
Kat is kind of unbearable. She is chatty and believes herself to be extremely witty and charming. She may be sassy, but she is neither snarky nor witty. Or maybe it's because I prefer wit that is less showy and not aggressively punched into your face. I do like that she's loyal--especially since she's apparently this series's depiction of the Cheshire Cat--and that she has a personal problem that makes her a bit more sympathetic, but again, she does not really display the Cheshire Cat's mischievous and tricky nature. At least not in a classy way. (But then again, I never really was the type of girl who calls her best friends bitches and uses insults as endearments.)
Speaking of which, the dialogue left a lot to be desired. If John Greene's characters talk like Harvard-educated 40-year-old literatis, then Gena Showalter's characters talk like the teenage version of The Real Housewives. Absolutely no substance. I don't expect them to speak like frumpy professors, but does every other line have to be an attempt to out-funny another character?
The revelations at the end were entirely foreseeable. The sci-fi nature of the zombie plotline was not a good choice, seeing as how poorly it has been handled so far. No technicality to it; we are told that you can "force" zombies inside an actual human ... okay ... how? Uhh ... let's make this into a series and put off answering that question for a while!
Then there's the shadowy, antagonistic Corporation. (Cliche.) The evil love interest. The uber-sexy, smoldering, hunk-a-hottie love interest, who is also unsexily aggressive and macho. There is also the stupid plot device of the "visions" which allows Alice to "see the future" but not really ... oh, and also to make out with her guy. (Who has purple eyes. Have you ever seen genetically purple eyes on an actual human being?) The cliche betrayal by a trusted figure. (If you want to read undependable authority figures from a youth's perspective done right, read the fifth Harry Potter book. Seriously.)
I don't want to offend anyone who read this and genuinely enjoyed it, because a lot of my hate does have to do with the improper use of ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, but ... there are also many more books and teen series out there are that are better worth your time ... I'd say skip this one.
LONG REVIEW: HOW DARE YOU SULLY MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE CHILDHOOD BOOK??? I get that re-makes of childhood favorites have been popular in teen fiction recently, but if you're going to associate with Lewis Carroll's beloved ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, at least do it PROPERLY. As in, have there be a Wonderland, for starters! And Alice may be Alice, and she may have a (younger) sister, and there is a girl who smiles a lot named Kat, and a rabbit-shaped cloud... but that's where the Alice allusions end. Yup, very shallow, unimportant references. Seriously. If you wanted a girl named Alice, just name her Alice. (Though she spends the majority of the book going by Ali, so there's not even that.)
I don't mind that zombies are different... but I do think that the concept has not been fully fleshed (haha) out. For example, zombies are "spirits" and cannot be seen by the average human. They also cannot really interact with physical things ... oops, wait, somehow they can. Like when they stumble into trees, though they cannot actually eat people's guts. Also, you do get "infected" when zombies bite you, but you can be bitten, and pretty much devoured, but still be cured! Hurray. As long as you get the magical antidote within an hour of (the first?) bite. Which goes against all zombie lore. Because if you can be bitten, where is the harm, the danger? Oh sure, it hurts. A lot. But that's okay. It just means the author can write loads of prose about how painful it is to be bitten.
And the characters. Alice isn't bad ... but she goes from being a meek homebody (not really her own fault) to an aggressive battle-queen within the span of like a chapter. I understand that certain antagonistic people will draw that rebellious and snarky nature out of a quiet person, but the change was a bit overdramatic and unrealistic. I like that she's not a "Princess" character ... but what YA heroine is? Also, I was irritated with how Showalter wrote her following the first "Incident"; Alice's emotions and stop-start thoughts read contrived and forced. I almost didn't care what had happened because it felt so much like a flashing plot point. I saw that it didn't matter because death is not, apparently, eternal, in any way, sense or shape.
Cole Holland reads like a hero in an adult romance novel (at least I imagine, as I've never actually read one, besides the first 25% of Fifty Shades) ... which is not good, considering he's like 16? 17? Not because I'm lusting after him, because I'm not. He completely turns me off, which sucks because it's fun rallying for the love interest(s) in teen series. He goes from being taciturn and beast-like (he snaps his teeth at Alice) to over-possessive and ridiculous. All with a slick coating of testosterone. Yes, it's a simple part of human nature to feel flattered when someone is enraged with jealousy over you, but at the point that Cole enacts his jealousy, he has no claim to or relationship with Alice. So he just ends up looking like a douche-bag.
Kat is kind of unbearable. She is chatty and believes herself to be extremely witty and charming. She may be sassy, but she is neither snarky nor witty. Or maybe it's because I prefer wit that is less showy and not aggressively punched into your face. I do like that she's loyal--especially since she's apparently this series's depiction of the Cheshire Cat--and that she has a personal problem that makes her a bit more sympathetic, but again, she does not really display the Cheshire Cat's mischievous and tricky nature. At least not in a classy way. (But then again, I never really was the type of girl who calls her best friends bitches and uses insults as endearments.)
Speaking of which, the dialogue left a lot to be desired. If John Greene's characters talk like Harvard-educated 40-year-old literatis, then Gena Showalter's characters talk like the teenage version of The Real Housewives. Absolutely no substance. I don't expect them to speak like frumpy professors, but does every other line have to be an attempt to out-funny another character?
The revelations at the end were entirely foreseeable. The sci-fi nature of the zombie plotline was not a good choice, seeing as how poorly it has been handled so far. No technicality to it; we are told that you can "force" zombies inside an actual human ... okay ... how? Uhh ... let's make this into a series and put off answering that question for a while!
Then there's the shadowy, antagonistic Corporation. (Cliche.) The evil love interest. The uber-sexy, smoldering, hunk-a-hottie love interest, who is also unsexily aggressive and macho. There is also the stupid plot device of the "visions" which allows Alice to "see the future" but not really ... oh, and also to make out with her guy. (Who has purple eyes. Have you ever seen genetically purple eyes on an actual human being?) The cliche betrayal by a trusted figure. (If you want to read undependable authority figures from a youth's perspective done right, read the fifth Harry Potter book. Seriously.)
I don't want to offend anyone who read this and genuinely enjoyed it, because a lot of my hate does have to do with the improper use of ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND, but ... there are also many more books and teen series out there are that are better worth your time ... I'd say skip this one.
You might be mistaken for thinking that Alice in Zombieland is another of those faddish hacks of copyright free classic literature. You’ll be relived to know its not.
While it does tip its hat several times to the classic, it is very much its own tale. Alice in Zombieland is an “action and romance lite” book aimed at the teen market and chiefly the female portion of it.
While clearly not being the target market for Harlequin Teen, being closer to 40 than to 15 and male, I didn’t find it a chore to read.
Considering it’s written in first person, from the point of view of a 16 year girl, Showalter’s done an excellent job of varying action and introspection, dialogue and description. At no time did I feel trapped inside the head of the most boring teen on earth.
I have described it as “action lite”, for aside from one particular scene, the action and the violence lacks a sense of verisimilitude. I never get a sense of horror, visceral or emotional. To be fair, it’s a teen novel and I think this is a deliberate choice by Showalter.
The romance is tame too, a little sexual tension, a lot of heavy breathing and petting and a definite suggestion that teens should be “safe” when exploring their sexuality in both the physical and emotional sense.
I found the Zombies and their raison d'être a little weak and two dimensional for my tastes - being that of an experienced speculative fiction reader. For your average teen just looking for a hero to smack down some and experience some vicarious romance it’s quite good. Think Buffy the Vampire slayer as opposed to Dracula.
Alice Bell our protagonist, is strong and forthright, but still occasionally vulnerable. I get a sense of a well rounded teen and a good role model. She’s young woman who is prepared to challenge the male lead in the story.
I’d recommend Alice in Zombieland for the 13 to 16 age bracket. It’s not that sort of young adult book that will have the depth that older, more experienced readers are looking for.
This ARC was provided to me at no cost by the publisher.
While it does tip its hat several times to the classic, it is very much its own tale. Alice in Zombieland is an “action and romance lite” book aimed at the teen market and chiefly the female portion of it.
While clearly not being the target market for Harlequin Teen, being closer to 40 than to 15 and male, I didn’t find it a chore to read.
Considering it’s written in first person, from the point of view of a 16 year girl, Showalter’s done an excellent job of varying action and introspection, dialogue and description. At no time did I feel trapped inside the head of the most boring teen on earth.
I have described it as “action lite”, for aside from one particular scene, the action and the violence lacks a sense of verisimilitude. I never get a sense of horror, visceral or emotional. To be fair, it’s a teen novel and I think this is a deliberate choice by Showalter.
The romance is tame too, a little sexual tension, a lot of heavy breathing and petting and a definite suggestion that teens should be “safe” when exploring their sexuality in both the physical and emotional sense.
I found the Zombies and their raison d'être a little weak and two dimensional for my tastes - being that of an experienced speculative fiction reader. For your average teen just looking for a hero to smack down some
Alice Bell our protagonist, is strong and forthright, but still occasionally vulnerable. I get a sense of a well rounded teen and a good role model. She’s young woman who is prepared to challenge the male lead in the story.
I’d recommend Alice in Zombieland for the 13 to 16 age bracket. It’s not that sort of young adult book that will have the depth that older, more experienced readers are looking for.
This ARC was provided to me at no cost by the publisher.
Just fantastic! Hated for it to end and now comes the wait until 10/2013....I need MORE.
