GoodReads Summary: 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...
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Source: Publisher
Expected publication date: 05/10/12 (UK)
Thoughts:
The mix of zombies and
Alice in Wonderland sounded great in theory, but unfortunately
Alice in Zombieland failed to hit the mark for me.
I think whether or not you enjoy this book depends on what you are expecting from it. If like me you expect a dark and gritty re-telling of
Alice in Wonderland with zombies this might not be the book for you. If on the other hand you don't mind that there aren't many references to the classic, that it's set in high school, and you treat it like a fun/entertaining read then you may just enjoy it.
I have to admit that the summary is kind of misleading - I'm not really a fan of books set in high school so had I known this before hand I don't think I'd have been as keen to read it. I feel as if Alice's friends were meant to be portrayed as a energetic and colourful bunch, but honestly I just found them annoying and clichéd.
The romance didn't do much for me, Cole was a typical YA bad boy. Nothing really stood out about him, and the romance between him and Alice went in a frustratingly predictable direction.
One of the aspects of the book I was most looking forward to was the zombies - the gory, I WANT TO EAT YOUR BRAINS kind. Unfortunately they were not present in the first half of the book and when they did make an appearance I was disappointed. The zombies were a weird cross breed -- which, yes, you can say is unique, but I felt like it was forced. Like the author wanted to make them different for the sake of being different.
Except for a few things like Alice's name and the white rabbit there weren't many references to Lewis Carroll's classic which for me personally was a let down.
Overall,
Alice in Zombieland was not my cup of tea.
Rating:
12 comments:
It's a shame this didn't work for you, but I can understand why! I wasn't too disappointed that this wasn't a gritty retelling and treated as a fun, nothing-serious sort of read. It worked for me as I found it entertaining more than anything. Thanks for your honest thoughts, Renu! Brilliant review. :)
Oh, it's unfortunate that this wasn't your cup of tea. Thanks for pointing out that the summary was kinda misleading. I appreciate you sharing your sincere thoughts. Hope your next read will resonate better with you!
Aw, sorry to hear this was a total miss for you! I ended up loving it, but I can totally understand WHY you didn't. Especially with you expecting something 100% different. I've had some books where EVERYONE else seems to love them and I'm like, "Er... it... well... um... hmmm."
I'm also shamed to admit I've never actually read or watched Alice in Wonderland fully *hides* so I only vaguely understand some of the few references.
Fantastic review, Renu!
Sorry this didn't work out for you, Renu. I think I'll still pick this up because the way you describe the story in your review actually makes it sound appealing to me! Lol! Too funny, right? Thanks for you wonderful and helpful review. :)
Yikes! I wasn't planning to read this book, unless a lot of readers loved it. Most of the reviews I've read haven't been very positive. Sorry AiZ was such a letdown. Thanks for such an informative review!
Awwwww, I'm sorry Alice in Zombieland wasn't your cup of tea, Renu! I read it quite recently but actually really enjoyed it! I do agree that the book has little reference to Alice in Wonderland such as Alice's name and the White Rabbit only.
Thank you for the awesome and honest review, Renu! ♥
WOW! Talk about taking liberties with the classic 'Alice' story. :-)
Sorry you didn't love this one! I can understand why you didn't though, especially if you weren't expecting the high school aspect. I've read a few reviews so I think I'm prepared for it. Thanks for the review :).
Too bad! I've been looking forward to this one as well. I love my zombies who love brains, too. I think I'm gonna read this one though just so I could see how I would feel about it. But yes, I'm lowering my expectations. :)
Great review! :
Oh, noes! It's set in high school? That's one detail I just didn't know. I have a copy for review and I was very excited about it, and I didn't even mind that it's only loosely connected to AiW, but cliched high school drama is a deal breaker. Ah, well.
Great review, though.
I must admit that I'm not as keen on reading ALICE IN ZOMBIELAND now. I don't think I'd mind if the book was set in high school, but the characters don't sound particularly enthralling. :-/
Anyhow, thanks for the honest and helpful review! I'll have to rethink on whether I should still read this. :)
Agh, I totally agree. I wasn't expecting it to be set in high school either, I was looking forward to an awesome zombie world or something. It seems as though the whole thing of this being based on Alice in Wonderland is just a marketing scheme :(
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