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crystalstarrlight's review against another edition
4.0
Bullet Review:
I finished a book! YIPPEE!
This was a fun (if gross at times - it's a zombie book, zombie books are going to be gross) read - though I don't recommend reading this at the same time as watching the TV series iZombie, because DAYUM the two are startlingly close.
The story is interesting, the pacing is good, the mystery is subtle, Angel isn't a complete moron (despite her being "white trash") - overall, yeah, it was fun. And while yes, it took me 2 months to read, that wasn't because the book was boring or dull or horrible. Life gets busy, folks.
That said, I don't know if I have the energy to get invested in the series. While I am happy with who Angel ends up with at the end of this book, I am afraid the next few books will be a constant "will they or won't they". Also, besides Angel, there are very few other prominent women in this world, yet again proving that the default is male and our female protagonist is one a few "EXTRA SPESHUL" women to get to partake in being special. And lastly, I have enough series I've already bought that I should try to see if I want to continue before launching into this one.
Full Review:
Angel wakes up in a hospital room after she really shouldn't. She overdosed on a lot of drugs and was found on the side of the road, naked as the day she was born. When she wakes up, she finds, though, she has a set of clothes and some strange jars with a note explaining she needs to drink one every other day and someone has given her a job at the coroner's office.
What is going on in Angel's life? Will she always be "white trash" or does she deserve - and want - better? What's going on with all the decapitations too?
To be honest, I've had to given urban fantasy a break of sorts because a lot of it is either crap or really repetitious. How many variants of "she's a vampire/werewolf/banshee/ghost/voodo priestess/whatsamawhosits and the first hot guy she meets knows how to set her on the straight path while somehow avoiding the baddies coming to kill them" can you read after all? Well, good ones maybe I could read them endlessly, but bad ones (and Sturgeon's Law states that's about 90% out there) are a dime a dozen.
A dear friend of mine recommended this to me with the following statement, "Way better than I thought. Lots of strong female empowerment themes you might enjoy." He's not the best when it comes to book taste (He likes "Death Star" after all - see how I got that in there?! Genius, man, genius!), but he knows I'm always on the hunt for a good book,. Hell, I'll be straight: even though we hardly ever share the same opinion, if he recommends a book other than the new Star Wars, I will give it a shot. He's that tier of a friend for me.
So Audible (praise the technology gods and goddesses for Audible!) had it in a Buy one Get one Free sale, so yeah, that happened. Next thing you know, it's Summer of Love (slightly better results than last year), and I was itching to read something fiction that DIDN'T become child rape apologism (seriously, eff that book in the @$$ with a cactus). Next up: "My Life as a White Trash Zombie".
History lesson done, what did I think? I thought it was smart, witty, well-paced, thoughtful, yet also not too serious. The characters were well crafted, not stereotyped, but also not shying away from the reality that Angel lives in a pretty damned impoverished area, and up until zombiefication (because that's NOT a spoiler folks - it's in the title), she didn't have a lot of drive to do anything but get high. This won't get awards for being ground-breaking, but it's a fun little story that has a unique spin on zombies (well, unique if you don't watch iZombie that is - I did and found there were remarkable similarities).
As is the case, when a book is good, you find yourself circling round and round the exact same points over and over again. The characters were good. Some characters were d-bags - such as Randy and Angel's dad - but the author doesn't resort to making them nasty awful people.And I know that since the author wanted Marcus and Angel together, it would have been ridiculously easy to make Randy an abusive a-hole - but he never was. Not a great guy, but I got the impression when Angel and Randy break up, it's more that she's moved on and grown up and he's still a lazy loser. The same thing is resoundingly true for our main villain - which is incredibly startling for this type of "bubblegum" novel.
As for Angel, kudos to her for being a main character who has a brain between her ears (har har). She may deride herself as being stupid and unmotivated, but at least when we see her here, she's actually pretty smart and determined. She pieces together her zombie-ness at a good pace, and doesn't need some man stepping in to tell her, "By the way...you're a zombie, lemme coach you." She pretty much figures it out herself, figures out how to feed herself, etc. All without a man. (And no, there's nothing wrong with needing help from a man, but there are TOO MANY urban fantasy novels where a man must explain to a woman how to be the thing she is. Obnoxious.)
Since this is mostly a character novel with a "side quest" of a decapitation murder mystery, I don't think analyzing the "plot" as it were would do much to this review. The murder mystery is rather mundane, in and of itself. What's important is what Angel LEARNS from the murder mystery -both about her missing memories, her being a zombie, and the zombie's place in a human world.
If I had one complaint to be made, it's that this is a series. Now, to some (many), this seems petty, and really, it is. This is a personal complaint, so if you like series, just simply ignore me here. Personally, I've come to realize I don't care for series that much. They string you along indefinitely, resetting major events (such as the infamous "will they or won't they" bullsh!t) just to keep people checking in for more. It's why I quit reading the "Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder"; it's why I stopped watching the iZombie TV show. I don't mind say a duology or a trilogy or even a series like Harry Potter with 7 defined books (rimshot!), but when you get a series like Anita Blake and Sookie Stackhouse, the author WILL get a point where he or she just drags it along for the dollar signs.
That said, this book closes with Angel and her boytoy 1) talking to each other, 2) not afraid of touching each other, and 3) knowing the big secret about her zombieness. So it could be that I'm totally wrong about the "will they or won't they" aspect; I'll keep the possibility of checking back with this series later.
All in all, I was definitely happy to have read this. I enjoyed myself. I loved the narrator. I thought Angel was a smart, resilient character who made some big character growth, and the zombies were well-done in this universe. And in my book, all that is pretty high praise.
I finished a book! YIPPEE!
This was a fun (if gross at times - it's a zombie book, zombie books are going to be gross) read - though I don't recommend reading this at the same time as watching the TV series iZombie, because DAYUM the two are startlingly close.
The story is interesting, the pacing is good, the mystery is subtle, Angel isn't a complete moron (despite her being "white trash") - overall, yeah, it was fun. And while yes, it took me 2 months to read, that wasn't because the book was boring or dull or horrible. Life gets busy, folks.
That said, I don't know if I have the energy to get invested in the series. While I am happy with who Angel ends up with at the end of this book, I am afraid the next few books will be a constant "will they or won't they". Also, besides Angel, there are very few other prominent women in this world, yet again proving that the default is male and our female protagonist is one a few "EXTRA SPESHUL" women to get to partake in being special. And lastly, I have enough series I've already bought that I should try to see if I want to continue before launching into this one.
Full Review:
Angel wakes up in a hospital room after she really shouldn't. She overdosed on a lot of drugs and was found on the side of the road, naked as the day she was born. When she wakes up, she finds, though, she has a set of clothes and some strange jars with a note explaining she needs to drink one every other day and someone has given her a job at the coroner's office.
What is going on in Angel's life? Will she always be "white trash" or does she deserve - and want - better? What's going on with all the decapitations too?
To be honest, I've had to given urban fantasy a break of sorts because a lot of it is either crap or really repetitious. How many variants of "she's a vampire/werewolf/banshee/ghost/voodo priestess/whatsamawhosits and the first hot guy she meets knows how to set her on the straight path while somehow avoiding the baddies coming to kill them" can you read after all? Well, good ones maybe I could read them endlessly, but bad ones (and Sturgeon's Law states that's about 90% out there) are a dime a dozen.
A dear friend of mine recommended this to me with the following statement, "Way better than I thought. Lots of strong female empowerment themes you might enjoy." He's not the best when it comes to book taste (He likes "Death Star" after all - see how I got that in there?! Genius, man, genius!), but he knows I'm always on the hunt for a good book,. Hell, I'll be straight: even though we hardly ever share the same opinion, if he recommends a book other than the new Star Wars, I will give it a shot. He's that tier of a friend for me.
So Audible (praise the technology gods and goddesses for Audible!) had it in a Buy one Get one Free sale, so yeah, that happened. Next thing you know, it's Summer of Love (slightly better results than last year), and I was itching to read something fiction that DIDN'T become child rape apologism (seriously, eff that book in the @$$ with a cactus). Next up: "My Life as a White Trash Zombie".
History lesson done, what did I think? I thought it was smart, witty, well-paced, thoughtful, yet also not too serious. The characters were well crafted, not stereotyped, but also not shying away from the reality that Angel lives in a pretty damned impoverished area, and up until zombiefication (because that's NOT a spoiler folks - it's in the title), she didn't have a lot of drive to do anything but get high. This won't get awards for being ground-breaking, but it's a fun little story that has a unique spin on zombies (well, unique if you don't watch iZombie that is - I did and found there were remarkable similarities).
As is the case, when a book is good, you find yourself circling round and round the exact same points over and over again. The characters were good. Some characters were d-bags - such as Randy and Angel's dad - but the author doesn't resort to making them nasty awful people.
As for Angel, kudos to her for being a main character who has a brain between her ears (har har). She may deride herself as being stupid and unmotivated, but at least when we see her here, she's actually pretty smart and determined. She pieces together her zombie-ness at a good pace, and doesn't need some man stepping in to tell her, "By the way...you're a zombie, lemme coach you." She pretty much figures it out herself, figures out how to feed herself, etc. All without a man. (And no, there's nothing wrong with needing help from a man, but there are TOO MANY urban fantasy novels where a man must explain to a woman how to be the thing she is. Obnoxious.)
Since this is mostly a character novel with a "side quest" of a decapitation murder mystery, I don't think analyzing the "plot" as it were would do much to this review. The murder mystery is rather mundane, in and of itself. What's important is what Angel LEARNS from the murder mystery -both about her missing memories, her being a zombie, and the zombie's place in a human world.
If I had one complaint to be made, it's that this is a series. Now, to some (many), this seems petty, and really, it is. This is a personal complaint, so if you like series, just simply ignore me here. Personally, I've come to realize I don't care for series that much. They string you along indefinitely, resetting major events (such as the infamous "will they or won't they" bullsh!t) just to keep people checking in for more. It's why I quit reading the "Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder"; it's why I stopped watching the iZombie TV show. I don't mind say a duology or a trilogy or even a series like Harry Potter with 7 defined books (rimshot!), but when you get a series like Anita Blake and Sookie Stackhouse, the author WILL get a point where he or she just drags it along for the dollar signs.
That said, this book closes with Angel and her boytoy 1) talking to each other, 2) not afraid of touching each other, and 3) knowing the big secret about her zombieness. So it could be that I'm totally wrong about the "will they or won't they" aspect; I'll keep the possibility of checking back with this series later.
All in all, I was definitely happy to have read this. I enjoyed myself. I loved the narrator. I thought Angel was a smart, resilient character who made some big character growth, and the zombies were well-done in this universe. And in my book, all that is pretty high praise.
kandicekp_78's review against another edition
4.0
Being undead CAN mean being more alive than ever!
POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!!! This is my first book by Diana Rowland. Though I thoroughly enjoy fantasy, vampires, zombies, etc. I had never been suggested this book or heard of it. I read it as a part of the reading club I recently joined and I’m soooo happy I did! I love the personal growth that we see the main character go through as she learns how to live as a zombie. Her sobriety was mixed in beautifully. As someone in recovery I really enjoyed this aspect of the story as well. Along with all of that I felt like she was a very well developed character with a great sense of humor. I look forward to reading the second book in the series.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!!! This is my first book by Diana Rowland. Though I thoroughly enjoy fantasy, vampires, zombies, etc. I had never been suggested this book or heard of it. I read it as a part of the reading club I recently joined and I’m soooo happy I did! I love the personal growth that we see the main character go through as she learns how to live as a zombie. Her sobriety was mixed in beautifully. As someone in recovery I really enjoyed this aspect of the story as well. Along with all of that I felt like she was a very well developed character with a great sense of humor. I look forward to reading the second book in the series.
kaitiecakes's review
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. It’s got a bit of everything... zombies, romance, suspense, mystery. It Also reminds me a lot of IZombie and I’ll looking forward to reading the rest of the series
snoopydoo77's review
5.0
4 ½ ★
To be honest I picked this book because of the cover that it sounded interesting didn’t hurt. I also thought it sounded a lot like Liv from iZombie.
But it really only had a few similarities to iZombie and or Liv.
I did take the fresh take on zombies compared to whet we know from the Walking Dead and the like.
I really liked Angel and the fact that she is in no way perfect and had pretty much a really screwed up life. Well up to the pointy where she dies….. It is pretty clear early on what she is and it doesn’t take her long to figure out what she is. But she still doesn’t know what and how it happened. We follow her as she learns to be zombie what it means and how much her life changes, including her diet. She also learns what will happen if she does not follow her required brain diet and it is not pretty.
You can find my full review here:
http://snoopydoosbookreviews.com/life-white-trash-zombie-white-trash-zombie-1-diana-rowland/
To be honest I picked this book because of the cover that it sounded interesting didn’t hurt. I also thought it sounded a lot like Liv from iZombie.
But it really only had a few similarities to iZombie and or Liv.
I did take the fresh take on zombies compared to whet we know from the Walking Dead and the like.
I really liked Angel and the fact that she is in no way perfect and had pretty much a really screwed up life. Well up to the pointy where she dies….. It is pretty clear early on what she is and it doesn’t take her long to figure out what she is. But she still doesn’t know what and how it happened. We follow her as she learns to be zombie what it means and how much her life changes, including her diet. She also learns what will happen if she does not follow her required brain diet and it is not pretty.
You can find my full review here:
http://snoopydoosbookreviews.com/life-white-trash-zombie-white-trash-zombie-1-diana-rowland/
heathercottledillon's review
4.0
I expected this to be just a fun, silly read, and it turned out to be much more than that. Sure, there are plenty of cheap jokes (of the white trash variety), but the main premise of the story is unique--a steady diet of brains keeps the zombies from decaying and actually makes them smarter, faster, and stronger--and there's a pretty good mystery that surprised me at the end (granted, I don't read a lot of mysteries, so I suppose I'm not too hard too fool). Angel is a frustrating character, but she grows a lot throughout the story (yes, even as a zombie) and I definitely sympathized with her by the conclusion. Looks like this is the first book in a series, so I look forward to more from Angel and her crew.
nikkafa's review against another edition
dark
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
kathydavie's review
4.0
First in the White Trash Zombie horror series and revolving around Angel.
My Take
I suspect this is supposed to be one of those terribly funny horror stories, but I'm afraid I'm too horrified by Angel's white trash life. And yet oddly enough it does make for an interesting story that I couldn't put down. Heck the cover will pretty much tell you everything you need to know. And the cover is very funny.
If I only remember the start and the middle of this story, it would be sad. However as I read along with Angel and her life, I found myself pulling for her. She's slow, but she's never had good role models, and she's having to figure it out as she goes. It sure ain't likely she'll find tips for how to live her current "life" in Cosmo!
Rowland writes Angel's progress well. It starts with what you'd expect—heck, it's probably how I'd react—and as life ticks on at the morgue, as murders occur, and Angel gets to know her colleagues, she begins to find value in herself. It's wonderful to watch as she begins to have pride and find the truth in those around her.
Dang, that ER nurse needs to find another job!
Her previous life experience does come in handy when a dealer tries to screw her over. It's just a sideways application, LOL. It's added fun as Angel tries to reconcile her past encounters with the cops with her new relationships with them, the opportunity to see how the "other half" struggle to make it too. Who knew?
Oh, man, that closure scene...it was beautiful. Angel is a smart girl and just needed a second chance. I'm not sure where she will continue on to, but I know I want to go along for the ride.
The Story
Waking up from a drug overdose, Angel Crawford finds a cooler and a demand that she go to work on the morrow for the Coroner's Office. It's that or jail, and Angel knows a break when she reads one.
Now if only she could understand that craving she has for body parts…!
The Characters
Angel Crawford is a loser on probation, who takes drugs to forget, to not care about her life, and throws up at the sight of blood. Her dad is another loser, an unemployed alcoholic who beats her once he's had x number of beers. Mom is a nutcase who died in prison. Randy is her drug-using, laidback, sort of boyfriend who repairs cars, doesn't particularly care, and isn't above using her. Clive is his drug dealing friend.
The St. Edwards Parish Coroner's Office in Tucker Point
The jerky Nick Galatas is one of the van drivers, he's pre-med, and he's bucking for death investigator; Jerry Powell is the third van driver. Dr. Leblanc is the parish forensic pathologist. Dr. Duplessis is the coroner, the head dude. Derrel Cusimano is Angel's partner on the job and a death investigator; the other death investigators are Monica Gaudreau and Allen Prejean, the chief investigator. Ed Quinn is the paramedic who helped bring Angel back to life on that lonely road. Marianne is his girlfriend who trains a cadaver dog, Kudzu.
Officer Marcus Ivanov is the cop who arrested Angel for the stolen Prius and found her on the side of the road. Detectives Ben Roth (he's the kind one) and Mike Abadie (would get on well with that first nurse) are investigating a series of headless murders.
Zeke Lyons worked at Billings Funeral Home before he got fired. John Kang works at the Scott Funeral Home and claims he's the main distributor. Peter Plescia is a pizza delivery zombie. Adam Campbell was a technical writer who lived out in the swamp. Herbert Singleton had a Porsche.
The Cover
The cover has a "pretty-girl" pink background with a really pale white girl with a pink-tinged blonde mohawk, braided sides, and a pink tipped blonde tail at the base of her neck. The eye makeup is fuchsia which goes well with the blood dripping down her chin as she barely keeps a broken cigarette in her mouth—I suspect cocking her head in that upward angle helps! She's wearing what appears to be a pink bikini top with sagging breasts and a pretty pink and gold tattoo of brains with an arrow through them and a top and bottom banner declaring her love for brains. Add in the nose stud, and the three rings and a barbell in her right ear…and you've got the picture.
The title is the truth. You're reading about Angel, My Life as a White Trash Zombie.
My Take
I suspect this is supposed to be one of those terribly funny horror stories, but I'm afraid I'm too horrified by Angel's white trash life. And yet oddly enough it does make for an interesting story that I couldn't put down. Heck the cover will pretty much tell you everything you need to know. And the cover is very funny.
If I only remember the start and the middle of this story, it would be sad. However as I read along with Angel and her life, I found myself pulling for her. She's slow, but she's never had good role models, and she's having to figure it out as she goes. It sure ain't likely she'll find tips for how to live her current "life" in Cosmo!
Rowland writes Angel's progress well. It starts with what you'd expect—heck, it's probably how I'd react—and as life ticks on at the morgue, as murders occur, and Angel gets to know her colleagues, she begins to find value in herself. It's wonderful to watch as she begins to have pride and find the truth in those around her.
Dang, that ER nurse needs to find another job!
Her previous life experience does come in handy when a dealer tries to screw her over. It's just a sideways application, LOL. It's added fun as Angel tries to reconcile her past encounters with the cops with her new relationships with them, the opportunity to see how the "other half" struggle to make it too. Who knew?
Oh, man, that closure scene...it was beautiful. Angel is a smart girl and just needed a second chance. I'm not sure where she will continue on to, but I know I want to go along for the ride.
The Story
Waking up from a drug overdose, Angel Crawford finds a cooler and a demand that she go to work on the morrow for the Coroner's Office. It's that or jail, and Angel knows a break when she reads one.
Now if only she could understand that craving she has for body parts…!
The Characters
Angel Crawford is a loser on probation, who takes drugs to forget, to not care about her life, and throws up at the sight of blood. Her dad is another loser, an unemployed alcoholic who beats her once he's had x number of beers. Mom is a nutcase who died in prison. Randy is her drug-using, laidback, sort of boyfriend who repairs cars, doesn't particularly care, and isn't above using her. Clive is his drug dealing friend.
The St. Edwards Parish Coroner's Office in Tucker Point
The jerky Nick Galatas is one of the van drivers, he's pre-med, and he's bucking for death investigator; Jerry Powell is the third van driver. Dr. Leblanc is the parish forensic pathologist. Dr. Duplessis is the coroner, the head dude. Derrel Cusimano is Angel's partner on the job and a death investigator; the other death investigators are Monica Gaudreau and Allen Prejean, the chief investigator. Ed Quinn is the paramedic who helped bring Angel back to life on that lonely road. Marianne is his girlfriend who trains a cadaver dog, Kudzu.
Officer Marcus Ivanov is the cop who arrested Angel for the stolen Prius and found her on the side of the road. Detectives Ben Roth (he's the kind one) and Mike Abadie (would get on well with that first nurse) are investigating a series of headless murders.
Zeke Lyons worked at Billings Funeral Home before he got fired. John Kang works at the Scott Funeral Home and claims he's the main distributor. Peter Plescia is a pizza delivery zombie. Adam Campbell was a technical writer who lived out in the swamp. Herbert Singleton had a Porsche.
The Cover
The cover has a "pretty-girl" pink background with a really pale white girl with a pink-tinged blonde mohawk, braided sides, and a pink tipped blonde tail at the base of her neck. The eye makeup is fuchsia which goes well with the blood dripping down her chin as she barely keeps a broken cigarette in her mouth—I suspect cocking her head in that upward angle helps! She's wearing what appears to be a pink bikini top with sagging breasts and a pretty pink and gold tattoo of brains with an arrow through them and a top and bottom banner declaring her love for brains. Add in the nose stud, and the three rings and a barbell in her right ear…and you've got the picture.
The title is the truth. You're reading about Angel, My Life as a White Trash Zombie.
yodamom's review
4.0
Fun zombie tale with a snarkish troubled main character. Great quick read with plenty of chuckle time thrown in.
maireador20's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
crowsandprose's review
3.0
An enjoyable read. Nice to see a well rounded female character I'm urban fantasy with out having romance central to her story arc. Manages to avoid a lot of Strong Female Character pitfalls. Story could have been tighter, better paced, but overall enjoyable. definitely going to read the next book!