There's a formula for angsty YA books and it's there because when done well, it works. That formula includes a teenage, female protagonist, without her parents (generally recently gone or taken away), responsible for a younger sibling/friend, imminent danger, and there's usually a boy - nice and not pushy (he understands what she's going through) - but she can't think about him with everything else going on ... until that moment when she needs him. Think about some of the top YA books, like The Hunger Games, and you'll see these points.

You'll also see this formula in action in Em Garner's Contaminated ... also done very well.

An epidemic (a pandemic?) was recently caused by a very trendy diet drink, which has created a 'contamination'. Those contaminated become, mindless, aggressive people - essentially 'zombies.' Teenager Velvet Ellis has been alone with her little sister since their parents were taken in the 'Round Up' when the cities started to get a handle on how to control the contaminated. Now Velvet's mother has been identified and she's been neutralized with a special collar ... she's still contaminated but she won't get aggressive or attack anyone.

Velvet's problems should be over, but she's kicked out of her government funded apartment because her mother now lives with them, she quits school, loses her job, and there's a new wave of contamination starting and the government is rounding people up again if they show any signs of contamination.

It's interesting to look at a book like this, written before the COVIS-19 pandemic, and see how well the author predicted some of the chaos. Not bad here.

Velvet is a pretty good protagonist. She doesn't wallow in self-pity like so many characters in these YA books tend to do. We maybe spend a little too much time setting up the situation of being totally alone. Leaving the school was probably the least interesting of the early encounters and I'm not sure what it bought us. A simple paragraph about having to quit school to take care of her sister would have been believable and sufficient.

The situation with losing her job was frustrating, and I wanted her to stand up to her boss a bit more. I did think we'd see the boss again, given the exit we see, but I was a bit disappointed there. Maybe in the next book?

The little sister is nicely portrayed - her desires and unabashed innocence really work. And the 'romance' was nicely handled.

I like the writing and the characters and the world-building, but given it all, there's very little action in the book (and by 'action' I mean 'something happening that causes something else to happen'). Velvet is pretty much in control through it all - sometimes it's hard, but she's never at anyone else's mercy.

I like the new take on zombies and YA readers will want to identify with Velvet. I like the writing and world-building, a little more plot would push this higher up in the ratings.

Looking for a good book? Contaminated by Em Garner is a YA dystopian, zombie novel with much to like, but lacks a real bite.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Some of the early buzz for Contaminated that I saw uses phrases like “relentlessly horrifying” and “bone chilling” and “unputdownable”, I have to say that I didn’t see any of this.

When I first picked up Contaminated, it sounded like the average run of the mill zombie book. And don't get me wrong, I love those books. They are great to bring to the beach or to curl up under the covers with at night. But Contaminated is so much more.

Velvet narrates her experiences with the "zombie plague". She is quick to explain that that's just what the government thought- zombies-just like in the movies and popular tv shows. This leads the government( and society) to mass murder of people who, aren't really zombies at all, but contaminated with a disease that ate at parts of their brains. This disease was transmitted in a weight loss drink. The whole scenario makes the events in the book seem more plausible than any other description of a "zombie plague."

Contaminated is not your average zombie book. It isn't the sort of book that describes how people hunting down zombies or goes into gory details about how zombies are violently attacking civilians and eating them. The book focuses more on the reality behind what happened first and how society tries to rebuilds itself. It makes you think of the bigger picture- not just what would happen if there were "zombies". What happens when the government is wrong? What if we follow orders from others without thinking, without using are brains- what happens if we are the zombies?

Em Garner is a fantastic world builder, who creates a story that teens and adults can connect to without feeling weighed down by too much details. If you are looking for a lit summer read that has some depth- read Contaminated. Zombie lovers will enjoy the book and those who like stories of survival, family, and the power of the human mind will never want to put this book down. Can't wait to read more from Em Garner.

I'm a big fan of post-apocalyptic books and this one was thoroughly enjoyable to read.

Velvet is struggling after the devastating catastrophe that killed her father and reduced her mother to a zombie. The animal proteins in ThinPro made the brains of those who ingested it look "like Swiss cheese" and turned them into violent monsters. At first, all affected were just killed, but when the government found they could lobotomize them or fit them with shock collars, some people survive. Velvet has been trying to go to school and support her sister by working part time in a nursing home while living in government subsidized housing. She's glad when she finally locates her mother at a kennel for "connies" run by Jean and her son Dillon, but when her landlord finds out that her mother has moved home, he kicks her out. With Dillon's help, Velvet moves back to her old house far from town, which leads to other problems, such as losing her job and having to take her sister out of school. Her mother seems to be improving, however, so she keeps on. When a secondary outbreak of the disease causes the government to round up any one wearing a collar, Velvet has to find a way to save her mother yet again.
Strengths: I really, really want to read the sequel RIGHT NOW. I think there will be one because of the ending, but can't find official confirmation. The dystopian setting was very realistic, Velvet tries so hard to keep things together, and I liked her romance with Dillon.
Weaknesses: While this is technically a zombie book, it isn't the sort of zombie book that my boys tend to like. There's some zombie violence, but most of the book deals with Velvet's problems caring for her mother-- feeding her, bathing her, getting her to the restroom. This is more of a book for fans of Crossed and other dystopian novels.

I requested "Contaminated" at a time when Zombies and Post Apocalyptic books were all the rage. Unfortunately, They don't work for me at all.