Book Review: Through the Zombie Glass

Through the Zombie Glass by Gena Showalter
September 24, 2013
Harlequin Teen
480 pages
Genre: Mature Young Adult Paranormal
(contains: sexual references, violence)
Source: Personal purchase

Book Blurb:

Inspired by the childhood classic Alice in Wonderland, this harrowing and romantic story features teen zombie slayer Alice Bell who has lost so much—family, friends, her home. After a strange new zombie attack, Alice fears she may be losing her mind as well. A terrible darkness blooms inside her, urging her to do wicked things. The whispers of the dead assault her ears and mirrors seem to come frighteningly to life. She’s never needed her team of zombie slayers more—including her boyfriend, Cole—than she does now. But as Cole strangely withdraws and the zombies gain new strength, Ali knows one false step may doom them all.

My Review:

I loved Alice in Zombieland (find my review here). Through the Zombie Glass picks up close to where Alice in Zombieland left off. I want to first say that I enjoyed the zombie plotline to this middle-of-a-trilogy book. Whereas some "middle" books can get a bit lost with filler, this one had a new plot in addition to the previously introduced one in Alice in Zombieland. Gena kept things fresh and the reader engaged.

I liked the direction and the twists and turns Gena took with the zombie part of the story. She also tried to integrate more references and nods to Lewis Carroll's original books, and I really enjoyed them, especially the use of mirrors. We also get more of the witty dialogue and intriguing character issues from the secondary characters that make this a more well-rounded story (aka, Kat, Frosty, Bronx... Love them!). Between wanting to know how this new zombie issue was going to be resolved, and wanting to understand these new "visions," I was completely engaged in this book, staying up to read much later than I should have been until my eyes burned and I felt like a bit of a zombie myself. I am a fan of all things Alice in Wonderland, so I desperately wanted to love this book as much as I did the first.

Unfortunately, while it was an engaging book for the most part, and I am still enjoying the overall storyline and truly look forward to the next book, there were some things that detracted from the story for me:

1.) The pacing dragged in the middle a bit. The missed opportunities were irritating and I wanted to slap some sense into Ali for not being more urgent and paying better attention. I think it dragged due to the focus of Ali and Cole's "relationship" and the back-and-forth of that, which leads me to another issue of mine.

2.) The issues between Ali and Cole were frustrating, and I was not a big fan of Cole this time around. For being such a big tough guy, he could sure act like a cowardly jerk. At one point I was even seeing red, he infuriated me so much. My love for him in book one could not save him, and while I know they tried to justify some of his douchiness, and he played some pretty words and deeds later, I will still need more time to heal from his actions.

3.) The climax of action in the end was a bit anti-climactic and resolved a little too easily, though if anyone had been paying attention, this could have been resolved even sooner. When all signs point North, why is everyone going South? But I guess if everything was figured out right away, there would be no story, so I won't overly fault the characters for this.

4.) I also have issues when girls are fighting over boys, when it's obvious the boy is not interested in them. Why is the unattainable boy suddenly so desirable? Especially when he has a jerky history? I understand it in a sense, but it doesn't mean it isn't a sad degradation on the female's part. But I cannot lay this solely at Gena's feet, as this is a common book theme. And I must commend Ali for trying to not be one of those girls and holding her ground better than most - Gena did a good job there.

I know I seem to be negative, but overall I still enjoyed this book, just not as much as the first. Maybe my expectations were too high, I don't know. But it's a solid read with new plot twists and interesting relationship twists. I still liked Ali, even though I wanted to shake her at times. I was expecting to love Cole all over again, and didn't. I may be in the minority here, but I'm okay with that. He's still an interesting character, and I'm sure he'll be redeemed in my eyes more later, or in the last book (I hope). And I will definitely grab the next book.

4 STARS

 

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