ZOMBIE BLONDES
Author: Brian James
Source: Publisher
*I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review*

Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Square Fish; First Edition edition (May 12, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312573758
ISBN-13: 978-0312573751

From the moment Hannah Sanders arrived in town, she felt there was something wrong.

     A lot of houses were for sale, and the town seemed infected by an unearthly quiet. And then, on Hannah’s first day of classes, she ran into a group of cheerleaders—the most popular girls in school.

     The odd thing was that they were nearly identical in appearance: blonde, beautiful, and deathly pale.

     But Hannah wants desperately to fit in—regardless of what her friend Lukas is telling her: If she doesn’t watch her back, she’s going to be blonde and popular and dead—just like all the other zombies in this town…

I really wanted to like this book.  I loved the Barbie-like cover and honestly, that is what interested me in it.  Add on the appeal of zombies and I was ready to sit down and enjoy an action packed book!  However, once I started reading it, I knew this was not going to be one of the better zombie books on the market right now.


Hannah was annoying and shallow.  All she cared about was fitting in and she didn’t have much self esteem in my opinion.  I know every teenage girl wants to fit in with the popular crowd, especially if you are the new girl.  Yet, what made me dislike Hannah so much was the snotty attitude that she had towards the kids that tried to be her friend and were not a part of the popular crowd.  Heck, if I was new to school and worried about having friends, I would take what I could get!


Lukas was quirky and fun even if Hannah did think he had a few screws loose.  He tried to warn her about the people in town, but she refused to listen.  I felt bad for Lukas because no matter how hard he tried and no matter how mean Hannah was to him, he kept coming back for more.  At times I wanted him to just walk away from Hannah and stay away. 


The first few chapters have an air of mystery to them making the reader wonder what Hannah’s dad did that was so bad that he no longer wants to be a cop like he originally was.  While it was interesting at first, the small hints about it in every chapter started to get on my nerves because it is so repetitive with no reveal. I also expected some Zombie action in this book, and their wasn’t much Zombie thrill until the last few chapters of the book.  To me that was a complete let down. 


If you are looking for a zombie book to capture your interest, then look elsewhere. 


MY RATING:

 
I did not like this book at all! 1 STAR

VELVET HAVEN
The Immortals of Annwyn: Book One
Author: Sophie Renwick
Source: Personal Purchase

Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: NAL Trade (March 2, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0451229185
ISBN-13: 978-0451229182

Hidden from mortals for eternity, Annwyn, the Otherworld, is home to shapeshifters, wraiths and dragons. On the border with the mortal realm stands a nightclub called Velvet Haven. The shapeshifter king of Sidhe, Bran, comes there searching for his brother, Carden, who’s ensnared in a centuries-old curse. He looks to Mairi, a mortal woman with an unusual aura, for help. He usually just uses humans for sexual pleasure in order to restore his magic energy, but Mairi’s lush curves and teasing caresses inflame him like no Sidhe ever has. He has no idea that the woman he’s falling for holds the key to his destruction-or his salvation.

Where do I begin with this review?  Let’s start with the cover, because that seemed to be about the only thing I really enjoyed about this book.  Hubba-Hubba! Look at that man on the cover!  Tattoo’s, long hair, drool worthy ab’s and tight leather pants!  Eye candy that you can drool over for hours!  I loved the blue and black misted background as well.


Unfortunately, that is where my thrill of excitement for this book ends.  The author created so many different characters in this book that I was left with a feeling of dizziness! The main character of Bran was sexy, but tortured as most hero’s are in books.  He is cursed and he must pimp his body out to please women in order to receive his magical gifts when needed.  Please! What man wouldn’t want this curse? Every man would jump on the chance to get to have sex as much as possible.  So, I will move past this point in the book.


We have Mairi as the heroine and she wasn’t much at that.  She is suppose to be a bookworm, but she also is suppose to be mated with Bran according to fate.  The author had Mairi coming across as wimpy and boring.  I am a bookworm, but I sure as heck have a lot more excitement to offer than Mairi! I couldn’t even stand to read about her character being with Bran as it felt to forced.


I actually had to force myself to finish this book and I have no desire to read the rest in this series. Would I ever read another book by this author? The answer is yes, but it would have to really knock my socks off in reviews to get me interested.  I understand that this is the first book in a series, and maybe the author was trying to set up the scenes with all of the characters, but to me it was overload that could have been better paced with more books.  


MY RATING: