A pretty solidly average zombie novella.
I'm not unhappy that I read it, but I wasn't exactly blown away. Set in Seoul, the characters were sketched in, the setting was ok, everything was good, but not stellar.
Nothing to complain about, but nothing that stood out either.

Meh.

Short enough that I'm not bitter about spending time reading it.

Wouldn't recommend because meh.

I love zombie apolcalyptic stories so I jumped at the chance to read this. Set in Seoul, it is a story of college friends trying to survive the undead. Loved the setting and the characters were easy to get on with.

This novella is set in Korea as two Americans travel to visit a college friend. There is some interesting Korean folklore as the possible explanation for murders occurring throughout their city. The title Skin Food is a nod to the idea of zombies terrorizing the city. In the hopes of survival, our characters flee the apartment building and attempt to find refuge at the American Embassy.

I found this story very disjointed. Although there are a few instances where we are given some backstory, I never connected with the characters. Of course I’m much more accustomed to reading novels instead of short stories.

Thanks to Net Galley and publishers for this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Skin Food Type A by. Type A Was received direct from the publisher. I spent three years in South Korea, so I was interested in this book for that, as well as it being horror, which I read voraciously on our less than stellar metro system in the Washington DC area. Firstly, with authors who write about other places and they actually know something about the other place, most of us don't care what the foreign word is for something, it gets distracting if done very often. Secondly, a zombie outbreak in novella form has to be very well written and not just "end."

I loved this book! 4.5/5 stars definitely. Thank you to NetGalley for the free ebook, it was incredible. At the beginning it was kind of hard to get into the slightly strange writing style but as the story got creepier the disjointed writing became a real strength. The book was intense without being overly graphic and the different characters complimented each other and made the story even more interesting. I especially liked the inclusion of Chinese mythology and Korean culture as well as the fact it wasn't assumed that all the characters spoke English so speaking parts for a few characters had to be translated by another character. There were very few characters but still managed to create a compelling narrative.

As someone who loves survival horror, I really enjoyed reading this diverse take on the classic story of a zombie outbreak. Through the narrative, I learned so much about Korean culture. I would highly recommend this engaging piece of short fiction to anyone for looking horror story set in a non-Western location.

I requested this novella from Netgalley.

Thank you, NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Actual rating, 3.5 stars.

Skin Food started off slow and then what seemed to be all the sudden, it picked up the pace and made it difficult for me to put down. I was curious as to how they were going to survive and make it out of their difficult situation.

It was interesting to see how zombies are portrayed in their variety of ways and this was no different.

Skin Food was a quick read that was decently entertaining.

Depuis Train to Busan, la Corée du Sud est devenue le nouveau terrain de jeu des zombies. Skin Food ne fait pas exception à la règle. Si ce n’est que son auteur, le mystérieux Type A, n’est pas coréen. Il a grandi entre les deux Amériques (du Nord comme du Sud) et vit désormais en Corée.
L’histoire de ce très court roman est simple : un groupe de jeunes touristes rentrant d’une soirée arrosée dans Séoul se retrouve coincé dans la ville quand se déclare une épidémie zombie. Pourtant l’histoire ne manque pas d’originalité : des faiblesses des zombies à la façon de les tuer (d’un coup perforant dans le dos pour atteindre les poumons) pour les plus évidentes au choc des cultures entre des étudiantes originaire de Floride et le monde moderne coréen, tout y passe par petites touches.

I saw this compared to Train to Busan so I figured I would give it a shot. Unfortunately, I don't think it's anything like that movie, unless you consider things that take place in the same country to be similar... The characters were unlikable and their development was next to none. The plot didn't make sense - especially the incorrect depictions of jiangshi and the ending. Other people seem to enjoy it, but unfortunately, I've read many a horror novel that put this to shame.

Thanks a lot to NetGalley and Type A for allowing me to read Skin Food!

“When the hater dies, the hatred may endure, and torrents of rage may engulf the earth.”
… Where’s the hate, then? I mean, these are the first words of the synopsis, there is a quote about hate surviving after death but that’s it. The first idea given to the reader about the book is not spoken about in said book. Just… ????

OK, for starters, I would like to point out that I know next to nothing about Korea. I requested this book partly because of that, hoping I’d learn about Korea in it. An ownvoices novel about a part of the world I’m unfamiliar with and featuring local legends? I’m sold. The synopsis felt a little like The Grudge apocalypse and it was rather short, so I thought “well, why not?”. I’m glad I did because of the bit of research I did before getting into it. Just in case. Because I did learn things. Unfortunately, the book itself didn’t really click with me.

I think my biggest problem is the length. It’s a novella, so it’s meant to be short. I get that and honestly, had I seen “400 pages”, I might not have requested it. But I think maybe a whole zombie apocalypse story was a bit too ambitious for such a short book. I didn’t have the time to know the characters, let alone like them, and the explanations to what was happening were sorely lacking. Steve was barely a sketch and even the main characters felt really bland. None of them get to really show some kind of personality, they didn’t feel real, therefore I didn’t care about them.

The ending felt very rushed, cliché and a little Deus Ex Machina. The main conflict is not even solved, we get a few lines to basically say “and then they died, THE END”. What happened to the people who weren’t evacuated? What consequences for the country and the world? Who was responsible for the rise of the Gangshi? How are we gonna stop them? Or prevent them from doing it again? What was the point of Seung Ho? Why did he do what he did? And what about the hate surviving death thing? I have no answer for these questions (if there were, please someone show me where). The story had potential but just like with the characters, we barely scratched the surface of the plot. There's just not enough space in 80 pages to build something so big.

As for the writing, I wasn’t impressed either. Several things stroke me as odd, in a not pleasant way. While the author clearly has a special fondness for alliteration (“savior”/”slayer”, “divine”/”dark”, “deliver”/”destroy”, all in the same sentence, and some more in the next one), there are also plain repetitions like “drink drink after drink”, which made me cringe. Alliterations are good, but moderation is key.

I’m not a fan either of his onomatopoeia. It took me a ridiculous amount of time to figure out what action each of these {sounds} were referring to. It would be awesome in an audiobook, though.

And an isolated thing: at the end of chapter I, the POV shifts between two characters at every new line and it confused me until I realized we were jumping from one scene to the other. Same thing when they talk about the places where they can be evacuated. I’m sorry but you can’t just change the scene like that with no warning. It’s disorienting for the reader.

Am I glad I read it? Yes.
Would I recommend it? No.
Bottom line: You can't just devastate a country with a zombie apocalypse and just walk away like nothing ever happened.

This turned out quite decently entertaining. Not crazy about pseudonym and its connotations, but a Korean take of a zombie story was fun in a studiedly flat photorealistic sort of play by play way. I really enjoy foreign locales and different culture’s take on the traditional genre creatures. Apparently I really need to see Train to Busan. Something like 70 minutes, quick diverting one sitting read for a rainy night. Thanks Netgalley.

I don't understand why the author put this out for readers. There's no character development, no action, no scares, no intensity, and no denouement. It's more of a first draft of a novella than a completed piece. I don't recommend this for anyone.

Pretty good story that kept my interest throughout. Character development was weak, so I didn't have a whole lot of interest in who lived or died. The ending made no sense to me. I had to read it twice to see if I'd missed anything. If so, then I missed it big time. Not a book I'd recommend, just because of that ending.