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Zombie

by J.R. Angelella (Goodreads Author)

2.96 of 5 stars 2.96 · rating details · 209 ratings · 86 reviews

A zombie movie-obsessed teen is forced to face a dark family secret in this shocking debut literary novel from a talented new author.

"Wow! A crazy, wicked knock-out of a book!" -Garth Stein

Fourteen-year-old Jeremy Barker attends an all-boys Catholic high school where roving gangs of bullies make his days a living hell. His mother is an absentee pillhead, his older brother...more

Paperback, 335 pages

Published June 5th 2012 by Soho Press

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Community Reviews

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Feb 09, 2012 Lauren rated it 4 of 5 stars

I won this book in a goodreads giveaway.

The teaser for this book in the giveaway said that it would be something a fan of Jonathan Foer's would enjoy. I can definitely see where this comparison came from.

This book isn't a "zombie" book in the traditional sense despite it's title. It focuses on a boy named Jeremy starting at a new school and all the difficulties he faces there (bullies, a possible sociopathic 8 fingered teacher, hot girls...you know, the usual...). I actually enjoyed this.

I not...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Maxine McLister rated it 3 of 5 stars

Life for 14-year-old Jeremy Barker has been something of a suckfest lately. His parents are divorced and his pill-popping mother has moved in with her new boyfriend, his older brother is, according to himself, a sex-addict and, according to Jeremy, a major douche, and his ex-marine father disappears every night without explanation. As well, Jeremy has secretly stopped taking his medication. We are never told what the medication is for and so it is hard not to wonder how much of what happens is r...more

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Feb 18, 2012 Tami rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: goodreads-giveaways, 2012

I haven't received my copy yet, just received notice I had won. 01/17/12
Received my copy and hope to get to it soon. I have 6 plus my current reads in front. 01/26/12
Started today 2/13/12
Finished 2/17/12

Jeremy is all about the zombies. He loves zombie movies, he has zombie survival codes and the ceiling in his room is covered by zombie movie posters. He is just starting school at a boys only Catholic school, and life sucks. His mom is a morphine addict, his brother is a sex addict and his father...more

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Mar 29, 2012 Brie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, won-in-contest, goodreads-first-reads

I got this book through Goodreads First Reads.

I am not quite sure how I feel about this book. It starts out like your typical "coming of age" book about a 15/16 year old boy who attends Catholic school and is an outsider. He is obsessed with zombie films and applies zombie film rules to his everyday life. He comes from a very dysfunctional family and something weird is going on with his Vietnam Vet dad. Something VERY weird. There are moments when the book is very well written and engaging but t...more

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Aug 23, 2012 Primula Brandybuck rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: No one, ever.

Shelves: wow-that-sucked, jan-to-jun-2012, may-thru-august-2012, over-rated, 2012

Received for free through Goodreads First Reads program.

This book is not actually about zombies; it's about a teenage boy who is obsessed with zombie movies and develops a sort of "zombie code" to live by in real life. The boy eventually encounters a hairy situation where his otherwise silly code actually helps him out, or something like that...I don't know, this book was so boring I found myself just reading and rereading passages without anything sinking in.

I disliked this book not only becaus...more Received for free through Goodreads First Reads program.

This book is not actually about zombies; it's about a teenage boy who is obsessed with zombie movies and develops a sort of "zombie code" to live by in real life. The boy eventually encounters a hairy situation where his otherwise silly code actually helps him out, or something like that...I don't know, this book was so boring I found myself just reading and rereading passages without anything sinking in.

I disliked this book not only because it is misleading, but it just portrays teen boys (and even the father somewhat) as being obsessed with the male anatomy: either the boy is ogling girls, which leads to anatomy references, or making jokes and talking about how to tie a Windsor knot, which again leads to male anatomy references. Apparently everything can be turned into an anatomy reference if you try hard enough. The references are totally blunt and without finesse and comes across as crass, in my opinion.

Also, the code with which the character lives by is stupid, in my opinion. He uses it in his day to day life, and he never, ever makes eye contact with anyone? The kid comes across as spineless, not someone who could slay zombies.

Plus the kid's life is just boring to read about: go to school, ogle girls, go home, watch zombie movies, sleep, repeat. OK, my life isn't exactly interesting, but that's why I read. I don't want that boring stuff in my books!

Very few books ever get less than 3 stars because I'm mostly a positive thinker when it comes to books; I think any book that is interesting enough to make a person stick around to the end must speak for itself and be at least halfway decent. But this book wasn't halfway decent. I only finished it because it was a giveaway and I uphold my end of the bargain and always review these as I finish them. If I didn't feel obligated I would have just trashed and forgotten it, and not even bothered with a review, but here we are; so 1 star, not worth the time/effort, in my opinion.

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Dec 27, 2011 Hayden Casey marked it as might-read

Let's face it -- I'm a sap for drama.

I haven't exactly realized this fact and brought it into light, but it's true -- drama is what fuels my life. If it makes my pulse pound and the bile rise in my throat and that "oh, FFFFUUU-" feeling to come to mind, I will instantly love it.

So that's why I'm so addicted to the Pretty Little Liars books -- all they are is drama layered upon drama. And I LOVE IT.

This book will go down well if it's composed the same way. I mean, really -- family drama is so del...more

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Feb 26, 2013 Liz rated it 2 of 5 stars

You'd think a book entitled Zombie with such an intriguing summary - a boy obsessed with zombie movies discovers that his father is involved in some dark plot - would contain actual zombies, but the only "walking dead" in J.R. Angelella's debut novel are those in Jeremy's mind.

I started the book with high hopes and was not disappointed - at first. I enjoyed Jeremy's humor and, unlike some negative reviewers, did not have a problem with the constant swearing and sexist comments. He's a teenage bo...more

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Sep 29, 2012 Beatnik Mary rated it 4 of 5 stars

http://www.cozylittlebookjournal.com/...
Such a clever premise! Fourteen-year-old Jeremy Barker is obsessed with zombies. Or rather, zombie movies. He uses his favourites--like Zombieland, 28 Days Later, Night of the the Living Dead and Planet Terror--as the basis of his own personal survival code. Because, as he puts it, "rules are made to be broken but codes are meant to be kept." He tries to manoeuvre through his days at an all-boys Catholic school using his code with tips like, "Don't make ey...more http://www.cozylittlebookjournal.com/...
Such a clever premise! Fourteen-year-old Jeremy Barker is obsessed with zombies. Or rather, zombie movies. He uses his favourites--like Zombieland, 28 Days Later, Night of the the Living Dead and Planet Terror--as the basis of his own personal survival code. Because, as he puts it, "rules are made to be broken but codes are meant to be kept." He tries to manoeuvre through his days at an all-boys Catholic school using his code with tips like, "Don't make eye contact" when approached by bullies or--even scarier--girls. His father only encourages him, running through practice scenarios like, "What would you do if there were zombies in math class?" on the way to school. And it would have been all innocent fun if it weren't for the fact that his dad actually turns out to be more than a little unhinged. Zombie takes some dark turns and the ongoing conceit of the "zombie survival guide" serves to not only provide a framework for a story that is at times very funny and at other times horribly violent, it also serves as a reminder of just how young and vulnerable the main character is. He has to deal with some very real horror with only his fantasy world of zombie horror movies to protect him. It's a book that is both clever and captivating.

It's also a book that uses a somewhat silly premise that, to be fair, isn't that far from plausible (the kid with the zombie movie obsession, not the crazy violent father...hopefully). With the overwhelming popularity of zombies these days (second only to bacon and pictures of cats with adorable slogans about invisible tennis rackets and cheeseburgers) I can actually picture someone using their "zombie code" as a basis for decision making. Maybe as a joke or a distraction at first, but...you know. It's not that far off. Okay, maybe I'm just talking about the zombie movie obsessed guy that I live with. I don't know, if he were twenty-five years younger, I could almost see him as Jeremy Barker.

Hmm...I think I won't let Mike read this review. But I will try to find a print or audiobook copy of this book for him for Christmas!

Disclaimer: I received a digital galley of this book free from the publisher from NetGalley.com. I was not obliged to write a favourable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
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May 06, 2012 Lainy rated it 1 of 5 stars

Time Taken To Read - 6 *long* hours

Blurb From Goodreads

Fourteen-year-old Jeremy Barker is obsessed with zombie movies. He attends an all-boys Catholic High School where roving gangs in plaid make his days a living hell. His mother is an absentee pillhead, his older brother a self-diagnosed sex-addict, and his father an ex-Marine realtor who disappears night after night without explanation. Jeremy navigates it all with a code cobbled together from Night of the Living Dead, 28 Days Later, Planet T...more Time Taken To Read - 6 *long* hours

Blurb From Goodreads

Fourteen-year-old Jeremy Barker is obsessed with zombie movies. He attends an all-boys Catholic High School where roving gangs in plaid make his days a living hell. His mother is an absentee pillhead, his older brother a self-diagnosed sex-addict, and his father an ex-Marine realtor who disappears night after night without explanation. Jeremy navigates it all with a code cobbled together from Night of the Living Dead, 28 Days Later, Planet Terror, Zombieland and Dawn of the Dead:

• Avoid Contact
• Keep Quiet
• Forget the Past
• Lock-and-load
• Fight to Survive

The code is put to the test when he discovers in his father’s closet a bizarre homemade video of a man strapped to a bed, being prepped for some sort of surgical procedure. As Jeremy—troubled but ever-optimistic—attempts to trace the origin of the video, this remarkable debut moves from its sharp, precocious beginnings to a climax of almost unthinkable violence, testing him to the core.

My Review

I clearly thought with the title this was about zombies, there are references to zombie survival rules that Jeremy uses to survive his existence with the bullies at school, the shambles of his family life and every other situation he encounters. His mother is a pill popper, his brother is a sex addict and his father he suspects of being involved in something dark and dangerous as he disappears every night.

Oh dear this book was a struggle for me. Not only was the format only available to read on the computer which in itself was a nightmare (I have emailed the publisher about this), just about every line had a swear word or something crude. I have no problem reading bad language but this was just overkill, swearing for the sake of swearing. It was constantly following Jeremys life at school and the bullying and interaction with the other kids so teenage boys can and do swear but this was all the time.

Once you wade through all the bad language it is a tale of teenage angst, following a young boy through the trials and issues most teenage boys have likely experienced. The only thing I didn't mind was his zombie fixation and the snippets of tales about his favourite zombie movies. Maybe this will be a hit with teen boys as they might feel they can relate to the main character but I can't honestly say of all the readers I know (and thats a lot!) none of them would enjoy or relate to this. Had it not been a review book I would have given up a chapter or two in, 1/5 for me. Thanks to NetGalley and Soho Press for providing me with a review copy, release date 5th of June 2012, published by Soho Press.(less)

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Jan 15, 2012 Robin Cicchetti rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: coming-of-age, fiction, relationship, zombies

Jeremy Barker lives by a personal zombie survival code.

The survival code:
#1 Avoid eye contact
#2 Keep quiet
#3 Forget the past
#4 Lock-and-load
#5 Fight to survive

An aficionado of zombie films, Jeremy understands the nuances of survival. The code guides him through the halls of his all boy private, Catholic high school. He relies on it to help him navigate life with his angry father, his absent mother, and his long-gone brother. It helps Jeremy with love, and in a shocking turn of events, it will he...more

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Aug 20, 2012 Elspeth rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: twenty-twelve, arc, kindle, netgalley, own, the-suck, skimmed

Disappointment thy name is Zombie, what happened you sounded so interesting.

I really don't know what to say in this review, the book made me so livid. I was expecting sharp, witty, and entertaining, but what I got was so clearly not. I was embarrassed by this books lame attempts to be funny, and angry at it's base tries to be sharp.

The main character was just so cookie cutter, a perverted, outcast freshman in high school obsessed with zombie movies. His inner dialog just made me angry, I do not...more

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Aug 05, 2012 Marla rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

Chapter 57; page 190 and I'm giving up. I'm not quite sure how I made it this far other than the fact that just kept hoping it would get better. There's actually a story line I'd like to see resolved, but I just can't continue.

Between the foul language cluttered throughout the book, the not so great writing and the overly cliche situations, I'm beyond disappointed in this novel. As a debut, I can only hope the author does bigger and better things in the future.

The story is about a 14-year-old ki...more

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Jul 05, 2012 Aaron (Typographical Era) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, nook

Jeremy Barker is anything but your average everyday fourteen year old. He’s a zombie obsessed, medicated freshman at an all-boys Catholic school who lives in a constant state of oscillation between moments of near invisibility and outbursts of dramatic, dangerous, attention seeking behavior. Bullied by “the plaids” at his school, and unable to form anything greater than a passing bond or friendship with any of his classmates, Jeremy decides that the best course of action is to retreat into his o...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Holly rated it 2 of 5 stars

Eh. With so many great books to read, I feel like I wasted my time with this one.
The numerous penis references and vulgar language were overdone and kept pulling me out of the story. It seems like their main purpose was to drive home the fact that the narrator is a teen-aged boy, but all they really did was simplify his character and detract from the story.
The only suspense I experienced stemmed from my anticipation of the next editing mistake that I knew was just waiting to shove me right ou...more

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Jan 16, 2013 Elizabeth rated it 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this teenage crisis novel for its believable, snappy voice and well drawn characters. The central mystery - where does Jeremy's father go at night, and is he involved in something sinister - is engrossing as the details play out slowly, alongside the narrator's more typical troubles with bullies and girls. The zombie movie code of conduct sounds like something your friends would come up with over late night coffee and so seems authentic, if a bit obvious and overdone from films like Zo...more I enjoyed this teenage crisis novel for its believable, snappy voice and well drawn characters. The central mystery - where does Jeremy's father go at night, and is he involved in something sinister - is engrossing as the details play out slowly, alongside the narrator's more typical troubles with bullies and girls. The zombie movie code of conduct sounds like something your friends would come up with over late night coffee and so seems authentic, if a bit obvious and overdone from films like Zombieland, which the author owns up to.

I had a recurrent problem of timeline, where the novel is present day (2012), yet the father of the 14-year-old served in the Vietnam war. This makes the father, a central character who is drawn with a lot of detail, quite old, at the youngest pushing 60. Yet he is not called old, isn't physically described as such, doesn't act like someone nearing retirement, and this fact is entirely overlooked. A minor case of bad author math, but since Vietnam is mentioned so many time, this niggled me.

In the end, I enjoyed this novel, but felt a bit robbed by the denouement. I don't need everything tied up with a neat bow or all questions answered at the end of a story, but surely a few more of them could have been given to us than this. We see what the father is involved in but it isn't explained. Surely there would have been a scene between Jeremy and his father can ask more specific questions than "where do you go at night." The father says at one point he wants to explain, but in scene doesn't get the chance. Surely the father wants Jeremy to understand why he has been doing this bizarre ritual, now that the secret is blown, that even if it's another lie there would be something to be said about it.. We are left to wonder if this is a cult or a coercion, a religious act trying to attain divinity or an artificial obstacle for the participants to overcome in order to achieve greatness, or ... invent what you want about what this group was for, how they formed, why anyone in their right mind would think it was a good idea, because absolutely none of that is explained or even implied. We are not enlightened on the central mystery of this book, and with a few more pages, I would have gone from liking to loving it.(less)

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Jan 26, 2012 Jim Flanagan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, 2012-challenge

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I felt a dedication to finish this book, as I was given a prerelease copy as part of Goodreads' First Reads program. If it weren't for the nature of this program (to elicit reader reviews from Goodreads members), I probably would have never finished this book. The problem I have with this novel is that it doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. Most of the book is about an awkward, friendless teen coping with entering high school and his dysfunctional family. Near the end of the book, it drast...more I felt a dedication to finish this book, as I was given a prerelease copy as part of Goodreads' First Reads program. If it weren't for the nature of this program (to elicit reader reviews from Goodreads members), I probably would have never finished this book. The problem I have with this novel is that it doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. Most of the book is about an awkward, friendless teen coping with entering high school and his dysfunctional family. Near the end of the book, it drastically shifts to a gore-filled horror story. When you have 200+ pages of a kid avoiding bullies and acting awkward around girls and suddenly he's in an abandoned building watching masked men masturbate as live bodies get mutilated, it makes me, as a reader, feel deceived. I thought I was reading a Young Adult novel about how awful high school is. What does this horror show have to do with a kid who uses zombie movie survival tactics to get through his adolescence? Maybe I missed something. I can't recommend this book to someone who wants a coming of age story, as the ending is too far removed from that genre. I also can't recommend it to fans of horror stories, as all of the teen angst that makes up a majority of the book is too difficult to get through.

I will say that taken on its own, I did enjoy the horror portion of the book. It was disturbing and twisted in a way that reminds me of Chuck Palahniuk. I would have preferred a story geared to adults that focused on a son trying to discover what has happened to his father that leads to the confrontation with the mutilation cult; everything dealing with the high school and the Zombie Survival Code could be dropped and I wouldn't miss it. I know that would completely alter this novel and remove it's gimmick ("Jeremy lives his life like a character in the zombie movies he loves"), but it's what I would have liked to have read. Maybe someday Mr. Angelella will write a pure horror novel geared for an adult audience, and when he does, I will want to read it, but until then, I think I'll let his YA books stay on the shelf.

Lastly, I do have to mention the use of the biblical epic The Greatest Story Ever Told as a zombie film. That's a wickedly funny idea. The part where Jeremy and Father Vincent discuss this film was one of my favorite parts of the book.(less)

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Aug 21, 2012 Mark rated it 2 of 5 stars

Not what i expected it to be, I thought it was kinda misleading....It was pretty funny and really perverted, In a believable way...I liked the whole zombie rule thing and how the main character Jeremy applies it to daily life....But what the fuck is with the ending?? What the hell happened?! Jeremy was off his meds and made up the whole thing in his head and i don't get how his dad was tortured and supposedly went from having his limbs cut off to Jeremy actually being the one with his hand cut o...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Bree rated it 3 of 5 stars

I would like to thank SoHo Press for letting me read and review this book.

Jeremy Barker is a somewhat typical high school freshman. He loves zombie movies, girls make his nose bleed, and he’s not a big fan of authority. His parents are separated and he lives with his dad and Dog. Most of this book follows Jeremy and what goes on inside his head as he starts high school, has troubles with his family, and meets his first girlfriend.

One day, Jeremy sees his pinky-less English teacher slip his fathe...more I would like to thank SoHo Press for letting me read and review this book.

Jeremy Barker is a somewhat typical high school freshman. He loves zombie movies, girls make his nose bleed, and he’s not a big fan of authority. His parents are separated and he lives with his dad and Dog. Most of this book follows Jeremy and what goes on inside his head as he starts high school, has troubles with his family, and meets his first girlfriend.

One day, Jeremy sees his pinky-less English teacher slip his father a DVD in the school parking lot. The first chance Jeremy gets, he watches the DVD, which contains a strange and gruesome kind of ritual surgery. Jeremy confronts his dad about the DVD, but the confrontation ends up like a lot of scenes in this book – fractured and distracted. Jeremy gets only a few sentences out and his dad switches the conversation to something much more mundane (calling a girl, bad-mouthing Jeremy’s mother, asking him how his day at school was, etc.)

I enjoy a good coming-of-age story, but I just kept waiting for something, ANYTHING to actually happen in this one. The author spends almost the entire book on day-to-day Jeremy and never really pushes any kind of plot. “The mystery of the surgery DVD” could have been presented in a much more compelling manner that could have turned this into a serious contemporary page-turner. But it wasn’t, the DVD gets found, then mentioned a time or two to no serious effect, until the end when the “something” finally happens…and unfortunately by then it’s a highly predictable “something.”

The language and sexual humor in this book will turn off a lot of readers, so don’t even bother trying to read this if you can’t handle every swear word and homophobic insult that you can think of repeated many times throughout the book. I am not a reader who is sensitive to language, and some of the writing in this book was absolutely hilarious and witty. Unfortunately an equal amount came across as simply trying too hard to be “that way.”

I’m curious to see how this author writes his next (adult) novel. I really did like a lot of the things about his style and creativity; I just think that this story wasn’t told quite the way I wanted it to be.
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Sep 06, 2012 Ren rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: unlikable-protagonist, meh, weird, hated-it, horror, mental-illness, speculative-fiction, young-adult

Yeah, I hung in there, but I'm pissed. This is one of the WORST books I've ever read. First and foremost, it's rife with grammatical and spelling errors, which is unforgivable, especially in a YA novel. For example: She saw me, peaking through the blades of my blinds, two white eyes watching her. and His neck turns, pulling away, gagging, chocking. These are not the only occurrences, nor are they the only errors.

Secondly, the characters are so offensively, stereotypically one note. An Asian char...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Sara M. rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

I got my copy at Zombie because of Book Expo. It was mailed to me after Book Expo because they ran out on the day. That was how popular it was. I think it is pretty clear that a Zombie book is right up my alley. This book is not about Zombies though. It is a coming-of-age for boys novel. How do Zombies fit into this? Our hero, Jeremy, has a code for life and his code comes from the Zombie movies he loves. He deals with his fellow teenagers as he would with zombies. He uses zombie movies as his f...more I got my copy at Zombie because of Book Expo. It was mailed to me after Book Expo because they ran out on the day. That was how popular it was. I think it is pretty clear that a Zombie book is right up my alley. This book is not about Zombies though. It is a coming-of-age for boys novel. How do Zombies fit into this? Our hero, Jeremy, has a code for life and his code comes from the Zombie movies he loves. He deals with his fellow teenagers as he would with zombies. He uses zombie movies as his filter on how he sees the world, but as his way to connect with other people. I think this is something we all do and I liked that Jeremy takes the time to explain why he loves each specific movie he loves and how it connects with his memories of growing up (so far). His story about watching Thriller for the first time as a kid reminded me of how my own friends reacted at the same time.
While I did enjoy this book, I had two glaring problems. One simply had to do with me. I was not a teenage boy and I couldn't find any common ground for help me relate. Other than how much I too hated high school, I found teenage boys to be more than I ever had to experience. Girls can be horrible people too, but there is something about the boys at this catholic high school that really reminded me that I made the right decision not to have kids. I typically can identify with themes in fiction written for men, but this one just made me so glad to be a girl. From the abuse they inflict on each other to the way adults treat them made me think the world has not and never will change. I felt almost hopeless after I finished this book.
The second problem I had rests with our author. The one thing I could not get over was the father and what time period we are dealing with. If this story had taken place in the early 1990s then I wouldn't have this problem. The main problem is that this book takes place in 2011/12 and that doesn't work with the details of the story. This is because the father is a Vietnam veteran. Vietnam happened almost 50 years ago. My father is the age Ballentine should be: mid-60s. I am not saying it is impossible, but the parents are suppose to be the same age. To fit the time line, they had kids about 21 years before. There was no explanation as to why this much time passed before the couple had children. This means they would have had their first kid in their early 40s and Jeremy in their late 40s/early 50s. This is needs an explanation. This would have helped with the understanding both parents a bit better. I would have had a bit more sympathy for their flaws if I understood them better (even if Jeremy didn't make the connection himself). It would have made more sense if Dessert Storm had been selected as the war. PTSD, which is what I think was going on with the father, was just as big of an issue for Dessert Storm.
Finally, I didn't love the way the book ended. I get no sense of what actually happened to the father. Why were these men doing what they did? Were they trying to make up for sins? Was this a take off on Fight Club? Was this for shits and giggles? I like to understand motivations, even if our narrator is unsure of them. I wish there was a stronger conclusion rather just a scene a few months later.(less)

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Apr 23, 2012 Nina rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

What in the world? I don't even know how to describe this book. At first it's like some kind of bet on how many f bombs and penis referencest the author can get in one book. Then there's just a taste of the horror that awaits and then more general teenage angst until the very end where we finally witness the truth we were waiting for the entire book. I mean I wouldn't say it's anticlimactic or that the main character in general wasn't interesting. It just didn't tie together very well for me. I...more

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Jun 25, 2012 Jessica rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

This was won as part of a GoodReads Firstreads giveaway.

I really really wanted to like this book but I just didn't get it.
For a book written about a teenage boy, the language was over the top bad. Lots of cussing, sexual references, derogatory terms, etc. I can't see a school library putting this on their shelves or a parent willing purchasing this for their child (I wouldn't).
I understood the basic premise of a boy who is struggling with fitting in, his beyond dysfunctional family, and his obse...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Amy Sue rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2013, favorites

If you know me, and you know how I am, then you know why I liked this book so much. The main character Jeremy was relatable to me in some very interesting ways. My family is not as bad as his, but his room would in some ways be very similar to mine, and his love of zombie movies is a love we both share.

I wasn't really sure about the whole father and Jeremy's dad storyline, but at least it resolved itself. That being said the ending was a bit abrupt in my eyes. I think in time I may feel better w...more

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Oct 30, 2012 Beth rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book is a great example of an adult book with a teen main character. The plot rambles in a circular fashion. The book opens with the main character already disillusioned with his father and doubting him. The ironic detatchment of the characters voice feels more like a middle aged hipster rather than a 15 year old guy. And 2/3rd of the way through and there's still no zombies? WTF?

I miss the streamlined plot and driving action of teen fiction. I miss the sincere ernestness of those protagoni...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Helen rated it 1 of 5 stars

Horrible. The writing is terrible. Some parts are disturbing.
This is a quote I don't get: "She smells like a unicorn". Who can relate to that?
I understand that I am a female reader and this is from the perspective of a male, but the language is too over the top. There are definitely too many sexist comments. The random side thoughts that had nothing to do with the story were annoying. For example, on page 1 there is a random paragraph about Jonah and the Whale. I was expecting the author to so...more

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May 28, 2012 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

WHAT. THE. $#&*. No, seriously. What the hell is this book? I don't even really know how to rate it. I picked this up at Midwinter because, well, because zombies. The publisher did try to tell me that it wasn't really about zombies, which I could tell from the plot description, but it sounded interesting anyway. But I couldn't really tell you what it is about. This book was disturbing for a number of reasons and I don't really get it, I don't think. Honestly, I have no idea what to say about...more

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Jun 02, 2012 Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: zombies, netgalley

Do you like Chuck Palahniuk? If so, then this book might be right up your alley. (Disclaimer: the short story "Guts" is the only Palahniuk work I've ever read.) I grabbed it because I enjoy a thoughtful zombie story now and then, and this sounded like it might be one. However, it's not a zombie story — it's more a testosterone-hazed coming of age novel. The adults in Jeremy's life are mostly useless, and he has turned instead to zombie movies as the foundation of his personal code.

* Avoid Contac...more

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Nov 09, 2012 i_am_the_book_lord rated it 1 of 5 stars

This is was just weird. I wasn't even sure what the hell i was reading half the time.

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Apr 16, 2012 Dana Wright rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: zom, zombie-survival-rules, teenage-boy-humor, unfortunate-male-appendage-jokes, serial-killer, wanted-to-like-but-couldn-t, disappointed

I really wanted to like this book. The premise is amazing. Kid fixated on zombie movies with a set of rules based on them. Possible serial killer dad. Interesting combo and I was excited to get the arc. However, the voice does not lend itself to a female audience. The consistent referral to male appendages was offensive and really not needed. Once is fine, but twenty times later and I just put this book down never to try again. While I do realize this is from the point of view of a teenage boy,...more

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Jul 21, 2012 zombiedotcom rated it 2 of 5 stars

First of all, if you are looking for a zombie book, do not be conned by the extremely cute cover and title.

Zombie by J.R. Angelella is really about a brutal coming of age story with a bit of thriller mixed into it. Barely a quarter of the novel is dedicated to what I thought would make the novel a more interesting read. I could not identify with the boy protagonist and his issues though his crudeness was somewhat amusing at the start, it gets a bit tiresome halfway through.

The whole zombie codes...more

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About J.R. Angelella

J. R. Angelella (Joseph Ross Angelella) is the author of the novel Zombie (Soho Press) as well as a forthcoming Southern Gothic supernatural YA series (Sourcebooks/Teen Fire) co-written with his wife, Kate Angelella. Their first book, Cursed, is set to publish in 2012. He is also a contributing author to the murder-mystery anthology Who Done It? (Soho Teen), benefiting the nonprofit organization 8...more

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