The Color of Fear

Once Upon a Zombie #1

by Billy Phillips, Jenny Nissenson

NOW TEN MAJOR AWARDS AND COUNTING!

She’s vulnerable. Phobic. And fourteen-years-old. Ever since Caitlin Fletcher’s mom mysteriously vanished (or left?) four years ago, Caitlin has become riddled with irrational fears. Her life takes a turn towards the bizarre when she winds up in a strange new universe where she discovers that there's one thing more frightening than zombies and panic attacks—the truth!

Bestselling and award-winning author Billy Phillips has spun a witty and original tale for the middle-grade market with a relatable teen heroine, wry humor, and a plot twist that packs an emotional wallop!

Kirkus Reviews called the novel “Undeniably cool” and it’s fast becoming the book that’s bonding mothers and daughters.

In response to reader demand, a sequel is already in the works targeted for an end-of-year 2016 release!

Book one of a trilogy, the award-winning middle-grade/YA fiction novel One Upon a
Zombie by bestselling author Billy Phillips, is delighting both middle
grade and young adult (YA) readers who love fantasy, unexpected twists
and reimagined fairy tales done right!

Generating 5-star rave reviews from Amazon and Goodreads, and high
praise from Kirkus Reviews and Publisher’s Weekly, this is definitely
not your grandmother’s fairy tale!

Once Upon a Zombie recently received the following awards and honors:

* Best Juvenile Fiction from the Beverly Hills International Book Awards

* Best Cover Design Fiction from the Beverly Hills International Book Awards

* Best Pre Teen Book from the National Indie Excellent Awards

* Best Young Adult Fiction at the Purple Dragonfly Awards

* Best Juvenile Fiction at the FAPA President's Awards

• Named to Kirkus Review's list of Best Books of 2015

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Zombies, Horror, Retellings, Paranormal, Fairy Tales

368 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2015

About the author

Billy Phillips is multi-award-winning bestselling author, creative producer and part time lecturer. He has ghost-written thirteen best selling non-fiction books, some of which surpassed a million copies
sold.

The award-winning middle-grade/YA novel Once Upon a Zombie is his fiction debut under his own name.

When one of his children suggested he write a zombie book under his own name, Billy conceived the idea of merging the iconic fairy tale
characters with the zombie phenomena.

Zombie Cinderella and friends were born!

The book has won the Best Pre Teen Book by the National Indie Excellence Awards,
the Purple DragonFly Award for Best Young Adult (YA) fiction, and it was a double winner at the Beverly Hills International Book Awards for Best
Juvenile Fiction and Best Cover Fiction.

Once Upon a Zombie was just nominated and named a double Finalist and a double Medal Winner at the upcoming FAPA President’s Awards Banquet being held at the Walt Disney Resort in Orlando in August 2016.

Billy had the privilege of lecturing at NASA, at the Kennedy Space Center, on the subject of science, physics and spirituality, sharing compelling ideas which he interweaves in his novels.

In his middle grade/YA fantasy novel Billy envisioned the zombies as a metaphor for all those relentless negative thoughts and paralyzing fears that try to swallow us whole.

The fairy tale characters are a metaphor for what middle graders and young adults aspire to be.

And though his breathless fantasy novel plays out
in an otherworldly universe, the underlying message is really about that unseen zombie inside all
of us!

Reviews

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

www.melissa413readsalot.blogspot.com

I want to say first that I think the cover of this book is absolutely beautiful!

This is a new series called Once Upon A Zombie. The first book is called The Color of Fear. The book is a fairy tale book.. yep.. a fairy tale book. Characters from fairy tales are zombies :)

Lets start a little from the beginning ~ with no spoilers, at least not any that will hurt the book.

The main character is Caitlin, she is 14 and she has a sister named Natalie who is 11. I actually like Natalie better because she is smart as a whip and funny! She has a lot of snark for one so young :) Poor Caitlin suffers from panic attacks. They suck, I have them. Anyway, she has had them ever since her mom disappeared four years ago in London. Well, Caitlin's dad moves them to London which makes Caitlin panic because she doesn't want to be the new girl at school and picked on... who does.

Anyway, there are some jerk girls at the school that treat her bad, but there is a nice guy named Jack that she meets and hangs out with him. The book doesn't dwell too much on the school stuff because there are more important things to do in the book.

Jack tells Caitlin about all of these cemeteries across the world that have ghosts coming out of old fairy tale author's graves. Weird, huh? So on the night of the Halloween dance, which is also Caitlin's bday, Jack wants them to go and meet at the cemetery because they have a famous fairy tale author there.

Some stupid stuff happens because of the jerk girls from school and Caitlin ends up going to the cemetery at a different time than planned with Jack. Little Natalie follows her and there they are in the cemetery on Halloween! Lo and behold a ghost crawls out of the grave. I will give one mild spoiler. The ghost is Rapunzel :)

From here on Caitlyn and Natalie are pulled into the fairy tale world where there is Cinderella, Snow White, The Red Queen, etc. There are bad things going on in this world. They are all zombies! Now why is this happening? Can't tell ya :) and there is a character in this world that shocks Caitlin and Natalie.

This book is full of the craziness of Alice in Wonderland, zombie wonderland creatures, even the plants are not right. Some zombies and things get killed or hurt, but Caitlin takes care of what they want her to help them with and Wonderland is set right again.....or is it?

After all is said and done and Caitlin is over all of the surprises and home in bed, another ghost visits and wants her help. And off we go to another story that isn't quite finished.

I loved the book and I look forward to actually having these books as a collection, especially with such a beautiful cover. I wonder what the next one will look like :)

**I would like to thank NETGALLEY and SMITH PUBLICITY for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.**

[Ines · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

i have read this book with my 10 years old daughter........although her father is american we need to improve her reading in english and so here we are!!
what an intriguing and well crafted plot!!! i was a little bit worried that she could be too young for the book but she was hooked to it!!!
my daughter says that she loved all the twists in the plot, the nice and funny relation between the two sisters and for the fact of find out the fairy tales characters in it!!
she was a little bit tired at the end ( quite a long book) but was ok!!
now waiting for the paperback!!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.

This book has a seriously cool concept. There's lots of fairytale adaptations out there but this one was truly quite unique and that impressed me. I just wish that this book was a bit deeper and that is why I marked it down to 3 stars instead of up to 4. I wanted more depth so that I could get totally invested but nonetheless, I enjoyed reading this.

I liked the characters. I wish they were more fleshed out (get it, flesh - zombies? Anyways...). In my opinion, the characters were characters that were written for children. There was no real insight into any of them except for maybe Caitlin but that was only because her anxiety played a big role in the story.

The story was good. A lot of it was predictable but there was actually a good few twists too which I liked. I liked the writing. It was easy to read and it held my attention. The only issue I had with the writing was the fact that in places Caitlin seemed to totally think like a 14 year old but in other places she seemed much older. I just wasn't totally buying the fact that she was supposed to be 14.

I think this series is best suited to readers who are like 10-15. I would recommend this series to readers who enjoy reading YA books but to just be aware that I think this book is more like a children's book. Sometimes excellent children books can be just as excellent for adults but unfortunately I think this book just needed more depth to hit that nail on the head. It was still a good book and I will probably read the next book in the series because I think that this book's ending set up a good starting point for the next book.

* I received a (beautiful) hardcover arc in exchange for an honest review. Thank you again to Smith publishing.

[Rayene Ziadi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast witty and very entertaining read.
It pays a quick visit to all our childhood heroes and villains, with just the right amount of mystery to keep you on your toes. i loved that i couldn't predict the ending which was spectacular!
It's about this girl Caitlin and her sister Natalie "whom i liked better because she was so smart and snarky for her age", and then you have all these fairy tale princesses : Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty...As zombies, kicking ass in the same world together!
Beside the fairy tale content i think anyone with an open mind would love this book, and i cannot wait for the second one!
And the cover is SO BEAUTIFUL!
I give it 4.5 stars, and i would definitely recommend it.

[Frannie Pan · Rating 1 out of 5]

“Once upon a zombie” follows Caitlin, a 14 year old girl who recently moved to London with her dad and younger sister. The story starts on Halloween and Caitlin, who suffers from socially-induced panic attacks, has to decide whether she has to go to the party organized by her new high-school. She’s afraid they’ll make fun of her but the boy she has a crush on invited her, how could she pass it up? Especially because they made plans for the after-party. There have been weird sightings at famous cemeteries all over the world where fairytales’ authors rest in peace and Lewis Carrol’s grave is located in a town nearby.
However things don’t go quite the way they were supposed to and Caitlin finds herself in a graveyard with her 12 year-old sister and a zombie who claims Caitlin is the only one who can save the imaginary worlds.

Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this book. Mind you, it isn’t a “bad” book. It simply wasn’t for me. It’s one of those “it’s-not-you-it’s-me” situations. In this particular case, I’m pretty sure all the problems I had with it came down to one thing: it’s a middle grade book.

It is rare for me to enjoy middle grade books. Despite the few exceptions, middle grade books and I don’t get along well. I usually find them boring and childish and I never quite seem to get into the story. Once upon a zombie was no exception.

Reason n° 1.
Yes, the character were truly childish. Caitlin, our main character, is 14 years old but her reasoning and her overall behavior would be fit for someone younger than her know-it-all living encyclopedia of a sister, who was 12 years old.

Reason n°2.
The characters weren’t distinct. We meet 4 princesses (Rapunzel, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow) but if the author hadn’t specified “Rapunzel was asking” or “Cinderella replied”, who would have known who was speaking and who was saying what? They were a bunch of silly and fragile girls who kept smiling and being kind when they should have monsters ready to kick some ass and get their kingdoms back.

Reason n° 3.
“Once upon a zombie” but where are the zombies? Creatures called the blood eyed were mentioned and seldom appeared but that was it. The princesses were supposed to be zombies but they weren’t walking corpses craving human blood and flesh. They were pale, had dark circles under their eyes and had no beating heart. Here are your rotting and decaying zombies. No, thank you.

Reason n° 4.
Unbelievable. I’m very well aware it’s a paranormal books, therefore there are going to be paranormal elements present but it is not believable that a 14 year old and a 12 year old go out at night, take the train to go to a nearby town’s cemetery without their dad realizing what’s happening and stopping them. Moreover, and I speak from experience, a girl who suffers from panic attacks at such a young age could have never done all the things that Caitlin does. She hesitates, got it, but she goes through with it and that would never happen to someone with anxiety.

Reason n° 5.
I was bored out of my mind. More than half of the book, the characters were trying to find the one who would have told them why what had happened had actually happened and how to make it go away; in the meantime they had to face some challenges but they didn’t feel very adventurous or dangerous to me. I had the impression it was building up to something that never came, as if it was a prequel to the first actual book but even then it would be too long. 100 pages instead of more than 300 would have sufficed.

You get what I’m saying? A very young reader would indeed bypass all my reasons and would simply embark on the adventure and relish in the fairytale-esque and descriptive writing style but I am bit too grown up for it and couldn’t close my eyes.
In conclusion, I’m pretty sure a kid would enjoy it but I won’t be continuing on with this series.


*Thanks to Smith Publicity for sending a finished copy my way, I really appreciate it. This hasn't affected my opinion on the book*

[Stephanie (Reading is Better With Cupcakes) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine you find yourself in a world where all of your childhood stories are real. You get to meet your fairytale heroes: Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and so many more. Now imagine that all of these beloved people you only thought existed in stories turn out to be zombies. This is Once Upon a Zombie in a nutshell and it is fantastic.

Our main character, Caitlin, gets to experience just this. There had been a bunch of sightings at some grave sites around the world of the living dead and her friend Jack talks her into going to the graveyard he thinks is going to be the next one to be visited.

They are supposed to go to the graveyard after the school dance, but thanks to some mean girls, she ends up at the graveyard alone. Or so she thought. Her sneaky little sister managed to follow her there despite being told to stay home.

However, that isn't the end of it. While at the graveyard, a hand starts to come out of the grave. Eventually an entire undead girl is standing before them. The undead girl is looking for...you guessed it....Caitlin.

The undead girl wants Caitlin to go with her back to where she came from. However, Caitlin is scared to go with her, and rightfully so in my opinion. However, her way to brave for her own good little sister jumps right in. Caitlin is then forced to follow, so that she can get her sister safely home.

What happens once she goes through the proverbial rabbit hole is a wonderfully frightening adventure. One you are going to have to read and experience for yourself.

I am going to be honest. While I ended up really enjoying this book, I thought the beginning was a little rough. I am going to chock it up to creating the world and the characters. Some of why things are the way they are aren't really explained, but they end up making sense when you get further into the story.

After I got to know the characters, I really liked them. At first I was really iffy about Caitlin. She is very scared of everything. I was wondering how our heroine was supposed to get anything done if she couldn't even leave the room without counting the corners of the room. Thankfully we get to see her grow throughout the course of the story.

However, her sister could have used a bit more growth I think. She was very brave. Sometimes too much so and very impulsive. The exact opposite of Caitlin. Then again, the poor girl was stuck in a chili pepper outfit and a yellow rain jacket for the majority of the book. I guess you have to be brave if you are stuck with that as your only outfit.

I loved the zombie princesses. Their personalities are very fun and each is very different from the next. Cinderella is the ever hungry one, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White are both pretty quiet, and Rapunzel is obviously the leader.

There was one character that really kind of bugged me and that was the frog. Almost every single time he talked he said "Amigo." After awhile I just wanted him to be quiet and stop talking. The word was really over used.

I also really enjoyed the take on zombies. It did take me awhile to get used to it. At first I was wondering why the Princesses even needed to drink water seeing as they were dead. However, once I accepted that the zombies in this book aren't technically your traditional zombies I was able to over look this and let myself enjoy them for what they are.

By the end of the story I was completely sold. I found myself totally enjoying all of the characters and the creativeness of it all. I also loved the lesson that is built into this story (YES! There is a lesson!). I will most definitely be continuing on with this story in the future.

Find more of my reviews here:
http://readingwithcupcakes.blogspot.com/

This review is based on an eARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

[Louise Loughran · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was from NetGalley Arc and want to say thank you too Smith Publicity and comes out on 1st October

First wow what a beautiful book cover. I of course got the arc on my kindle so I couldn't get the fully appreciate the cover, when I requested this book I didn't realise that it was connected to the collection of Once Upon a Zombie Dolls (my sister loves those).

This book is definitely for a younger audience around the age 10-15 but Im 22 and really loved it so I suppose if it interests you pick it up no matter what your age is.

The book follows a girl named Caitlin who has suffered from panic attacks and different phobias since her mum went missing 3 years ago and they moved from USA to London. Caitlin is an average girl who gets pranked by the "mean girls" of her school and it leads Caitlin to discover a world with zombie princesses who need her help.

I loved all the characters and I fell in love with Caitlin's little sister Natalie who was very sassy. I was glad when reading this that the crush that Caitlin had on Josh didn't take over the story line and it concentrated on the princesses and Caitlin's mission while with them. The story was fast paced and flowed very nicely with some awesome twists I know I should have been able to call the ending but I was that absorbed in what was going on all the time that I never thought any further ahead than were I was at the time of reading.

The twist on the princesses was amazing because I grew up with the princesses who were damsels in distress were in this book they totally kick butt and don't need helping doing it. Through out the story Caitlin got over her fears which I thought was great because you could se the confidence she was building when she wasn't panicking about what might happen to her if something went wrong and she would just take the risk.

[Marcella Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an adult reader of middle grade and young adult novels from The Fault in Our Stars to Thirteen Reasons Why, the Harry Potter series, The Bridge to Terabithia, or Because of Winn Dixie and many others, I am always looking for new and different books to read, and reading Once Upon a Zombie The Color of Fear was a real treat. So you think you know all about Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland? What do zombie sightings in cemeteries in England, Denmark, Germany, and elsewhere have to do with 14 year old Caitlin's anxiety attacks? When Caitlin decides to dodge the Halloween dance in hopes of meeting her new friend Jack in a cemetery outside of London, all of her fears are realized when he doesn't show, and she is left on her own to deal with her terrors. Along the way she meets characters who remind her of the heroines of the fairy tales she has read for years, except there is something odd about them. To say anything more would be to give away the heart of this smart, clever, and charming story. Caitlin's smarty pants younger sister is a royal pain (aren't all younger sisters a pain?) and her presence adds to Caitlin's challenge on this spooky Halloween.

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

when I first saw the cover I almost passed it over- thinking it was a graphic novel-which isn't my thing. Actually pulled review from Goodreads to make sure this was a novel
I think this may be my new favorire series. I've been on a kind of fairy tale kick lately & I always like a good zombie story and this combines the two perfectly!!
a strange magical curse, cast by the Queen of Hearts, has fallen over the land. All our favorite characters from our favorite stories have started turning into zombies- Beauty, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White-being of royal blood, have managed to fight the flesh eating craving but barely. These women have traveled to our world to find Caitlin, a young girl who fears everything, so she can defeat the Queen.
Now the group, along with Caitlin's sister, Natalie, are racing to get Caitlin to the Caterpillar so he can reveal HOW to defeat the Queen. But they have to battle flesh eating plants and monstrous wolves.
Very enjoyable. CAN'T wait for the next!

[†Reviews of a FearStreetZombie† · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book VIA NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Wow. Lol. This book was really great! I already can't wait for book two!
I actually loved everything about this book. I loved the attention to detail without it overloading the reader, I loved all the characters and the story line.
I love Disney... and zombies.
So can you imagine the look on my face when I see all these characters as zombies? Oh my gosh! So freaking epic!! And the cover is sooo amazing! I would recommend this book to everyone.
Perfection!

[Vesper Vesper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once Upon a Zombie is a brilliant and unique twist on classic characters that I grew up with. I have to be honest, at first, I was quite skeptical about reading this, as I wasn't sure how one would be able to pull off a story like this with some of my beloved favorites all zombified. I mean, what type of plot could you have with "zombie princesses?"... (more via website)

[Coleccionista de finales tristes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es un libro que mezcla distintos personajes de cuentos basada principalmente en el libro de Alicia en el país de las maravillas. Aunque es parte de una serie se puede terminar de leer sin tener la necesidad de continuar.

Gustará a los lectores de libros infantiles y de cuentos. Tiene muchas frases para reflexionar sobretodo de la oruga:

“El miedo al fuego es uno muy saludable. Pero el miedo a un dragón que escupe fuego y que vive bajo tu cama es un miedo innecesario. Así pues la voluntad repele el miedo al dragón”

[Just_me · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this book especially the concept of zombie princesses when we are so used to the disneyfied versions. One main issue is that I wouldn't class this as children's fiction - injecting lungs with Novocain, social anxiety issues, in depth details of panic attacks and the Bo***cks word appearing on occasion. This to me makes it young adult and I think this should be highlighted. I have an very advanced reader of an 8 year old and would not want her reading this just yet.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

When opening this adventure, I presumed I would see where it was going. Many books seem to follow a proscribed format. After entering this world of imagination, it was delightfully not what I expected at all! I loved this book and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read a fun book!

[Cherry (_forevermint) · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this was an interesting story that brought to life many childhood favorites from fairytales, it just wasn't a for me. It's classified as young adult but really it read more like a middle grade novel and I don't get much enjoyment from those.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so much fun! I couldn't get over how great the cover was and just had to read it. This was a great fairy tale retelling with a zombie mush up and so much more. I can't wait to read book two.

[Mandy Sickle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Caitlin is has had a rough few years from her mom disappearing, a school dance going wonk and moving across the ocean to a new school. She has issues she's scared of everything and not having her lucky charm isn't helping her out either. She writes for the a online paper paranormal stories, and recently graveyards have caught some attention as famous author graves have some activity. Not like Caitlin would step into a cemetery because they are dark scary but that is all about to change.

The Halloween dance is happening and her school crush has asked her to go with him and maybe visit the cemetery after the dance. When a text from him sends has her skipping the dance and heading right for the cemetery. While standing on the grave of Lewis Carrol she is captured by a zombie princess who is sure that Caitlin is the hero who will save her world. Force into a world of stories and fairytales come to life Caitlin makes new friends and finds herself growing in more ways than she imagined. Will they make it in time to stop the red queen or will they all be turned into red-eyed ghouls?

I loved Caitlin she's afraid of everything, but when her sister tumbles down into the grave she doesn't think twice about following to protect her. She finds some amazing new friends even if they are zombies and that her love interest is more than just the good guy at school. I love the zombie princesses they each have great personalities but Cinderella is my favorite

I've had Once Upon a Zombie sitting on the shelf since the book came out but never seemed to find the time. As the new one is coming out in 2017 I figured this would be a perfect time to check it out. I honestly haven't seen too much about it but I knew with such an intriguing concept it has to be good and it blew my expectations out of the water. Once Upon A Zombie is a sweet coming of age story just with set in a world that has been turned into zombies thanks to an evil queen. I truly enjoy the concept of Caitlin traveling into an alternate reality filled with lots of my favorite characters.I really felt that I was able to connect with Caitlin she's such a sweetheart and has grown so much through the book. I really enjoyed the author's storytelling it's a beautiful story that captures the imagination. I can't wait to get my hands on the next book and see what Caitlin is up against.

[Ceres95 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some weird things are happening in London and in another places, certain grave are vandalizing.

Caitlin is new in her school, she’s afraid of a lot of things. She likes Jack, who is new too but not afraid at all. The night of the Masquerade Ball, Jack invites her; he proposes to go on the grave of Lewis Carroll after the ball. Once at the grave, some strange things happened to Caitlin and her young sister Natalie. They are pulled in a fairy world where all the people are zombies.

If you want a zombie story with Disney’s princess, this book is for you. You’ll find Rapunzel, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow white, The Caterpillar and some others.

I like fairy tales, zombie and Alice in wonderland is my favorite fairy tales so when I’ve seen this book I was in paradise.

The characters are awesome, Rapunzel is a great leader, Cinderella is a kickass girl, Snow is kind and love everyone and Sleeping like to sleep. The Caterpillar is the Caterpillar, enigmatic and smart.

Caitlin is adorable, afraid of everything but she’s working on it. Natalie her young sister talks a lot and she’s smart, she’s also very funny. Jack is strong and smart too, he’s also kind and likes Caitlin.

I won’t talk more about the story and the characters or I’ll tell you the entire story and you don’t want that.

The writing style is good and the story is original, I’m so impatient to read the second book because the end is so intriguing.

One word about the cover, she’s really sumptuous, a zombie princess is the best cover in the world.

This book is full of craziness, Alice in wonderland craziness, zombies creatures who are coming from fairy tales and I love that. Once Upon a zombie is really a fun reading, you will not be disappointed so go buy it.

I already have pre ordered it in hardcover.

I would like to thanks Billy Phillips, Netgalley and Smith Publicity for giving me the opportunity to this Arc in exchange of an honest review.

[⠀annie. ♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf @ page 175, 47%

okay i’m dnfing this for a multitude of reasons. the reasons get weirder and grosser as i continue.

1) i never wanted to read this. when i picked it up, it was smooth sailing but i never wanted to pick it up.
2) going off of number one, i have other things i want to read. i don’t want to waste my time with this.
3) the writing is so juvenile. you can write a middle grade book that employs more than just your basic writing techniques. this reads like a 12 year old just downloaded wattpad for the first time.
4) the characters are fourteen yet they’re written like they’re in their twenty’s. they’re out driving, making big, fancy purchases, going to parties past their bedtime, walking to the train station by themselves. what???
5) the author has used “they smiled like the cheshire cat” far too many times. it wasn’t cute the first time.
6) the author said a 14 year old thought someone had “exquisite, long, golden locks”. who thinks like that ???
7) this is a middle grade book, as previously stated, and the male author described cinderella’s legs as sexy after describing 14 year old girls in a similar way. this is what did it in for me, i think. men need to realize they can capture the beauty of feminine characters without being blatantly gross.

anyways i’m unhauling this and will likely never think of it again unless i want to be angered.

[Barbara White · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an adult reader, I love smart and interesting YA. (I think Eoin Colfer is pure genius, and I loved ELEANOR & PARK.) What drew me to this novel? The heroine's anxiety disorder: Only Caitlin's fear can save the world! What an inspiring message for teens struggling with OCD or panic disorder or GAD. But I think this novel would appeal to any young reader who feels like an outsider sometimes (yes, there are mean girls behaving badly in the story as well as fairytale princesses turned to zombies). I particularly enjoyed the relationship between the sisters. Natalie is a brilliant character. I thoroughly enjoyed this page-turner and look forward to reading more of Caitlin's adventures.

[Critterbee❇ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charmingly ghoulish, quirky and action-packed.

A pleasing read featuring many age-old favorite characters, Caitlin is adorable, little sister Natalie is a riot, the princesses are champion. The story is simultaneously touching, humorous, and full of all of the gross-outs you expect in a zombie story.

A great beginning to a series that promises a fresh new take on zombies stories.

**eARC from netgalley**

[Reneethereader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great zombie twist on all the fairy tales i grew up reading with quite the grimm brothers twist seriously couldnt put it down

[Jennifer Rux · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It is chalk full of familiar characters- Rapunzel, Snow White, Jack and the Bean Stalk, and many more - but you wont recognize them. Why you ask, because many of them have become Red-Eyed ghouls and some have started the zomibification process.

This isn't your typical Once Upon a Time -

It took me a while to finish this book, I was easily distracted away from it, but in the end I am glad I finished it. It was was an enjoyable read and the characters were worth getting to know.

I will be picking up the 2nd book at some point as I want to see the fate of these interesting characters.

[Valentina Markasović · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free ARC copy of this book.

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, a girl called Caitlin lived in London. She wasn't a princess or a heroine. Actually, she was just an ordinary girl who suffered from panic attacks and various phobias. After moving from the USA to London, she does her best to avoid getting into anyone's way at her new school. Jack, a cute fellow student, is one of her only friends. After a cruel prank, Caitlin and her slightly obnoxious younger sister Natalie find themselves falling down the "rabbit hole", straight into the waiting arms of starving Blood-Eyed fairy tale characters.

I have loved twisted fairy tales ever since I read The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. I was excited to read this new book by Billy Phillips. They had a similar premise, of the main character getting pulled into a strange fairy tale world, but that's where similarities end. I'm glad I wasn't disappointed by this book.

What I loved about the book are the characters. Each of them has distinctive characteristics and a volume that makes them real. Caitlin isn’t a Mary Sue in any way. She has a serious case of anxiety and nervous habits. She thinks she might be crushing on Jack, but that’s not her sole focus, as she has hobbies of her own. Natalie, wise beyond her age, sometimes seemed like the older sibling, but at times, her true childish colours shone out. Even the princesses got a new dimension. The only exception would be Piper, the school bully, whose only purpose was to torment Caitlin.

The plot is also well-crafted, with several plot twists near the end that I probably should have seen coming. Not much time is wasted on descriptions and the novel is fast-paced. There is always something happening. The writing style is pretty simple, but still maintaining some of the magic of the classic fairy tales. There were a couple of things that bothered me, though. At one point, Caitlin describes a girl’s outfit as so expensive it just might as well have been made of Euros. The story is set in Britain, right? Last time I checked, they don’t use Euros there. The school system was also not described authentically, and it felt more like an American high school than a British one. The book could have used some more research.

Despite this, I enjoyed the book a lot. Imaginative and intriguing, this book offers a new twist on the old characters and is perfect for the audience at the middle school reading level. All in all, a wonderful story about acceptance, told from the point of view of an unlikely heroine.

This review is also posted on the blog

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Rating is reflective of the book as an upper elementary read. Because this was classified as YA, I anticipated a much different book. I think if I had read the Kirkus Review before I started, specifically, "Tonally and stylistically reminiscent of the Monster High novels," I would have adjusted my expectations before I was disappointed. In truth, this book looks a lot better when I consider it through that lens. What I initially saw as silly and stilted transforms into a light, humorous horror-tinged story with all my favorite story book characters. It follows the traditional heroine's journey and has a lot of action and danger incorporated but ends with a message about finding your gifts as they are given, and ultimately overcoming your fears. Caitlin is a surprise as a strong female protagonist who battles through her fears to save the people she cares about, and I think she is a character that young girls will be able to connect with and admire. I do think this book is on the lower end of the reading scale, probably for third through sixth grades as far as interest level. There is some gross stuff - there are zombies, but nothing that I felt would be too much for that age group, and it is less intensely scary than the Goosebumps books. If you have a reader who enjoys fairytales and is looking for a little conservative horror but isn't quite ready for Christopher Pike, this will fit the bill nicely. I think it would be a nice animated film like the Monster High series, particularly if the cover artist's rendering was used as inspiration - nothing is cuter than a zombified Blythe doll, in my opinion! If you are an older reader, I think the book will read as just too silly to tolerate. No matter what the age group, the sometimes overwrought details might get annoying. It was all I could do to finish it because I wanted something more sophisticated, but when I was able to see the intended audience more clearly, I could understand the appeal it would have. I gave the book four stars, not because I personally enjoyed it, but because I honestly think that is the score I would have given it if I had read it in the right context. Language and situations are appropriate for upper elementary readers.

[Dhiraj Bharude · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once Upon a Zombie, Book One: The Color of Fear
by Billy Phillips.
Hardback-985rs.
Unexplainablenews.com is reporting strange phenomena in cemeteries in Scotland, Germany, Italy, and America. Only one individual knows what's happening - and why! This person also knows the one girl who can prevent an unspeakable and imminent catastrophe from taking place. But will she? When Caitlin Fletcher's mom disappeared (or left?) four years ago, Caitlin began suffering from breathless bouts of anxiety. Her new move to London, with her Dad and her brainiac sister, threatens to lead to more situations that will trigger panic. Now, she's having anxiety over the possibility of having anxiety! Caitlin's life takes a turn for the bizarre when she's tricked into climbing down a "rabbit hole", landing in a wondrous fairy tale universe - except it's crawling with savage, starving blood-eyed zombies. But what's scarier - a blood thirsty zombie, a panic attack....or the painful truth?!
I don't want to give too much away because I believe the fun in reading this is discovering everything yourself, but the quick version is a curse bestowed upon the fairytale lands by The Queen Of Hearts which has turned everyone Zombie, and only one person can reverse this curse otherwise they'll be left as Zombies forever, and so it's up to a human girl Caitlin Fletcher to save the Kingdoms and it's folk, I like the way they've set up the series for the next book, I cannot wait, this book was so enjoyable I just want to get my hands on the next one.

I can't recommend this book enough, for those who like a twist on their favorite fairytales then this is the series for you!

Plus kudos for the fantastic cover.

[Lectus · Rating 2 out of 5]

More than YA I would say this is for middle graders. I kind of liked Caitlin and her phobias and fears, however, I don't understand why she wasn't seeing a doctor because her anxiety and fears were too much to just be normal. Maybe that would be addressed in future installments.

I also liked Caitlin's relationship with her sister; they were very close and knew how to make fun of each other.

So, what started like an apparent zombie story above ground, turned into kind of an Alice in Zombie Land kind of story line (and I don't mean the actual Alice in Zombie Land book which I have never read). The sisters go through a wormhole and land in what seems to be the land of the Grimm's brothers because there they encounter Rapunzel, Cinderella and the sorts.

The love interest, Jack, was pretty cool too. Thank God he wasn't the gullible pretty boy but actually has a brain... and uses it.

The tone of the story is light and fun, and things develop quickly. It just didn't hold my interest because... But I definitely recommend this book for Middle School.

[Pj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny
well written
Now I know what happened to all the old story characters from long ago.

[Stargazer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Tiffany for the recommendation and loan of the book. I love any kind of fractured fairytale but i'm not a zombie fan so i wouldn't have read this otherwise, but i'm glad i did and hope to purchase one for the school library, a definite hit for 10=15 year olds i'd guess and adults alike. Look forward to reading book two, a promising start to what i hope will be a long series.

[Bunny Cakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun read, I really enjoyed it!