Monday, May 9, 2011

BOOK REVIEW - ZOMBIES DON'T CRY by RUSTY FISCHER

By: Rusty Fischer
Published By: Medallion Press
Release Date : May 1st 2011
Details : Paperback, 371 Pages

RATING: 4.5 Delicious Dane Stars!!


Book Blurb : Taken From Goodreads

In the sleepy small town of Barracuda Bay, Maddy Swift leads the life of a fairly typical teenager, but while attending a party one night, Maddy is struck by lightning and awakens to realize she has been reanimated and turned into a zombie. While becoming acquainted with her new "lifestyle," Maddy stumbles upon two unexpected undead chaperones, fellow students Dane and Chloe, who begin to teach her the ways of zombie life, including defending the populace from Zerkers—the bad zombies. Together, on prom night, the three teens must ultimately defend Barracuda Bay High from an all-out zombie Armageddon.


BOOK REVIEW:
I really enjoyed, ‘Zombies Don’t Cry’. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting. Rusty made me laugh , really ‘feel’ for Maddy his female lead as I watched her life change. I definitely forgot a male author was writing 17 yr old Maddy’s POV. Rusty did that very, very well. I loved watching Maddy change from her ‘Normal’ self to the goth chick .


From the first chapter to the last chapter , Maddy became quite badass on the outside but still had her ‘human’, emotions on the inside. I even felt sad. I felt like I was going through Maddy’s discovery of who she was now, with her. As the reader we were doing it together. Having to hide the truth of what you had become from your friends and family. Not easy.


What’s a girl to do when she’s no longer a ‘Normal’, has yellow teeth, gets the black rings around the eyes and all the other zombie traits, not to mention the hunger for yummy brains.....you make a Goth fashion statement. Goths are hot!! Well , Stamp thinks so.

I loved the chapter titles, they were young and fun. A few faves were:


You Might Be a Zombie If....


Brains on Aisle 9


Cloudy with a Chance of Gray Matter


Batter Up! ( You can imagine with that title)




I laughed at the quiz in the chapter , ‘You Might Be A Zombie If....’


CHARACTERS:

Madison Emily Swift aka Maddy : 17 year old Normal who loves doing grave rubbings, she has an accident one night and gets turned into a Zombie.


Stamp Crosby : New kid at Barracuda Bay High and the new kicker for the Barracuda Bay Marauders....and hottie.

Dhalia & Bones : Creepy students
Paul Delgado aka Scurvy : 28 yr old friend of Maddy and local grave digger.


Hazel : Maddy’s bff.


Maddy’s dad: Works for Cobia County Coroner’s Office.


Dane Fields & Chloe Kildare : Friends of Maddy’s.


Truth be told , I wasn’t a big Zombie fan before, with all the blood and gore you see in the movies. Hubby is. He just loves the British movies like ‘Doghouse’, ‘Shawn Of The Dead’. Yes , I have sat through those movies...lol!, but I tend to make everybody jump as I am very jumpy watching them. I babble all the way through them so I don’t get scared, which can be a tad annoying to my fellow movie watchers. I was converted, kinda, when hubby and I got a date pass, which is incredibly rare, and we went to the movies. I suggested ‘New Moon’, Twilight instalment # 2, he suggested , ‘Zombieland ‘. Rather different ends of the movie spectrum. He won. Once I got through the first 4 minutes of ‘Zombieland’, the biting and gore, it was a very funny movie. Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg’s characters, are, the most hilarious odd couple in the movie.


What I am trying to say, is even if you are not a zombie fan you will really like this book. Rusty has written it very well. Sure there were the scenes with bone crunching, nummy, num, num action ( biting ). The gym scene with the Fall Formal and the bathroom with the girls, I thought were awesome scenes , but..... ( well, I can’t tell you or it would spoil).


I now look at Zombies in a different light. Even though Dane has yellow teeth, etc...he is a beautiful guy in a different way. He is a very caring character. Rusty’s ‘good zombies’ , have feelings. I am Team Dane all the way baby. I loved his character. Sure he looked like a zombie, but he was such a nice guy. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.


Rusty’s book definitely has heart and soul, the reader feels. I kinda forgot what Dane was. Zombies with feelings...Dane had them and they were hurting...


Hazel, well , hmmmm....she is a kinda selfish character that some of us girls can relate to. They are the bff we have known for years but we put up with their flaws until one day....


Dhalia was well written, Rusty made me loathe her character.

Dane and Stamp ( love Stamps name!! and Scurvy’s) I can see Stamps appeal to the girlie readers, but to me Dane had a deeper soul even though he is technically dead.


The book ended like it could be a one book deal, but, also I saw Rusty had left an opening for a sequel, another story that could be told with action a plenty and the emotional love triangle between Dane , Maddy and Stamp .


I could see this book on lots of school library shelves. It was an original, funny, sad, way to look at a zombie story. Rusty's words really flow well. It's not the cliche story of zombie wants to suck your brains out and eat them, and that's it. It's a story with soul.


I really enjoyed the book. I wanted to know more about that little triangle Maddy has emotionally got herself into....I’m rooting for Dane...who knows maybe there will be a sequel and I will find out...or not???



FAVE QUOTES:


“We can smell for miles, see in the dark, and hear a mosquito fart two towns away.”


There’s some crushed garlic in the fridge, a little relish to go on top of that, some olives, and a tube of sesame seeds, until , finally, it looks like the poor little pound of brains is wearing a spice helmet.


Do not kiss hot new guy, do not have understanding best friend, do not have heartbeat, go straight to Zombieville and stay there permanently.


Instead she springs to life, sizzling like a frankfurter on the end of a stick as it roasts over a summertime campfire.


Hazel and I: BFF’s? Or Dane, Chloe , and I : ZFF’s?


I try to picture myself there at the sink, ...........as she chomps, chews, gnashes, gnaws on a pound of brains straight from the butcher bag, growling like some dog with a bone.


Sexy, huh?

p.s. I noticed your little homage to your father's Raw bar, page 139.





MICHELLE

2 comments:

  1. Great review Michelle! I've heard alot of good things about this book and I am a zombie fan (in books, i'm like you with the movies!). I'll have to get hold of this, definitely one for the TBR pile :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Jess,

    Thanks! Rusty is a lovely guy. We have had quite a few chats. He has written a great zombie book:D

    Michelle

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