Author: Gena Showalter [F] [T] [W]
Publisher: Harlequin Teen [W]
Release Date: September 25, 2012
Format: Hardcover; 404 pages
Series: The White Rabbit Chronicles (Book 1)
Genre: YA, Paranormal Romance, Zombies
Avg. Rating: ★★★★✩
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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….
With the exception of Warm Bodies and a few others, I'm really not the biggest fan of zombie books. I can read them.. I just don't enjoy them all that much, and I really don't go out of the way to read them completely voluntarily. And I definitely don't go out of the way to contact a publisher for a zombie book. HOWEVER, this IS Gena Showalter we're talking about. Everyone has their exceptions.
For me, the best part of picking up a Gena Showalter novel is knowing before I even hold the book in my hands that I will enjoy it. Is that biased? Maybe, but it's completely true. There's something very genuine and unique about Showalter's writing that stays completely true to her style to let you know the book is definitely hers, yet she still manages to keep every story's tone its own and every character has their own individual voice. It's something rare that you may not always see in an author's work, especially when they have so many books under their literary belt.
Having said that, it shouldn't be a total shocker that I really loved this book. I know that I read about people being disappointed with the fact that the title of this novel is very similar to Alice in Wonderland, so it was assumed that it was a highly-imaginative retelling when it really didn't have much to do with the classic tale at all. I can say that wasn't the case for me - as a matter of fact, that little bit didn't bother me one single bit. There's also a twist on the actual zombies in this book that some people didn't like much. Again, didn't bother me. Just the opposite actually.. I really LOVED the twist on the zombie lore of this book. It's something that I have never EVER in my life come across in a book, and that made it just that much more special of a read for me.
Alice was a great female lead. Very independent, strong and need I say hard-headed? Especially when it came to a certain boy. Cole was the sexy bad boy in the novel and I thought he was a great opposite for Alice - and I definitely mean opposite. Their ways always seemed to clash (which I'll admit at times got a little tedious for me), but the chemistry was off the charts for these two. I also enjoyed Alice's quirky best friend, Kat. She brought that special magic to the story that only some characters can pull off and managed to keep an aura of mystery to her that kept me intrigued.
The setting to this story was perfect and helped to really set the tone for the book. I loved the pace and the plot, which isn't short of amazing - but I expect no less from Gena Showalter. This is definitely a great read that I think all of my paranormal readers would enjoy. And if you're a Showalter fan, I think this is really a given that you MUST read this book. ;)
My Rating: ★★★★★
Book Source: Publisher
