Reviewing: Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

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She won't rest until she's sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. But that's all it takes. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real.

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn't careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies. 

In my opinion, everything about how the book is presented is a little deceiving. It made me think that this was a dark, twisted Alice in Wonderland retelling with zombies. It was not. 

Alice (or "Ali") is a teenage girl whose life gets completely turned around the night her family gets in a car crash and she sees something completely horrifying: monsters. Zombies.

I found Ali to be quite annoying. I kept thinking "NO DON'T DO THAT" and she did it. She constantly places herself in harms way without any second thoughts. I understand her fierce determination to an extent-- she's been through a lot-- but there were still moments where I didn't understand her at all. This was mostly in regards to how she dealt with the love interest-- Cole.

Cole is introduced as been a complete tool. He glares, he scowls, he pops his jaw, he has bruised knuckles and tattoos, and Ali thinks herself in love from the moment she lays her eyes on him. 

Let me just say this before I continue: As individuals, Cole and Ali are fine. Good, even. Together, I just didn't get it. It felt like their relationship was based on physical attraction, not any emotional connection. (It's also insta-love. From the moment Ali sees Cole, she wants him).

Cole actually does develop past all the glaring and anger issues he clearly has. (To an extent, anyways). He grows softer, more caring. And this made me care about him. But not enough that I didn't get irritated every time he popped up unwanted. (There is an extent to how much a guy should be around a girl before it reaches stalking and he crossed last line within the first few chapters). 

Kat is Ali's best friend, and she is my favorite character. Even though she could be a bit immature, she was hilarious and entirely lovable. I really loved reading about her and her interactions with Ali and Frosty (her ex-boyfriend that she has very intense feelings for, both positive and negative). 

(Side note: was anyone else completely thrown off by the nicknames? Especially Frosty.)

The zombies were interesting. One: they talked. (Sure, it was all "maim, kill, eat" but they still talked). Two: they were spiritual. Everything is all spiritual-- fighting and all. I did find this kind of confusing as the descriptions on why were never very thorough, so hopefully the author decides to go more in-depth on it in the other books in the series. 

Is this book emotional? Other than the first couple of chapters, no. 

Is it super sexual? Not really. There's the occasional shirtless bit and intense make-out sessions. And by intense I mean if someone was watching they'd probably think Ali and Cole were zombies from how they were eating each other's faces off. 

Is it dark? Eh. I've read much, much darker books. But, yes, it does feature a bit of gore. 

Is it action-packed? 25% of the book is actual action. The rest is Ali being terrified or Ali being in high school/going to parties. It is a page-turner, though.