Dazzled by Books

“I looked around, counting the competition. Sixteen. To win, all I had to do was incapacitate each one, place my hand over their hearts and turn my palm into a flame. Easy....Yeah right.”

I was expecting this to be Alice in Wonderland turned Zombie however there were only a couple actual references to the Lewis Carroll story. Alice follows the white rabbit holding a clock a lot because it warns her about what is to come, however it is the chapter titles in the book that are the main connection to the curious story of Alice in Wonderland. This novel was very fun and entertaining. I will conclude my review with a short personal story at the end.

Ali starts a new school with her head held high, trying not to let her sadness show, right after her family passes away. She is sassy young woman with an amazing sense of humor that had me laughing and coming back for more. Ali reminded me a lot of a friend of mine, who has a very similar personality. Ali is a very curious woman, just like the original Alice in Alice in Wonderland; she always wants to find the answers to her questions. Ali is always ready for a fight; she is the type of girl who is there to stick up for herself and of course her friends. Kat and Ali’s friendship is one of my favorite. It shows just how caring best friends can truly be, and I wish I had this in my own life. When Ali and Kat's other friends abandon them, they stick to each other instead of saying goodbye to make the other girls happy. Ali really cares about Kat and wants the best for her. She just wants to keep her best friend safe. Ali could never replace the little sister that she lost but finding a best friend in Kat seemed to help her cope a little better.

Kat runs the show or so she thinks. Kat is spunky, wild, bratty, controlling, fun best friend that many of us have but don't want to admit that we love them to death. Kat is a very confident young woman who is not afraid to show it. She loves her friends just as much as she loves bossing them around. Kat is one girl that is filled with secrets and I can't wait until book two when some of them come spilling to the surface   Kat is in love with Cole’s right hand man Frosty and their relationship is back and forth throughout the whole story keeping the reader on their toes. You never know if they are on or off again.

Cole. Where to start? Can someone say swoon? Cole is the sexy leader of the group on bad boys that the entire high school fears. Cole and Ali clash a lot in this book. Cole has an attitude that is very similar to Ali's, I enjoyed how these two character interacted together.  Their opinions continued to clash every time and they had to compromise over and over again with each other to come to a happy medium. They have amazing sexual tension that causes quite hilarious conversations. The tension between these two is so frustrating at times and other times I am like goodness gracious you guys are seriously just kids.

I love that the "bad guys" (for lack of a better term) are “monsters." However these "monsters" aren't your typical every day "monsters," they basically run the show of the book. These "monsters" are the ever dreaded fairy tale creature....zombies. Better yet, they are a new kind of zombie. These zombies are only seen by specific people in the spirit world. I wasn’t totally sure I would enjoy this book because I am honestly not a huge zombie fan, I have little experience with zombies and the little experience I’ve had has been…honestly awful. I hated it. The reason I wanted to read this novel was because I love “Alice in Wonderland.” It is one of my favorites, so I thought I would give “Alice in Zombieland” a chance. I thought Gena Showalter was pretty creative and inventive with her plot and idea. Then right as I was getting used to these new versions of zombies, there is another type of "bad guy" in the mix called Hazmats. What in the heck is a Hazmat? That is all I was thinking about. How epic can a book be if there is not just one "bad guy" but two? The whole idea of the Hazmats is very confusing but I have an open mind to see what happens in the future. This is what I know: I know they are a villainous company looking to experiment on humans and zombies together but I am not totally sure how they are doing it. With there being two sets of bad guys in this book, there is a bright future for the sequel and I can't wait to get my hands on it!

My personal “Alice in Zombieland” experience: I really enjoyed it. Since I have a day job, I leave in the morning when it is dark and I get home when it is dark unfortunately is about 9 to 10 hours a part. Then of course I have the normal things to do during the day, chores, college, and sleep. I found that the only time I had to read was at night. I would read a few chapters every night before going to bed. (Sorry side note: “Alice in Zombieland” is classified as a horror story, however I didn’t find it to be very scary). I would dream about zombies every night. Zombies really? Zombies never crossed my mind before especially not in my sleep, why would they start now? Three nights in a row I dreamed about zombies. Three nights! I am glad to say that I haven’t dreamed about zombies since. Haha. Anyway, if you like an interesting book or maybe learn about someone else’s opinion on zombies, I would recommend picking up a copy of this book. I would even recommend it to people like me who are “Alice in Wonderland” fans, along as they are expecting the typical “Alice in Wonderland” because then they would be disappointed. Thank you, Gena Showalter for writing such an entertaining novel.