The Readventurer
  • Home
  • YA Reviews
  • Adult Reviews
  • Contests and Giveaways
  • Policies
  • About Us
    • Flannery's Challenges
    • Catie's Challenges
  • Contact Us

Zombies vs. Unicorns by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (eds.)

2/6/2012

0 Comments

 
Zombies vs. Unicorns cover
Zombies vs. Unicorns
Editors: Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier
Publication Date: 9/21/10
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry

Blurb (GR)
: It's a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths--for good and evil--of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies. Contributors include many bestselling teen authors, including Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Maureen Johnson, Meg Cabot, Scott Westerfeld, and Margo Lanagan. This anthology will have everyone asking: Team Zombie or Team Unicorn?

Review:
__And the winner is...


TEAM ZOMBIES!


zombie nom
Frankly, I have no interest in zombies and unicorns, I just don't, and especially in unicorns. But I was induced to give this anthology a chance mostly by many of my GR friends' positive reviews. They didn't let me down. Unlike almost all multi-author collections, this one is very strong.

The zombie stories are almost consistently very good. The weakest, expectedly, is Cassandra Clare's necrophilic Cold Hands. Not only is it written poorly, but it has a fundamental flaw in logic - why aren't bodies of the deceased simply burned? Wouldn't that stop all the town's problems?

The rest of the stories are great though.

Alaya Dawn Johnson managed to convince me zombies can be sexually attractive (that's a first!) in her Love Will Tear Us Apart, points added for boy/boy love story, points taken away for crassness and excessive use of the f-word.

Carrie Ryan's Bougainville is a million times better than the only novel of hers I've read (The Forest of Hands and Teeth). Great survival story with a twisty ending, no nauseating love triangles and quadrangles and the heroine is actually likable.

The Children of the Revolution by Maureen Johnson is about creepy zombie kiddies and a freaky celebrity.

Scott Westerfeld's Inoculata left me yearning for more. The whole idea of people mutating to co-exist with zombies is fascinating. There is also some girl on girl action.

The most bleak story is saved for the end. Libba Bray's teen survivors don't have much to look forward to after Prom Night is over.

Ironically, both my most and least favorite stories are about unicorns. Garth Nix's The Highest Justice and Naomi Novik's Purity Test are half-baked creations that they probably threw together in minutes. Nothing original or exciting about them.

Meg Cabot's Princess Prettypants, as you can expect from the title, is a pure silliness and fluff, but the writing is very engaging and I have a soft spot for Meg's characters.

The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn definitely needs a better title, but the unicorn in this story is super-cute in spite of having sharp teeth and being carnivorous. Maybe I should give Diana Peterfreund's novels a try?

And finally, the best! The unicorn in Kathleen Duey's The Third Virgin is a hardcore addict! And Margo Lanagan's A Thousand Flowers is full of deliciously gory stuff like rape, bestiality, murder and child birth. Only fans of Tender Morsels should proceed with this one.

So yay for creepy unicorns as well!

(This one is up to no good) 
Unicorn and Woman dancing
4/5 stars
Readventurer T Signature
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    November 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011

    Categories

    All
    Abuse
    Addiction
    Angels
    Anthologies
    Audiobooks
    Aussie Ya
    Boarding School
    Bullying
    Cancer
    Catie's Y.A. Reviews
    Catie's Y.a. Reviews
    Christmas
    Contemporary Ya
    Cowboys
    Crime Solving
    Cross-dressing
    Deafness
    Death And Dying
    Depression
    Divorce
    Drugs And Alcohol
    Dystopia
    Dystopian
    Fairy Tales
    Family Issues
    Fantasy
    Favorites
    Friendship
    Frustrating
    Funny
    Geniuses
    Ghosts
    Graphic Novel
    Graph/Pic Review
    High School
    Historical Fiction
    Illness
    Illustrated
    Lgbtq
    Magic
    Middle Grade Fiction
    Music
    Mystery
    Necromancer
    Newbery Medal
    Paranormal
    Parent Issues
    Problems
    Psychiatric Issues
    Published: 1963
    Published: 1978
    Published: 1991
    Published: 1992
    Published: 1994
    Published: 1998
    Published: 1999
    Published: 2000
    Published: 2002
    Published: 2003
    Published: 2004
    Published: 2005
    Published: 2006
    Published: 2007
    Published: 2008
    Published: 2009
    Published: 2010
    Published: 2011
    Published: 2012
    Publisher: Aladdin
    Publisher: Allen & Unwin
    Publisher: Black Dog Books
    Publisher: Blackstone Audio
    Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
    Publisher: Brilliance Audio
    Publisher: Candlewick Press
    Publisher: Candlewick Press
    Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab
    Publisher: David Fickling Books
    Publisher: Delacorte
    Publisher: Delacorte
    Publisher: Del Rey
    Publisher: Dial
    Publisher: Dutton
    Publisher: Farrar Straus And Giroux
    Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
    Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
    Publisher: Feral Dream
    Publisher: First Second
    Publisher: Harlequin
    Publisher: Harper Children's Audio
    Publisher: HarperCollins
    Publisher: HarperTeen
    Publisher: Henry Holt
    Publisher: Hyperion
    Publisher: Katherine Tegan
    Publisher: Knopf
    Publisher: Lee & Low Books
    Publisher: Little Brown
    Publisher: Lothian Books
    Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
    Publisher: Penguin Australia
    Publisher: Point
    Publisher: Puffin
    Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
    Publisher: Scholastic
    Publisher: Simon Pulse
    Publisher: Simon Spotlight
    Publisher: St. Martin
    Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
    Publisher: Subterranean Press
    Publisher: Tor
    Publisher: Viking Australia
    Publisher: Viking Juvenile
    Publisher: Young Picador
    Pusblisher: Arthur A. Levine
    Relationships
    Religion
    Reviewed: 2010
    Reviewed: 2011
    Reviewed: 2012
    Road Trip
    Romance
    Science Fiction
    Setting: Boston
    Setting: California
    Setting: Canada
    Setting: China
    Setting: England
    Setting: Germany
    Setting: Minnesota
    Setting: New Jersey
    Setting: New York
    Setting: Ohio
    Setting: Oregon
    Setting: Paris
    Setting: Pennsylvania
    Setting: Prague
    Setting: Seattle
    Setting: Seattle
    Setting: Turkey
    Setting: Virginia
    Setting: Washington
    Setting: Wyoming
    Sex
    Sexual Abuse
    Short Stories
    Space
    Surfing
    Time Travel
    Unicorns
    Urban Fantasy
    Vampires
    Verse
    War
    Werewolves
    World Building
    Young Adult
    Young Adults
    Zombies

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.