

“Scary, freaky, and original. Get this book!” -Nancy Holder Lifeless. Slow-moving. Brain-dead.
“Welcome To Zomburbia.”
My name is Courtney Hart, and I’m here to tell you about things that suck. Being born in a podunk town like Salem, Oregon, for one. Living in a world infested with zombies? That, too. And the meat heads I go to school with? I think I’d actually take the undead over them most days. But I have a plan to get out of here and move to New York. I just have to keep selling Vitamin Z along with your fries at The Bully Burger. The secret ingredient? Zombie brains.
I’ve noticed things are getting even worse lately, if that’s even possible. The zombies seem to be getting smarter and faster. If I can avoid being arrested, eaten by shufflers, or catching the eye of some stupid boy, I should be able to make it through finals week still breathing. . .
“Gallardo’s world-building is innovative and fascinating, sick and twisted and unexpectedly touching. You’ll want to check that your zombie apocalypse closet is well stocked.” -Molly Harper White
“Readers are guaranteed plenty of mayhem and romance, laughter and heartbreak.” -James Patrick Kelly
My Review:
Looking at the front cover, this looks like an amazing zombie book. However, instead of it being the full on horror it promises, its more of a teen angst set against an undead back-drop. If you like those types of books, you’ll love this – it lends itself very much to a teen readership, but as an adult I really expected more, so I was kind of disappointment.
From a writer’s perspective, it was written very well and was well thought-out, but (here’s that big ‘but’ again!) the very start of the book is kind of boring and introduces our protagonist as a whiny teenager, drama-cising her way through the shuffling zombie outbreak. I would have much rather had a Katniss style character that you can get behind that kicks butt and take things seriously – one you actually want to survive.
Also, there’s not much promotion from the author online. I usually include a bio and photo from Goodreads on my reviews, but alas the author is currently an absent blank on there. that really needs to change. Authors live and die by social media these days and, as the book is available for review now, he should really include his details on Goodreads and Amazon – at the very least.
The front cover is amazing, so two undead thumbs up to whoever put it together – it’ll no doubt get some attention on the virtual book shelf.
Overall, I’d give Zomburbia 2 out 5 stars for adult readers, 3.5 out of 5 for teens – it’s kind of ‘Clueless’ with zombies.