Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Seth Grahame-Smith: a Review

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


The goal of this story was to take the much loved tale, Pride & Prejudice, and add zombies to it to make a funny romp of a classic. It's supposed to be funny and read with tongue in cheek. I understood that when I picked it up. However, any good mash up should take two different ideas and combine them to make something better.
In this case, Grahame-Smith falls pitiably short, taking characters whose learning in the arts of zombie killing could have added depth and interest to their characters, but instead, grossly detracted from them. I will own that Charlotte only marrying Mr. Collins because she had been infected was a clever bit, and does, truly, make more sense than her simply being afraid of spinsterhood, but that is the only case in which it works well. Further, that one case was dealt with in a manner which strikes me as insupportable by the rest of the story.
Also, this novel could have been improved by the judicious application of copy editing. I do assure you that sometimes spellcheck, alone, is insufficient. For instance, I doubt Mr. Darcy took great pride in his coy pond, but his koi pond, on the other hand, he may have.
I also found the ridiculous attempts to take perfectly British households and overlay a fawning attitude toward all things Japanese forced. No English maid during the Regency is going to be answering the door with bound feet, for instance, and little details like those suggested to me that the amount of research done by Grahame-Smith was sorely wanting.
Even when writing books for comedic effect, one must, surely, continue to respect their audience, and in this case, the precedent of the book from which half the words were drawn. This didn't do it, though I admit, I did enjoy going through and mentally highlighting the original text and marking those deviations which turned it into that which I had hoped would be a deeply entertaining zombie romp.

Little House in the Suburbs: Backyard Farming and Home Skills for Self-Sufficient Living by Deanna Caswell - A Review

Little House in the Suburbs: Backyard Farming and Home Skills for Self-Sufficient Living by Deanna Caswell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The only thing I didn't like about this book is the fact that it made me want goats and chickens as pets for my kids. Slyly, it avoided talking about the inherent problem with animal ownership: someone has to care for those animals, even when you're not there, and therefore travel is complicated. Obviously, this means I should not be a goat or hen owner.

This is supposed to be a book review, not a discussion on why I shouldn't own farm animals, inside the village limits, that my son would love to pieces all while helping us be somewhat more self sufficient.

Okay, back on track. I love that this book deals with not only growing things and self-sufficiency from a production standpoint, but also gives concrete examples of what one can do with the things one has grown. Caswell and Siskin make a point of having practical advice, and even go so far as to include possible garden layout suggestions that actively include pest deterrents. Companion plant list? Yes, please.

I know that in the past I've occasionally voiced irritation with informational books written in an overly anecdotal and conversational format, but here the "blogger" feel translates well.

I enjoyed the book, and most importantly, learned even more than I knew this morning, including exactly what is happening to my squash.

Dearly, Beloved - by Lia Habel: a Review

Dearly, Beloved by Lia Habel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Yes. Lia Habel's high tech with a Victorian twist world, rife with holographic edifices reminiscent of the world before the second ice age, took on a broader life in Dearly, Beloved that left me smiling for hours. The Characters from Dearly, Departed are here given the freedom to interact in new environments and blossom into themselves. Because the plot in the second book of the Gone with the Respiration series is less immediately catastrophic than the kidnapping plus zombie apocalypse scenario set forth in the first, the reader gets to see the characters in their daily lives and learn more about their world.

Of course, true to form, Habel doesn't leave anyone's world in tact for long. All too soon the fissures in the calm facade begin to show. Pamela's panic attacks prove to be not only merited, but nearly prophetic - Nora's independence leads her back into danger - Dr. Dearly's solution to the Laz proves to be too little to quell tensions between the living and the dead. Characters like Michael, who at first seemed simply callous, grow into full fledged villain-worthy unlikability while the seemingly vapid Vespertine blossoms into a deep woman with intricate motivations. Habel's approach to Bram in Dearly, Beloved is far more entertaining. Gone is the tired "I'm no good for you, I'm too dangerous," droning, replaced instead with a young man who doesn't pretend that he knows what's best for Nora at every turn, but instead allows her to make her own decisions. Sure, he continues to weigh in on her options, and she continues to at least consider the words coming out of his cold lips, but the dynamic morphs into something far more healthy and rather beautiful.

Although my experience with the zombie genre is limited to perhaps a dozen books, Dearly, Beloved has proved to be the most enjoyable. I look forward to the saga's conclusion, which can not come soon enough.

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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