Lyra McKen

This was an interesting Zbook. It is told from Cassie's, (a teenage girl), viewpoint. She is in school, writing a note to her best friend about her crush. Pretty normal high school day. Until the principal makes an announcement for everyone to get into a classroom and the doors are to be locked. Then she watches a slow moving bloody guy make his way to her classroom and break through the window. There ends normal.

This was a fun book to read. The author did an excellent job bringing back high school, crushes and humiliation. Cassie is wonderfully written. She is all at once, average, intelligent, funny, sarcastic and strangely, (as she becomes a zombie), a survivor. Normally the running, hiding and trying to find help are the live surviving people. In this book it is the bitten; though there was one unbitten survivor in the group. That provided some interesting dilemmas.

Zombified is a different take on zombies. I am very interested in seeing where the author takes this. I highly recommend this novella. I believe it is going to be a fun series.

This book is older teen friendly in that there is no explicit sex or language. There is violence, (it is a zombie book), that does include an attempted rape. While I am not fond of rape scenes, (attempted or completed), I do understand that in a world turned upside down this is a reality. The author handled that graciously without the use of excessive nudity and violence.… (mehr)

Ok, so I’m a big zombie fan. This means I know a good puss-dripping tale when I read one, and Zombified is just that. But really, the gore was minimal and the action was fast paced. From the intro, I wanted to know what was going to happen to this girl - she’s conversing with a man as she devours the poor chap.

The story kept me cracking up with phrases like “I wasn’t gonna eat her” and “ Hidie-hole.” Although the story is clearly meant for a young audience, any one who likes to catch themselves reading at break-neck speed because they just have to find out what happens next, is really going to enjoy this book.

This is my first time reading a story from the perspective of the infected and I could easily put myself in Cassie’s shoes; wanting to find a cure and survive despite the poison spreading up her arm. And I was angry when they got carelessly sloshed, costing Trent his life.

Lyra pulled her story right out of modern news. She Described High School, with all it’s intensities and quirks, like she’d just been there yesterday.
She posed deep questions about how one might behave if their loved ones were infected and the solidarity of those trapped in the freakish netherworld of not being fully dead or alive. I"m ready for part two…
Lyra, you go girl…SMILE*… (mehr)

I won a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have read dozens of zombie genre books, but never one like this. The prologue had me scratching my head after reading about the thoughts of a female zombie who had just finished feasting on parts of a human body. Her best friend, another zombie, was across the courtyard having her own dinner. She was shuffling across the empty space and communicating with her friend in a series of growls and grunts, understanding one another. I was not expecting this and quickly jumped in to see what it was all about.

The story begins with Cassie, a normal 17 year old teenage girl, sitting in a classroom with other students. Suddenly there is an alarm and a voice on the PA system announces that the school is in lockdown and everyone should remain calm. Cassie spots a lone youth, covered in blood and walking awkwardly toward the classroom window. He beats upon the glass relentlessly, eventually breaking it and attacks the teacher who is trying to fend him off with a wooden yardstick. Strangers bursting into the room with guns blazing toward the zombie causes a sheer panic, driving the students toward the doorway and outside. Here, they are confronted by rapid former teachers, students and neighbors intent on biting them. Cassie goes back into school and is rescued by her high school crush, he leads her to a secret room at the rear of a janitorial closet. Here they'll be safe, at least, for now.

It isn't long when Cassie has to go to the restroom, not stooping so low to peeing into a bucket. She is escorted to the ladies room and her crush guards the doorway. Cassie doesn't expect to run into her teacher in the stall next to hers. She was standing on a single leg, the other bitten off below the knee, already turned. She attacks Cassie, biting her on the end of her finger.

Cassie leaves the school after attacking her "crush" and wonders the countryside looking for other survivors. Instead, she finds others like herself - bitten but not turned. One of them has heard of a cure so they head out together looking it. During the next three days, the group discovers that when encountering zombies, they are not molested - recognized as one of their own.

As time goes by, they continue to advance and eventually turn, becoming full-blown zombies themselves. Cassie maintains her sense of humor and teenager mentality, leading readers to believe that zombies can think, communicate and make friends when encountering other zombies.

The story is hilarious in parts and offers readers a whole new perspective on what we know about zombies. It is short and can be read in an afternoon. I'd recommend it and look forward to the next book in the series.

John Podlaski, author
Cherries - A Vietnam War Novel… (mehr)