Alice in Zombieland - a Review

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

With a one part tragedy to two parts adrenaline ratio, Showalter's novel races forward without forgetting that despite the big events in life, the little mundane things can still hurt and heal. The title character, Alice, "call me Ali," Bell's world gets ripped apart one fateful night on the way home from her sister's dance recital leaving her heart devastated and her world shattered. Suddenly the only survivor of her unorthodox family, Ali must learn to fit in in a new home, a new school, and with a new understanding that the physical world that everyone could see and touch was only the surface.
A quick paced and blood pumping adventure, Alice in Zombieland keeps the energy up and the reader engaged. Although at times the secondary characters read like caricatures of machismo and sexuality, Showalter writes with a depth that turns that caricature into a front for deeper insecurities.
With the propensity for Paranormal YA to glamorize the dark and disturbing (sparkly vampires and friendly werewolves anyone?), Alice in Zombieland gives new life to the genre, keeping the otherworldly threat both dangerous and horrifying.
The anticipated second book in the White Rabbit series, Through the Zombieglass, expected to hit shelves in September of 2013, promises to continue the tragedy and the excitement, and hopefully bring Ali closer to avenging her family.


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