[Review] Alice In Zombieland (White Rabbit Chronicles #1) by Gena Showalter

Alice in Zombieland

 (White Rabbit Chronicles #1)

by Gena Showalter

Published September 25th 2012 

by Harlequin Teen

Summary Goodreads

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….

I wish I could go back and do a thousand things differently.

I'd tell my sister no.

I'd never beg my mother to talk to my dad.

I'd zip my lips and swallow those hateful words.

Or, barring all of that, I'd hug my sister, my mom and my dad one last time.

I'd tell them I love them.

I wish... Yeah, I wish.

Opening the first pages (figuratively though, I bought the ebook) I was expecting a modern day retelling of Alice In Wonderland. I was trying to put all the characters from the classic story into a modern zombie tale in my head. I have never really enjoyed that story but considering that the word zombie had been included I had to give it a try.  I didn't imagine I'd fall head over heels in love with every word that is plastered onto those pages. I don't think I've stopped reading it long enough to do the housework or feed my kids. (Glad they can feed themselves! LOL). I loved this book!

Zombie novels have become another genre that is being a little over done just like vampires have been. But this is a totally different look into zombies. When Alice Bell, the main character, realizes that her father’s fear of monsters was truer than ever expected. Her new life now consisted of battling those monsters and her drive to kill every one of them that took her family from her. Cole Holland, the bad-boy character who is very swoon worthy from his description in the book, helps Alice find out all there is to know about the monsters that lurk in the shadows.  Alice has to learn to trust Cole and his rough group of friends while they learn to trust her. Alice and Cole have quite the up and down romance in between the zombie killing.  I think it's safe to say this series is my new favorite.

Alice and Cole’s relationship really made the book. I just love the way the two characters play off each other. There conversations are an easy banter of sorts. And their relationship was not to serious and fun to read about. Cole was a baseball cap wearing, bad boy type. But always had Ali’s welfare at heart. Alice was a great heroine. She was fiery and strong and had a great sense of humor so much so that I found myself giggling at some things she said. The other characters were great too. Once they began to trust Ali they all became some what best friends. I loved the roll every one of them played. It was like a great big family. And Kat, what can I say about her. She was great right from the moment she walked into Ali’s hospital room. What a wonderful BFF she was. The grand parents kept me laughing with there desire to be “hip” grandparents. Their slang usage was a high light to the story. You just had to love them!

Gena transfers the reader-what ever age or gender-straight into Alice’s life as she meets her new friends at Archer High. The plot centers around zombies that exist in the spirit world. If you have read any of my reviews you know how much I love the classic, everyday zombie, and at first I wasn't sure about this. I don’t really like to read things about the spirit realm. It’s just one of those things I stay away from.  But this was a totally different view and I was fascinated about how this all worked as I read more and more.  

I really loved this novel. It’s a fresh new look at zombies. And I cannot wait until October 2013 for Through The Zombie Looking Glass. I’ll be waiting!! 

5 Stars!! Without a doubt!