Member Reviews

Suburban zombie high by Jeremy Flagg.
Boxford High pranksters cause a chemistry lab to go wrong and students face something far worse than S.A.T.'s and cafeteria lunches - an infection turning students into zombies scouring the halls for human flesh.  
A very good read. Good story and characters. 4*.

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Not my cup of tea. I thought this would be an interesting twist, and while it was funny, it also most certainly was NOT the young adult novel it claims to be. Too many racial slurs and overall just... not really that great.

If this was a free novel, sure, give it a go. But, honestly, I don't think this is worth full retail unless you REALLY love super sassy zombie books.

In which case, sure, give it a go!

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As if high school is not bad enough, now add in zombies caused by a chemistry lab accident. Or was it an accident? In any case our plucky band of heroes....what? They are not plucky? Nor heroes? Then what are they? Well, they are the tropes of modern horror movies. The angry Asian, the nasty cheerleader, the soap opera watching teacher, the jock, the gay would-be-Marine, the black and white power couple, the loner who stockpiles weapons in his school locker, and the gun-toting librarian, plus the various zombie bait. They start out trapped in various rooms in the high school and over two days managed to get to the auditorium to have the final fight with the zombies and try to push through a Pull door. Some folks survived, many do not, and mayhem home to zombie movies are found throughout the book. And then they claim there are sequels? Are you up to the effort?

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Older teens will immediately connect with these quirky characters and the all-too perfect portrayal of "high end" high school life. Stereotypes drive each character, but teens will revel in the humor and hyperbole generated by each. Problem? The language, content, and sexuality is excessive (and unneeded to support this brilliant plot). Had this book's content been reeled in by a teen-savvy editor, it would have soared in both Middle School and Upper School markets. As librarians, we're a flexible set who believe in freedom to read. This book, however, restricts itself from the most liberal of school library surveyors.

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I couldn't finish this. To immature for adult enjoyment, way to mature for kids.

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This is not exactly what I was expecting. I've been reading it in fits and starts for several days, and I probably will go back to it, but there's no urgency. I can't tell the characters apart, even though so far they all seem like American cliches ... the nasty cheerleader, the emo teen, the jock and so on. Maybe they'll gain some depth as the story continues. Everyone seems to accept the idea of their friends and schoolmates being zombies very easily with very little pause or worry about bludgeoning them to death. I know, crisis situation, but still. And I haven't quite figured out how it was passed. The two kids in the science lab were the first, but then people started feeling sick? Except the ones who didn't? Again, maybe it's made clear later on, and I do plan to continue reading.
This isn't bad, exactly. It just doesn't seem to be much of anything right now.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. I hope you'll consider me again for other titles.

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This is a very cute book.

Now, if you're easily offended, you may want to exercise caution. I'm not saying don't read it - but read the sample first. Our cast of characters represent every stereotype known to man. No race, gender, lifestyle, or school-related occupation is left unscathed. (And there's one wickedly butt-kicking librarian!) From cheerleaders to jocks, goths to nerds, you'll find them all here in their stereotypical (purposely so) glory.

In fact, my only complaint was that Suburban Zombie High took kind of a long time to give us, you know, zombies?

But when they finally come, they are teeth gnashing, chompy, and still hilariously stereotypical monsters who just want to eat.

This book was an absolute delight!

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This is the type of funny, campy, outrageously hysterical kind of drama that more than likely would never happen but is best to be prepared for just in case.

The witty writing makes it hard to put this down as Flagg takes the genres of Action/Adventure, Horror and Humor to a new level with this irreverent, sometimes sarcastic, examination of teenage behavior at the high school level. It’s got something for everyone between the zombies and teen melodrama. Using Breakfast Club like tropes you have all the necessary personalities covered here. The few adult characters weren’t really done well but then they seemed to be there more as props to give the students something to act against.

The only negative I found was some of the language used by the characters towards each other which came off a bit racist but at the same time I know teens actually talk to each other like this so at least the author was capturing some realism. I’m always on the fence with this kind of stuff because on one hand I don’t want to encourage it but to ignore that people talk like this doesn’t make it go away.

If you get to the end and felt you liked it more than hated then be happy because this is just the first in a series.

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