Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

How did I get the book?  I bought it.

Genre: Horror / Paranormal

Synopsis: Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. 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….

Additional: Gena Showalter provides me with a conundrum. I have read quite a few of her adult titles and liked them enough to buy more. Yet when it comes to her YA books I feel like I’m missing something.  I never got past the first five chapters of Intertwined and would have given up on Alice much sooner if I hadn’t been so determined to finish it.

200words (or less) review: Alice in Zombieland has nothing to do with the original. Maybe that expectation was an error on my part but apart from the Rabbit-cloud and Kat there is nothing that links these two stories. Had this book had a different title, another cover, perhaps I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy this more but I can’t be sure.

For me this book is about a third too long. Everything takes ages to start and when it does there are pages and pages in-between of Alice monologue. As a character I never did grow fond of her and have major issues with Alice and Cole’s relationship. Alice has questions, given what is happening that is perfectly reasonable, yet Cole and the others tell her she’s annoying and she agrees!

As the book progresses the pacing does improve and I can see how this story would appeal too many. But for me Alice in Zombieland didn’t match the expectations I had and I don’t see me continuing with the series.

Recommend it?

Not sure.