Monday, June 21, 2010

The Zombie Queen of Newbury High by Amanda Ashby

Maybe I’m biased. Maybe I like my zombie books with some gore, torn away limbs and destruction, not just the threat of it all. Or maybe Zombie Queen of Newbury High by Amanda Ashby is like Twilight. It’s zombie horror for people who wouldn’t normally read zombie horror. Or perhaps Mrs. Ashby was trying too hard to make it appeal to it’s teen audience.

The book’s main character, Mia Everett is a nerd who watches too much TV and normally can’t get a hot BF if her life depended on it. Oh hey, sounds familiar. *looks in the mirror next to me* Somehow, by an act of God, the hottest football player in her California high school, Rob, has asked her out. They’ve been on 6 “perfect” dates. Technically five but six if you count her going to one of his games.

Of course Ms. Popular Bitch Samantha, the all around beautiful (except personality wise) cheerleader isn’t happy about this. She’s been hanging around Rob a bit too much and Mia doesn’t like where she thinks this is going. Mia freaks out to her best friend Candice who suggest they skip school to go to the mall and buy a pushup bra and slutty stilettos. Mia mentions the word “spell” and Candice decides to take her best friend to a seedy strip mall where she can buy a love spell to win back her hot jock “boy friend.”

One thing leads to another, Mia turns her entire grade into zombies, becomes the zombie queen and meets a hot zombie slayer. Just a typical day in California, right?

The repeated use of words like “yelped” and “retorted” got on my nerves. The fact that Samantha and Grace, Mia’s sister who actually looks up to Samantha, speak too perfectly for cheerleader California girls. Not that that’s a problem, I just thought I would point it out seeing as I don’t think there is such thing as a cheerleader with some comprehension of proper English.

The plot was interesting, but could have been done a bit better. I liked the thought of someone creating zombies with a single, twisted spell. At least Ms. Ashby didn’t say that the government created a virus that created the zombies or try to make the main characters hide in a mall like many zombies movies/books do. *coughoverdonecough* The stages of becoming a zombie were entertainingly stupid. How one’s flesh could smell like chicken is beyond me. *sniffs self* I smell like the Velvet Tube Rose perfume from Bath and Bodyworks. :D

Over all, it was pretty boring. I somehow managed to finish the book, perhaps due to the slightly elevated suspense toward the end.

In my honest opinion, the book gets 3 stars. It would have been 2 if not for the fact that later on in the book, Mia realizes what a superficial, selfish bitch she’s been. I found this book in the bargain bin at my local book store for a reason.

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