Sunday 28 August 2011

Undead - Kirsty McKay


Book details:
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Chicken House; 1 edition (1 Sep 2011)
Language English
ISBN-10: 1906427879
ISBN-13: 978-1906427870

Summary:
It was just another school trip... When their ski-coach pulls up at a cafe, and everyone else gets off, new girl Bobby and rebel Smitty stay behind. They hardly know each other but that changes when through the falling snow, the see the others coming back. Something has happened to them. Something bad...Soon only a pair of double doors stand between those on the bus and their ex-friends the Undead outside. Time to get a life.

Links to buy:



Rating:
My review:
Thanks to the kick ass people at Chicken House publishing for this amazing book they sent  my way. First off, I instantly fell in love with the cover, it’s a mixture of gorgeous, bright, vivid red and white and there were indentations on the cover. The pages, when you turn the book, are also red (: That had me smiling, but more about the book! This YA dark humorous zombie novel had me chomping (pun intended) my through and loving it. Amongst witty one-liners and gory scenes, I fell in love with the book.

Analysis of plot:
The book starts off with a situation. A school bus packed with kids, get off at a cafe, teachers included, while our main characters – sarcastic and new comer at school Bobby stays behind on the bus as does the prankster and cool kid Smitty. While hiding away in the sanctuary of the school bus, the two shy away from each other (as kids do when thrown together in awkward situations) until super-it-girl and Candy Couture Loving girl Alice comes storming back from the cafe claiming everyone was dead. And worse than that, she had left her beloved handbag inside (cue broken hearts).

From there on, I knew things were only going to get funnier, and they did indeed to my pleasure! We find the odd mixture of sarcasm, girly hype, and wit blending together to bring forth many smiles from my lips, at the antics from these odd but great array of characters. McKay’s book isn’t geared for pee-your-pants at night time (I hope) but more a light-hearted Zombie comedy which has been missing in the YA market and her fluid writing, coupled with great attention to detail and construction of totally likeable characters with flaws and redeeming features, makes this a great read that will be sure to make you laugh out loud. It’s such a refreshing book in the face of countless others about werewolves, forbidden love, vampires, and such and such and as much as I love those types of books, I was glad to chomp my way through something a little different (:

Analysis of characters:
I loved the mixture of characters McKay created here, how could you not? While they weren’t geared to evoke sympathy, it was more on empathy as you could recognise and familiarise yourselves with Bobby, Smitty, Alive and Peter. Sarcastic, witty and brave Bobby – we all have that friend who’s a wise mouth but with the brains. Blonde, accident prone and superficial (although not in a bad way) Alice, - again, hands up, who knows a ditzy friend? Throw in the hero, one who’s always willing to step up or do stupid things; here we have Smitty and finally, there’s always, ALWAYS going to be a Peter in our lives; nerdy, has-to-be-right, Peter, who you’ll want to take turns strangling between him and Alice. Throw these four totally different personalities together in the shark tank, (like at high school) and you have bait for mayhem ensuing amongst hilarity – which McKay generously delivers with her one-liners and sticky situations. Also, can’t forget, and won’t forget, the giant wearing a carrot costume ;) you have to read it to know!

Overall:

Without giving away too much of what happens within the book, I can say for sure that this Zombie-related novel is definitely something you should pick up to ensure a great laugh at the expense of these loveable kids that McKay has brought together. So go on, get your teeth into it ;)


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