Book Review: Zombie Queen of Newbury High

Title: Zombie Queen of Newbury High
Author: Amanda Ashby
Publisher: Puffin
Release Date: March 2009
Pages: 200
Series: none
3 STARS: I Liked It

Quiet, unpopular, non-cheerleading Mia is blissfully happy. She is dating super hot football god Rob, and he actually likes her and asked her to prom! Enter Samantha – cheerleading goddess and miss popularity – who starts making a move for Rob. With prom in a few days, Mia needs to act fast. So she turns to her best friend, Candice, and decides to do a love spell on Rob. Unfortunately, she ends up inflicting a zombie virus onto her whole class, making herself their leader! At first she is flattered that everyone is treating her like a queen. But then zombie hunter hottie Chase explains they are actually fattening her up, because in a few days, Mia will be the first course in their new diet. She’s sure she and Chase can figure something out, but she suggests that no one wear white to prom, because things could get very messy.

My Thoughts:
The premise caught my attention. A girl turned her senior class into Zombies right before prom?! Sounded like a fun kind of silly. I liked that the book was light. I wasn’t in the mood for a scary zombie book. Mia and her best friend Candice kept the theme light and funny. I guess you could say Chase the zombie hunter and Mia don’t start on the same page. His job was to kill zombies, and Mia wanted to keep her friends alive even though they were going to turn into zombies and eat her in a few days. How were they going to solve that problem?

The first 30 pages were slow for me, but then things started to pick up and get interesting. I also felt a little disconnected from the main characters. It felt like I could only skim the surface of who they were. I did like the best friend Candice though. She was a hypochondriac always worried she had some disease she would die from. Pretty funny. I stayed interested because the plot was good, and I was curious.

If you’re in the mood for a light zombie book this is the read for you.

Content Ratings: highlight between ( ) to view details
Sexual Content: mild ( kissing, joke about push up bra and slutty shoes )
Language: mild ( God-17, a**-1 )
Violence: mild ( intense moments )