You may notice that I've been giving the summary straight off the back of the book rather then writing my own. That's because sometimes it does a good job and it's kind of a pain writing my own. If I feel that the summary doesn't cut it, I will write my own.
My Life As A White Trash Zombie
By Diana Rowland
Um, this is certainly a different variation of a genre I've been reviewing. This is a romance zombie book.
Before I get started talking about the actual book, I really like this book cover. I'm not sure why but I really like it and it's part of the reason I decided to read this book.
'Living with her alcoholic deadbeat dad in the swamps of southern Louisiana, she's a high school dropout with a pill habit and a criminal record who's been fired from more crap jobs than she can count. Now on probation for a felony, it seems that Angel will never pull herself out of the downward spiral her life has taken.
That is, until the day she wakes up in the ER after overdosing on painkillers. Angel remembers being in an horrible car crash, but she doesn't have a mark on her. To add to the weirdness, she receives an anonymous letter telling her there's a job waiting for her at the parish morgue—and that it's an offer she doesn't dare refuse.
Before she knows it she's dealing with a huge crush on a certain hunky deputy and a brand new addiction: an overpowering craving for brains. Plus, her morgue is filling up with the victims of a serial killer who decapitates his prey—just when she's hungriest!
Angel's going to have to grow up fast if she wants to keep this job and stay in one piece. Because if she doesn't, she's dead meat. Literally.'
Wow, where to begin with this book. I suppose I should start with, I actually did enjoy this book a lot. This isn't the first zombie book I've read, but it is the first that: Is from the Zombie's point of view, Is a Zombie Romance, and Is about Zombie survival.
Angel is an interesting character because I wasn't really expecting to like her at all. She doesn't have a lot going for her and she has done lots of things I would never do.
At the beginning of the book she's a druggie (becoming a Zombie cures this and she never has to deal with kicking the habit) and she's on parole for having a stolen vehicle (her boyfriend knew this guy who she could buy a cheap car from).
She's been fired or quit every job she's ever had, so when she gets this job, driving a van for the morgue and picking up bodies, everyone in her life assumes that this is going to be just like every other time.
No one in her life seems to actually care about her well being very much. There's her dad, who's a drunk and semi-abusive, and there's her boyfriend, who is kind of a jerk in negligent way.
This is a romance (not as much as I was expecting) but a lot of this book is Angel turning her life around and realizing that she's not a loser just because everyone says so, she's a loser because she acts like a loser.
One review I read about this book made a connection between the Zombies in this book and the recent trend of Vampire books. I see where that connection can be made, but I felt like the book was enjoyable enough to read, that I never stopped and started mocking it, like I've done with several of the new Vamp books I've tried. It was free of tacky Zombie puns in a way that Vampires seem unable to shake.
The Zombies in this world are not the shamblers you see in the movies, in fact, in this world they are self-aware and eating brains keeps them alive. Now, unlike with Vamps nowadays, there is no cheating this. It has to be human brains, no substituting for animal brains. It doesn't work like that.
Angel spends the first half of the book not knowing she's a Zombie, she reluctantly follows the instructions left her via mysterious note that neatly blackmails her with her deepest fear. As the book goes on and she figures out that the instructions she's following are saving her unlife and trying to teach her how to survive without overwhelming her all at once.
Now this is an adult book and adult things are mentioned, but nothing is ever explicitly described. I don't actually remember how much cussing there was. I tend to filter those things out and not even notice.
This was only a little over 300 pages so this was a fairly short read. I think I finished it in two sittings.
Oh yeah, and there's a serial killer going around and decapitating people. That always makes things interesting.
I was telling Josh the other day that I think zombies are the new vampires, except that there aren't any love stories about them - but I guess I was wrong :)
ReplyDeleteHeh, yes. It seems that there are no true monsters left untainted, but this was still an entertaining read.
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