Hannah and her father have just arrived in a new town; it's a new start. Hannah is used to new towns and new starts, she has had to experience both numerous times, but she still does not like it.

On first impressions Maplecrest is just like any other small town you find anywhere, the same sparse shops in the main street, the same popular kids you find at every school. Hannah is sure she has this town figured out and, if she plays it right, this time she just may be in with the popular group.

However not all is as it seems, there are strange stories and warnings from Lukas, a nice but odd boy who developed a crush on Hannah, and then there is Diana, a wannabe that is interested in Hannah only if she succeeds in being popular. But will Hannah forget them both in her bid to become popular? and is it worth being popular if you wont live to enjoy it?

This is your typical story of adolescence with your everyday trials of acceptance and identity. The familiar story of the new kid at school is used to highlight the themes of friendship and belonging; and zombies... As a young adult book about adolescent themes it falls a little short. As a fictional book about zombies it doesn't quite make it for me. ( )

I bought this book because I needed a book that started with Z for my A to Z Challenge. This was the first one I ran across and actually, I enjoyed it.

Hannah’s dad has had trouble ever since he turned in some dirty cops. Now he and Hannah move around every 1 to 6 months to stay away from bill collectors and harassment for his past.

Their newest town? Maplecrest. It seems like a ghost town driving in. Houses are For Sale everywhere.

Hannah makes a new friend at school, but he’s not the most desirable. He’s a bit of a freak, to put it nicely. And within the first day, Lukas is warning Hannah of the “it girls”.

They are the popular girls. They are the cheerleaders. They are beautiful. Super skinny. Electric blue eyes. Ghost white skin. And all of their names start with M.

Hannah would do anything to be one of the popular girls, but as her dream starts to come true, she realizes it may be more of a nightmare.

The title pretty much gives the point of the story away, but that didn’t ruin the book for me.

It was very well written and quite the page turner. And although the plot is obviously not realistic, I imagine most teenage girls could relate. High school is all about popularity and to be popular, there aren’t many boundaries.

One thing that I didn’t like about this book – even though it was a pretty big part – was all the girls names start with M. I understand the concept, but throughout the book, I never knew who anyone was. I know Morgan is the mean one. Meredith is the nice one and Maggie is the leader, but it took me until the end of the book to figure it out.

I’m very much a “series book” kind of girl. I liked the ending of this book because it left it open for a series if James would ever want to write one. And he left it with a lot to work with.

I enjoyed this book and although I’ve heard it hasn’t gotten many good reviews, I’m going to give it 4 bookmarks. ( )

Title: Zombie Blondes Author: Brian James Publisher: Feiwel & Friends Number Of Pages: 232


Summary From Jacket Flap: From the moment Hannah Sanders arrived in town , she felt there was something wrong. A lot of houses were for sale, and the town seemed infected by an unearthly quiet, and then, on Hannah’s first day of classes, she ran into a group of cheerleaders- the most popular girls in school. The odd thing was that they were nearly identical in their appearance: blonde, beautiful, and deathly pale. But Hannah wants desperately to fit in- regardless of what her friend Lukas is telling her: if she doesn’t watch her back, she’s going to be blonde and popular and dead- just like all the other zombies in this town…


Review: I got this book at the library because of the title. I hadn’t even read the summary. It turned out to be very good. My problem with it though is that Hannah’s love interest in the story fell in love with her when he was walking her home and they suddenly just kissed like they had been dating for a while even though they had just met. The book ended on a bad note and I wonder if Brian James is writing a second book because I would really like to know what happens next.


I recommend this book if you like zombies, young adult novels, and blondes that are beautiful. ( )

Hannah and her dad have moved around a lot. Her dad was a cop then lost his job badly, now he goes from town to town looking for work, taking Hannah with him. She's 15 and doesn't like the next new town. Everyone acts like zombies and worship the blond shiny eyed high school cheerleaders and the football games. And there is something wrong with them. A nice twist to the YA zombie story, more a drama about the agonies of trying to belong to a clique in high school, with the undead being the equivalent of the "popular group". Hannah has one sensible friend in the strange town, who constantly warns her about them, yet she still has that desire to belong to something bigger than herself; the popular clique. A lot of forewarning and quirky moments that push the story and the reader along, kind of like a Twilight Zone episode. Yeah, you know they are zombies already, but as you inch along with Hannah you wonder when she will come to realize it. So it's not a blood n guts mayhem zombie story, but peaks well enough. A fast and fairly entertaining read. ( )

This one was *such* a disappointment. Flat characters and mediocre writing. The premise was great and I had very high hopes for it. I should have known better because my favorite blogger/reviewer didn't love it either and I always agree with her. Should have skipped this one! ( )