Never Slow Dance With A Zombie Book Review

Never Slow Dance With A Zombie
By: E. Van Lowe
Release Date: August 2009

Summary from Amazon:
Principal Taft's 3 Simple Rules for Surviving a Zombie Uprising:
Rule #1: While in the halls, walk slowly and wear a vacant expression on your face. Zombies won't attack other zombies.
Rule #2: Never travel alone. Move in packs. Follow the crowd. Zombies detest blatant displays of individuality.
Rule #3: If a zombie should attack, do not run. Instead, throw raw steak at to him. Zombies love raw meat. This display of kindness will go a long way.
On the night of her middle school graduation, Margot Jean Johnson wrote a high school manifesto detailing her goals for what she was sure would be a most excellent high school career. She and her best friend, Sybil, would be popular and, most important, have boyfriends. Three years later, they haven't accomplished a thing!
Then Margot and Sybil arrive at school one day to find that most of the student body has been turned into flesh-eating zombies. When kooky Principal Taft asks the girls to coexist with the zombies until the end of the semester, they realize that this is the perfect opportunity to live out their high school dreams. All they have to do is stay alive....

Outlined Review:
Character Development: 7/10
Originality: 10/10
Hookability: 7/10
Ending: 8/10
Voice: 6/10
Recommendation: 7/10
Total Score: 45
Grade: B

Age Appropriate Rating:
Cussing: 1/10
Drugs, alcohol, etc.: 1/10
Sexual Content: 2/10
Violence/Disturbing Images: 6/10

Written Review:

Never Slow Dance With A Zombie was a very silly, very light, very fun novel. It was filled with ridiculous notions like to keep a zombie away all you have to do is hit him on the nose with a rolled up newspaper. But things like that are what made the novel what it is; light and amusing.

Through the silliness there was a deeper meaning about learning to value good friends and how popularity isn’t everything, etc. But overall it was just entertaining. Which I was perfectly happy about don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t expecting more from a novel titled Never Slow Dance With A Zombie. I was really excited to read this book for that purpose actually. It was refreshing to read something so light, enjoyable, and full of wit.

Margot’s character could get annoying at times due to her constant need to be popular. It kind of seemed to make her lose her common sense sometimes but by the end of the novel you could see how she developed into a somewhat likable character. But even if she was sometimes irritating she was definitely relatable. Who hasn’t wanted to be popular? Of course most of us don’t go to the extreme to get it like Margot did but we can all still relate to the desire.

Overall, Never Slow Dane With A Zombie is an amusing book filled with lots of silliness, lots of zombies, and lots of fun. It’s a great book for anyone looking for a quick read that is super light and super quirky.

thanks.
Jill

Contest Winners

Hello Everyone!

Sorry that this announcement is so long overdue but I have finally taken the time to pick the winner.

If you are wondering how I pick I first type up the entries into the random list generator, then I get my sister to use the random number generator to pick the winner. I know I could easily click the button on the Random Number Generator myself but I always feel bad and want to pick again "to be fair" and then I end up clicking it until every person won at least twice. So it's easier for her to do it and me to live with the result.

Anyway the lucky winner of the Prophecy Prize Pack is......

#11 KatieDoll

Congratulations!

Please email me within 48 hours with your mailing info.

Thanks to all who entered.

Jill

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox-memefied by Kristi of The Story Siren

Here are the books I can remember getting sometime in the last few weeks. Sorry if I'm missing some. And sorry that I didn't put the titles and authors like I usually do. I'll try to come back earlier tomorrow and add them. It's late and I feel lazy and don't want to think real hard.

How It Ends Book Review

How It Ends
By: Laura Wiess
Release Date: August 4, 2009

Summary (from Amazon):
All Hanna's wanted since sophomore year is Seth. She's gone out with other guys, even gained a rep for being a flirt, all the while hoping cool, guitar-playing Seth will choose her. Then she gets him -- but their relationship is hurtful, stormy and critical, not at all what Hanna thinks a perfect love should be. Bewildered by Seth's treatment of her and in need of understanding, Hanna decides to fulfill her school's community service requirement by spending time with Helen, her terminally ill neighbor, who she's turned to for comfort and wisdom throughout her life. But illness has changed Helen into someone Hanna hardly knows, and her home is not the refuge it once was. Feeling more alone than ever, Hanna gets drawn into an audiobook the older woman is listening to, a fierce, unsettling love story of passion, sacrifice, and devotion. Hanna's fascinated by the idea that such all-encompassing love can truly exist, and without her even realizing it, the story begins to change her. Until the day when the story becomes all too real...and Hanna's world is spun off its axis by its shattering, irrevocable conclusion.

Outlined Review:
Character Development: 9/10
Originality: 10/10
Hookability: 10/10
Ending: 9/10
Voice: 10/10
Recommendation: 10/10
Total Score: 58
Grade: A+

Age Appropriate Rating:
Cussing: 6/10
Drugs, alcohol, etc.: 5/10
Sexual Content: 7/10
Violence/Disturbing Images: 4/10

Written Review:

Dramatic and beautiful. Laura Weiss masterfully wove a story of family and true love into one intricate novel. I liked the double perspective. You went from the typical teen girl Hanna, with her own problems and crushes and no time to spare for an old friend; to Helen, an elderly woman who is beginning to grow ill and is missing her relationship with her surrogate granddaughter. Though Helen’s perspective seemed slower in the beginning it was a nice change after Hanna’s hectic life.

Hanna’s messy relationship with Seth is packed with so much emotion and drama. The pre-dating relationship developed slowly and Seth seemed to be a sweet and charming guy but once the true relationship started it picked up fast and never slowed down. And Seth turned into an unlikeable yet still weirdly alluring character that sometimes left me in tears for Hanna. I don’t usually cry in books so that proves how in depth HOW IT ENDS was.

The audio book within the book kept me just as captivated as the book itself. Both are titled HOW IT ENDS and both titles seem true to the story for different reasons. HOW IT ENDS audio book is a powerful story of true love. The emotion within those pages was so strong it left me puzzled at some points, in awe at others, but mostly it left me in tears.

I don’t think I have loved a book as much as this one in a long time. It definitely makes my list of top books of 2009. I recommend it to anybody and everybody.

HOW IT ENDS is a book that touches your heart. Each voice was distinct and heartfelt. Each page flowed perfectly with true emotions pouring from them. Each character couldn’t have been more real. And each chapter only intensified the beautiful prose. My whole heart went into this book and didn’t fully come back until well after the last page.

thanks.

Jill

Hate List Book Trailer

Hey everybody! Happy (almost) Friday!

In all my spare time that I seem to have SO much of these days (ha!) I managed to make a book trailer for HATE LIST by Jennifer Brown which released on September 1rst. I haven't read much more than 3 chapters of this book but already it's got me hooked and I know that it will be a must read. For those of you interested in finding out more about the book (or those of you who just want to watch it) I have put together this trailer. Comments (good or bad) are very much appreciated so please leave your thoughts.


Thank you and enjoy.

-Jill

Bestselling author Adriana Trigiani - VIOLA IN REEL LIFE Tour Dates

Hey I don't know if you've heard but Adriana Trigiani, author of the adult titles Very Valentine, Lucia, Lucia, The Queen of the Big Time, Rococo and the Big Stone Gap series and the much anticipated new young adult novel, Viola in Reel Life, has just begun a 6 city VIOLA IN REEL LIFE tour. I thought I'd share the tour dates with you just in case any of you are interested.

The dates are:

Tuesday, September 1 - LAKE GROVE, NY - Barnes & Noble – 600 Smith Haven Mall – 7pm
Thursday, September 3 - LOS ANGELES, CA - Barnes & Noble – 189 Grove Drive – 7pm
Wednesday, September 16 - ATLANTA, GA - Barnes & Noble – 7660 North Point Parkway (Alpharetta, GA) – 7pm
Thursday, September 17 - DALLAS, TX - Borders – 10720 Preston Road, Suite 1018 – 7pm
Friday, September 18 - RALEIGH, NC - Quail Ridge Books & Music – 3522 Wade Ave. – 7:30pm
Tuesday, September 22 - CHICAGO, IL - Off-site event hosted by Anderson’s Bookshop – Pfeiffer Hall at North Central College, 310 E. Benton Ave. (Naperville IL) – 7pm
Thursday, September 24 - WASHINGTON, DC - Borders – 5871 Crossroads Center Way (Baileys Crossroads, VA) – 7:30pm

I wish I could go to the Dallas one since that's only about a 2 hour drive from where I live but it's on a school day and it starts at 7 so it's pretty unlikely that I'll get a chance.

Y'all lucky ducks who do get to go, I hope y'all have a fantasctic time! I'm sure it will be a blast!

thanks.
Jill

Crazy Beautiful Book Review

Crazy Beautiful
By: Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Release Date: September 7, 2009

Summary (from Amazon):
In an explosion of his own making, Lucius blew his arms off. Now he has hooks. He chose hooks because they were cheaper. He chose hooks because he wouldn’t outgrow them so quickly. He chose hooks so that everyone would know he was different, so he would scare even himself. Then he meets Aurora. The hooks don’t scare her. They don’t keep her away. In fact, they don’t make any difference at all to her. But to Lucius, they mean everything. They remind him of the beast he is inside. Perhaps Aurora is his Beauty, destined to set his soul free from its suffering. Or maybe she’s just a girl who needs love just like he does.

Review:
Character Development: 9/10
Originality: 6/10
Hookability: 8/10
Ending: 7/10
Voice: 8/10
Recommendation: 9/10
Total Score: 47
Grade: B+

Age Appropriate Rating:
Cussing: 1/10
Drugs, alcohol, etc.: 0/10
Sexual Content: 3/10
Violence: 1/10

Written Review:

Crazy Beautiful is tells a classic story with a modern twist about a beauty and the beast. It’s told in alternating perspectives which was refreshing to read.

Lucius was the perfect beast in this modern retelling. Filled with pain and insecurities that he tries to hide behind his hooks, Lucius is a brooding loner that is drawn to the classic beauty, Aurora. Aurora instantly becomes part of the “in” group due to her undeniably likeable personality but she’s hiding behind her own set of pain and insecurities and can’t help but be drawn to the mysterious new loner Lucius.

The characters were extremely well developed. Each character, whether they were major or minor, had a distinct personality. The characters of Aurora and Lucius were especially relatable. Though one of them was insanely gorgeous and the other was bluntly shunned, they both had the qualities of any normal teen that made them easy to relate to.

Crazy Beautiful is a really short book. Not even 200 pages. It moved at a very quick pace and surprisingly didn’t leave any major loose ends. The alternating point of views and short chapters kept the pages flowing. The only fault I found with the end was that the question of what Lucius was trying to blow up and what made him so angry that he would want to blow something up was never answered. It was touched on briefly but never fully concluded.

I also would have liked to see more of Lucius and Aurora’s relationship. I understood that there was supposed to be an instant connection between the 2 of them but I think their relationship needed to be developed a bit more before the end of the book. They didn’t even really talk except for a few hey’s in the hall until the last 50 or 60 pages or so.

But what was written about the relationship couldn’t have been better. It seemed very raw but sweet. It had its share of criticism and challenges from the start but how the characters were portrayed together through their alternating perspectives was unique and real.

My favorite part of the book was catching those little connections that really made you think that these 2 characters were soul mates. Without giving anything away, my favorite connection was when the author tied in one of Lucius’s thoughts from the very beginning to pull together the end flawlessly. It was very well thought out.

Overall, Crazy Beautiful is a very fast and enjoyable read about how second chances are always possible, pain will find a way to heal eventually, and true love will always find a way in the end. I absolutely adored it.

_________________________________

sorry for the wait. more reviews are coming. School's back in. I'm back on schedule. I'm done with my school books and I'm reading more of these amazing September books! I mean seriously, September books are turning out to be great don't you think?

leave your comments please.
thanks.
Jill

o yea. you don't have much longer if you want a chance to win the Prophecy of the Sisters Swag Pack so Enter. Enter. Enter. thanks.