This book is pretty vulgar and graphic. The zombie violence is pretty gruesome. I considered stopping after read just 15 pages but decided to continue and I did feel like the storyline got better. I did not really connect to the main character but liked several of the supporting characters. If you like zombies this would most likely be a good read for you but it wasn't my cup of tea. ( )

[review written 2013]

yes i’m here again yes i have read another book after i came home and wrote the song of achilles review and watched two episodes of reign but i kind of just burned through this book really quick

and most of it was because of the pacing and the nature of the story. i mean, the story took place in less than 12 hours and it was bam bam bam really fast, pretty much real-time for maybe a slower reader. but me? i finished in two hours

and it was okay. there was a lot of gore but what the fuck was i expecting it’s a zombie novel and it made me queasy sometimes. it was like, george r.r. martin levels of description. the characters were okay. there was a girl with a panic disorder which was kind of relieving but i didn’t like how it was handled towards the end

most of the other characters reminded me of the people you see around high school. so. um. and it was good a little unbelievable but once again it’s a zombie apolcalypse what was i expecting ( )

High school is a place where many kids feel like they just don't fit in. That is definitely true for Brian and his friends, a collection of misfits who decided to skip a few classes they day of the school pep rally. They get back to school just in time for stagecraft class, and for a deadly virus to take hold of their school. A strange sickness has rapidly spread, something that gives people a drawn, wasted look and develops crusty scales, oh- and it gives the infected person a taste for human bone. Ground zero is the pep rally, but the theatre building is farther away and able to be protected. It's too bad that Brian's sister and ex-girlfriend decided to go to the pep-rally, now Brian has to find a way to get the girls out of the zombie infested hallways as well as the stagecraft class.

This is a very fast-paced young adult zombie outbreak story that does not skip on the gore and held me in suspense. Centered in a high school with high schoolers as the only uninfected people left, I was really interested to see how high school dynamics would go into play. Especially since this high school was overcrowded, had a lot of racial tension and general intolerance of anyone who is different. Luckily, this group of survivors is centered in the theatre, where different is the norm. When any differences are brought up, they manage to be quickly resolved or changed in the minds of the teenagers for the benefit of survival. I was really interested in the virus itself and I got a little bit of information on it through Brian's mom, who was on the first response team. I did want to find out if there was a cure and how it began. The book really just focused on the outbreak itself and how this small group of highschoolers was able to survive. There were some very awesome moments of zombie smackdowns and creative weaponry, but there was no resolve after the teens were rescued from the school.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ( )

Brian is kind of a slacker in school. His grades aren't the best and he isn't adverse to ditching a few periods with his friends. One day, he chooses to ditch school and notices a lot of sick people around. His mother is a doctor and gets called out of town to assess a mysterious situation. This all while spreading reports of violence plague the news. He thinks it's a bit weird, but goes on with his life. Brian returns to school and helps build sets for drama instead of going to a pep rally. Lucky for him (an unlucky for everyone there), the pep rally turns into a riot as people they know have lost their minds, attacking others. Now his sister and ex-girlfriend are trapped in the school somewhere and Brian sets out to save them.

Brian and his friends are the most unlikely heroes for the zombie apocalypse. Brian is a nice person, but slacks in some areas. His best friend Chad is an aggressive jerk who doesn't care about offending people or getting in someone's face. Both of them really step it up o save their friends. Brian is surprisingly protective of his sister and discovers he still has feelings for his anxiety ridden ex. Chad finds he's not as bloodthirsty as he thought and acts nobly to save as many people as possible. I thought I would hate them at the beginning of the book, but they actually grew and became people I like over the course of the novel.

The zombies are a little different than the normal. The first signs of infection are normal cold or flu-like symptoms with crystal-like formations. These formations get more and more out of control until they finally become full zombie. Brian thinks they consume bone marrow to try to cure their illness, but it's never seen how true that is. Brian's mom insists that they should hurt these sick people, but that's incredibly unrealistic. When people are salivating after my flesh, I'm going to fight back and so do Brian and his friends.

Overall, I liked the book and it's design. The chapter pages has the time and a growing amount of zombies as it goes along with blood splatter on the first pages of each chapter. It's a cool effect that illustrates how dire the situation is and how many zombies populate the world. The book has some flaws. Too much time was spend being holed up in the drama room. I felt it was a missed opportunity and the pacing of the novel suffered. Brian's ex-girlfriend has an anxiety disorder and I thought it would be an interesting opportunity in an apocalypse situation. Somehow, she doesn't have an negative effects because of it as if it was magically cured by something extremely anxiety inducing for everyone. It was enjoyable and it was a very fast read. I would read a sequel to see where the story goes. ( )

I would say this is a great book to read if you like "The Walking Dead". I would also say that it was a really good book in relation to expressing high schoolers. 5Q4P The cover art is aweosme and I'd recommend this book to middle and high school students. I chose this book because I liked the cover art so much. DavynS