#84 My Life as A White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland
Angel Crawford has hit rock bottom. After waking up in a hospital, she learns that she's just survived an overdose. Only Angel 
doesn't remember it quite like that. Her mind is filled with horrible images of violence that her unbruised body can't support. Things get even stranger when a mysterious Good Samaritan delivers a bag of clothing to her hospital room. With it is a note. She's been given a job at the local morgue, and has to stick with it for at a month or she risks jail time. Angel takes the job, and is shocked when she actually enjoys it. At the same time, she finds herself gripped by a strange hunger for brains. What's going on?
My Life as a White Trash Zombie was the August selection for calico_reaction's book club, and I went into the book somewhat skeptical, as the concept did sound a little silly. Fortunately, the execution of said concept is really worth your attention. The books largest strength can be found in it's likable protagonist. While a lesser writer would have used her “white-trashness” for cheap laughs, Rowland delivers a complex heroine who's made some poor decisions in the past, but is ultimately a good person that's been dealt a bad hand. One might think that becoming a zombie would ruin someones life, but it ends up setting Angel on a path that might just turn things around for her. It's impossible not to want to cheer her on. I found her reaction to her newfound zombie state to be pretty realistic. I'm pretty sure if I found myself craving brains I'd react with pretty much the same mixture of disgust and horror.
The main storyline in My Life as a White Trash Zombie is Angel's personal journey, but as a result of working at the morgue, a second storyline arises. This is a murder mystery plot line, where Angel suspects that the killer is also a zombie. Of course, she can't exactly tell anyone about her theory. This storyline ended up being a little predictable, but I still found it to be effective. My Life as a White Trash Zombie goes against the grain a little bit as far as urban fantasy goes by not having a too much of a romantic storyline. There is one, it just doesn't kick in until the end, which I found worked well for me.
My Life as a White Trash Zombie really surprised me. I went in expecting a silly story with lots of cheap laughs, but what I got was a well paced paranormal tale starring an engaging heroine. This book should appeal to other fans of urban/paranormal fantasy books by Carrie Vaughn, Kelley Armstrong, or Jim Butcher.
Rating: four and a half stars
Length: 310 pages
Source: Lewiston public Library
Other books I've read by this author: This is my first
Next I will be reviewing Fables, Vol 9: Sons of Empire by Bill Willingham, and Life of Pi by Yann Martel
xposted to temporaryworlds, bookish and goodreads
doesn't remember it quite like that. Her mind is filled with horrible images of violence that her unbruised body can't support. Things get even stranger when a mysterious Good Samaritan delivers a bag of clothing to her hospital room. With it is a note. She's been given a job at the local morgue, and has to stick with it for at a month or she risks jail time. Angel takes the job, and is shocked when she actually enjoys it. At the same time, she finds herself gripped by a strange hunger for brains. What's going on?
My Life as a White Trash Zombie was the August selection for calico_reaction's book club, and I went into the book somewhat skeptical, as the concept did sound a little silly. Fortunately, the execution of said concept is really worth your attention. The books largest strength can be found in it's likable protagonist. While a lesser writer would have used her “white-trashness” for cheap laughs, Rowland delivers a complex heroine who's made some poor decisions in the past, but is ultimately a good person that's been dealt a bad hand. One might think that becoming a zombie would ruin someones life, but it ends up setting Angel on a path that might just turn things around for her. It's impossible not to want to cheer her on. I found her reaction to her newfound zombie state to be pretty realistic. I'm pretty sure if I found myself craving brains I'd react with pretty much the same mixture of disgust and horror.
The main storyline in My Life as a White Trash Zombie is Angel's personal journey, but as a result of working at the morgue, a second storyline arises. This is a murder mystery plot line, where Angel suspects that the killer is also a zombie. Of course, she can't exactly tell anyone about her theory. This storyline ended up being a little predictable, but I still found it to be effective. My Life as a White Trash Zombie goes against the grain a little bit as far as urban fantasy goes by not having a too much of a romantic storyline. There is one, it just doesn't kick in until the end, which I found worked well for me.
My Life as a White Trash Zombie really surprised me. I went in expecting a silly story with lots of cheap laughs, but what I got was a well paced paranormal tale starring an engaging heroine. This book should appeal to other fans of urban/paranormal fantasy books by Carrie Vaughn, Kelley Armstrong, or Jim Butcher.
Rating: four and a half stars
Length: 310 pages
Source: Lewiston public Library
Other books I've read by this author: This is my first
Next I will be reviewing Fables, Vol 9: Sons of Empire by Bill Willingham, and Life of Pi by Yann Martel
xposted to temporaryworlds, bookish and goodreads