Review: Alice in Zombieland (White Rabbit Chronicles, #1) by Gena Showalter

Release Date: September 25, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Rating: YA 14+
Genre: Retelling, Romance, Paranormal
Pages: 404

She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….

                         **A review copy was provided by the publisher (thanks!)**

Woah! What was that? I just got punched in the face with a huge dose of awesome! Okay, call me out for cheesiest line of the decade century, but Alice in Zombieland was just that! This book didn't just feature some pretty badass zombies, but swoon-worthy male leads and a really strong and fierce heroine too. Finally, SMART zombies... that's what I'm talking about!

While this wasn't really a retelling per say of the beloved classic, by ANY means actually (I'm talking no connections whatsoever - ZILCH), it was still really fun to read. The characters were charming and witty, and the action was epic and really entertaining. For me, and this shouldn't be taken the wrong way at all, this was a really nice read that I didn't have to think too much about, like one of those typical Hollywood action flicks with cute guys, blood and gore, and a heck of a lot of fight scenes. 

Right, the characters. Obviously, I loved all of them; they all had their special roles that added up and strangely correlated. Alice, the MC, narrates the story with feistiness to die for, spunk, and attitude. She was so much fun to get to know! I ended up really admiring her strong won't-take-no-for-an-answer character. Cole. OH Cole. You sexy, badass, dangerous, confusing guy. His chemistry with Alice was undeniable and their back and forth witty and humorous banter was just hilarious! Then there's Kat, Alice's best friend, who I equally loved. She's fierce, just like Alice, and so confident! Not to mention she's also a true friend. While Alice was off fighting zombies and protecting her very existence, Kat was dealing with her own problems which added surprising and needed depth to the story.

Although the romance isn't my favorite aspect of the book by any means as it was kind of clichéd at times and got a teeny bit exasperating, the zombies were awesome. Like, seriously. I'm not a huge zombie fan myself (although I do prefer them to vampires-but then again, I prefer anything to vampires), I have to admit that they were really well done! These zombies weren't your typical brain-dead, heartless creatures you so often read about in YA Paranormal books, these creepy critters had a plan and that made them scary as bazookas!

While I wasn't sure just how much I would like this upon starting it due to the annoyingly slow start, I ended up enjoying this book. Enough entertainment to fulfill your needs and kick-ass zombies (for a change), Alice in Zombieland was fun and snarky, and the sequel, Through the Looking Glass, definitely makes my to-read list! 

If you like this, try:

Poison Princess (The Arcana Chronicels #1) by Kresley Cole

Ironskin by Tina Connolly

Splintered by A.G. Howard