{YA Review} Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

{YA Review} Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….

I wish I could go back and do a thousand things differently.
I'd tell my sister no.
I'd never beg my mother to talk to my dad.
I'd zip my lips and swallow those hateful words.
Or, barring all of that, I'd hug my sister, my mom and my dad one last time.
I'd tell them I love them.
I wish... Yeah, I wish.

(Blurb from Goodreads)

{Details}: Harlequin Teen, Released September 25, 2012, 404 pages. Source: Library

{Stars} 4/5

{Review} Alice in Zombieland started slow. Sad. I could see where it was going, I could see the train wreck at the end of the tunnel. So I put the book down and moved onto something less ... sad. But I picked it up again the next day and I'm so glad I did, by the time I was 10% in, I was hooked.

Poor lost Alice. She leaves everything behind, even her name. She can't be Alice, can't be anything she was before. Though Ali has lost everything she's brave. She's afraid but chooses to fight anyway, to confront the monsters in the dark. And she refuses to back down for anyone, which made me cheer her on. I'm glad that Showalter gave Ali Kat, a supportive and caring friend. Kat is awesome in her own right and an awesome friend for Ali, she brings levity to an otherwise dark story.

Cole. Loved Cole. Really loved Cole. Hot, skilled, complex. He's got depth, we see it in the way he cares for his friends, in the way he cares for Ali.

Showalter is a skilled storyteller. Her writing was snappy, descriptive and the story never lagged. She also isn't afraid of causing trauma, emotional and physical, to her characters. There was a large supporting cast but they are memorable. They retained their distinct personalities instead of becoming that girl who ... or that guy who ... Each character had a distinct voice.

At the end of the book we're left with questions. There was a definite ending, no cliffhangers in sight, thank goodness because I hate those, but there were unanswered questions. Questions about Ali's abilities, about Emma, about the journal, the visions. I can't wait until the next book, Through The Zombie Glass, comes out in September.