A review by healingtothemax
Girls Save the World in This One by Ash Parsons

3.0

Grrrrrrrl power abounds in this YA zombie apocalypse action thriller full of laughs, chills and love — of fandom, friends, family (blood & found) and yeah, cute boys act in a hit TV show about... a zombie apocalypse. While you can play match up with which TV stars were mashed up to create the book's characters, its the main quartet of female friends who are the stars of this book's show. Author Ash Parsons bravely wrestles with the toxicity existing within girl bonds, as a thematic note (the wound of betrayal keeps festering until it infects the group) and in a relatable plot-driving dynamic: do you keep cold-shouldering your (former) BFF when only your cooperation can save (or doom) the world? This theme was the unexpected gem powering the book's killer concept; our heroine's raw emotional wound from her friendship injury kept me reading despite a slow shambling start (lose those first 50 pages), the odd constant fawning over one girl's beauty/brains, and the workmanlike prose describing the living vs. the undead battles waged in an amorphous convention center. GIRLS is a fun take on an overdue concept and ripe for movie adaptation, ideally by cable TV alongside its inspirational "mother show." Brains.... are always in demand.