I Kissed a Zombie, and I Liked It

The Good: This was a quick, easy read. Well written, with nothing too graphic (romance or horror related) for its target audience. There were some cute and witty things said and going on throughout the book and other than the gaping holes in Ali's logic, I found this to be a fairly decent read.

The Bad: Ali lives in a world where the paranormal are out of the coffin, yet she fails to notice Doug is a zombie, rather assuming he's just super good at dressing up all goth-like. When he wears the same clothes every time she sees him, it isn't a turn off. And when he describes his "illness" to her, she just never gets it. They date for like a week, and Ali seriously considers becoming undead for him. After a week. Because she loves him. After show more a week. Did I mention it was like a week? Because, yeah, I hate that. show less

Alley (Algonquin) Rhodes is known as an ice queen that verbally cuts down anyone in her path. She writes cutting concert reviews for the school paper. Unlike everyone else, she isn't interested in dating the undead or anyone at all. The undead have revealed themselves to the world because Megamart raised zombie workers from the grave to be exploited for slave labor. Obviously, vampires wouldn't stand for that sort of treatment, so they rose and up and fought for their rights. Unfortunately it's created this widespread enamor of vampires throughout Alley's school, much to her chagrin. On assignment for the school paper, Alley goes to a club to tear down a vampire band that really sucks. She is suddenly enamored by a guest singer, Doug, show more that steps in and sings one of her favorite songs with just the right feeling. Falling head over heels with each other, Alley and Doug start to date. They have so much in common, but it's kind of strange that Doug always wears the same clothes and has this weird disease...

I honestly wasn't expecting much from this book with the Katy Perry inspired title (I really hate that song), but it surprised me. It's a fun, tongue-in-cheek satire with biting humor and cute characters. If you are looking for super hardcore and serious zombies, you won't find them here. There was a pretty cool ravenous zombie scene, but it mostly takes place out of sight of Alley. I loved that Adam Selzer poked fun at pop culture and issues in our world today. Megamart and their shady business practices exploiting workers is a great stab at Walmart. If it were at all possible to raise free labor from the dead, I'm sure they would. The overall atmosphere of rabid vampire love skewered the ravenous and numerous Twilight fans. I'm sure there are many people tired of the fandom just like Alley. The overly dramatic and bossy demeanor of the vampire that has a crush on Alley really pinpointed just how creepy Edward in Twilight is, especially faced with skeptical Alley. The best thing that was portrayed through this supernatural world was the teenage experience, especially that special first love. Alley was willing to make huge life decisions based on her feelings for a guy she hadn't even known that long. The story did a great job showing how immature and crazy that is, unlike so many other teen books that glorify this ridiculous situation. The humor was pitch perfect and it made the book so much fun to read.

Alley, although at times annoying, was the star of the novel because she encompassed the teenage experience. She was a typical teenage girl: totally committed to being single until she meets the perfect guy and then ready to do crazy things to keep that love alive. She completely goes back on her convictions, but that's what teens do. It's easy to judge other people's relationships and dumb decisions, but it's different when it's your own. She started out treated practically everyone like garbage and put her ambitions over any relationship. Then she met Doug, the zombie, and was willing to throw it all away and become a zombie to be with him, the same thing she mocked the vampire groupies for before. I felt it was a good portrayal of a teen and how head vs. heart conflicts can change when they are faced with the situation themselves. Zombie Doug was pretty awesome too, providing Alley a kindred spirit. He had a good head on his shoulders and didn't encourage Alley to do anything irrevocably crazy to be with him.

I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It was a fast, funny read. I loved the satirical elements and of course I love zombies, even if they are the romantic type. Zombie violence wasn't completely absent, but it wasn't the focus of the novel. I would recommend this to those zombie fans looking for a fun, light read. show less

This satyric take on the undead in teen fiction is hysterical from page one, with an alpha-girl protagonist — Ice Queen Alley Rhodes — and her circle of gossipy friends from the school paper judging anyone who might walk by their cafeteria table — be he human or not. In Alley’s world, the posthumans have all come out of the coffins, as it was recently discovered that a large chain-store was creating zombies and using them as stock room slaves. When Alley is assigned to review a local band’s show at a local hangout, the last thing she expects to find is Doug, the cute goth kid with an ethereal voice and a working knowledge of Alley’s 1930’s crush, Cole Porter. When she finds out Doug isn’t just dressing goth, but is show more actually among the undead, her only way to stay out of the gossip blogs is to break up with him. But Doug’s hard to ditch, and the school’s vampire clique aren’t exactly supportive of their relationship. Alley will have to change her Ice Queen ways to defend her love, but old habits are hard to break, and in the posthuman era, well, there are a lot of pressures on a girl! I KISSED A ZOMBIE is a sweet, quick read, sure to delight fans of the recent paranormal trend, and, due to it’s tongue-in-cheek narrative, readers who wish vampires would just go away are likely to fall in love as well. The writing is sprinkled with geeky references to goth music and campy horror, and in its sincerity, even an Ice Queen like Alley Rhodes is rendered sympathetic. Get this book on your shelf before Alley trashes you in the school paper. show less

I actually really liked this book. I found it to be a more realistic Twilight story. Ally's first love ends up being a zombie. She goes through the typical responses of a girl in puppy love/lust, but she also realizes that this relationship has a short shelf life and she recognizes some of her mistakes along the way. The relationship changes Ally in a lot of ways, in ways that you would wish any teenager dating someone who's not quite right for her would. Sometimes funny, sometimes sad I thought it was a great take on a paranormal romance that hasn't really been seen yet.

I actually really liked this book. I found it to be a more realistic Twilight story. Ally's first love ends up being a zombie. She goes through the typical responses of a girl in puppy love/lust, but she also realizes that this relationship has a short shelf life and she recognizes some of her mistakes along the way. The relationship changes Ally in a lot of ways, in ways that you would wish any teenager dating someone who's not quite right for her would. Sometimes funny, sometimes sad I thought it was a great take on a paranormal romance that hasn't really been seen yet.

I actually really liked this book. I found it to be a more realistic Twilight story. Ally's first love ends up being a zombie. She goes through the typical responses of a girl in puppy love/lust, but she also realizes that this relationship has a short shelf life and she recognizes some of her mistakes along the way. The relationship changes Ally in a lot of ways, in ways that you would wish any teenager dating someone who's not quite right for her would. Sometimes funny, sometimes sad I thought it was a great take on a paranormal romance that hasn't really been seen yet.

I actually really liked this book. I found it to be a more realistic Twilight story. Ally's first love ends up being a zombie. She goes through the typical responses of a girl in puppy love/lust, but she also realizes that this relationship has a short shelf life and she recognizes some of her mistakes along the way. The relationship changes Ally in a lot of ways, in ways that you would wish any teenager dating someone who's not quite right for her would. Sometimes funny, sometimes sad I thought it was a great take on a paranormal romance that hasn't really been seen yet.