Review: I, Zombie by Jo Michaels

Goodreads Summary:

It's the end of the world as we know it.

Trixie Collins is a normal teen making her way through high school. One night at a party, a boy comes on to her and won't take no for an answer. As she jerks her arm away, his fingernails cut into her skin.

When she finds her dog's mutilated body and realizes she's to blame, she starts to think maybe the zombie apocalypse they've been screaming about on the news isn't a hoax after all. Worse, she begins to think maybe she's one of the infected.

Now it's a fight for life as she joins together with her brethren to stop the humans intent on destroying them. Are zombies all bad, or is it just a huge misunderstanding?

Publication Date: January 8, 2014

Books about zombies always give me a lot to think about and I, Zombie continued this trend for me. I’m always impressed with zombie novels that aren’t simply gore fests, but instead make me think about the human condition. The author created a thought-provoking read by having the narrator not only be a zombie, but starting the novel before Trixie becomes infected.

Trixie was a main character that needed to grow on me. She came across as a little self-righteous as a human so I thought it was awesome when she became infected. As a zombie, I found her much more likable and was glad to see the author continue her theme of featuring strong women. I really liked her best friend Jack and found him my favorite character of the novel. One character I didn’t care for was Trixie’s mom. Her reactions to certain situations seemed a little unbelievable. For instance, Trixie comes home with scratches on her arms and says one of the boys at the party got too touchy-feely. Her mom’s response is to tell her daughter to be more careful. Huh?

The writing was good and the novel is well edited. It moved along at a nice clip and I never found myself bored with the plot. There’s plenty of action as Jack and Trixie run for their lives while the zombie outbreak becomes a showdown between the infected and the non-infected. I could tell the author did her research while writing the novel and found it interesting that she tied the disease to kuru. There were a lot of fun touches too like the creative chapter titles.

I did go through a lot of emotions while reading. I was angry at times and crying at other points. There were a few deaths that were surprises and I liked that there were twists up until the end. It is a zombie novel, so a few out there concepts are expected, but the teens Googling diseases and helping the CDC figure out a cure probably could have been left out. Trixie became a hero in so many other ways I don’t think it was necessary.

All in all, I enjoyed the book and I’d recommend the novel to fans of YA horror novels. There is some violence but I didn’t think it was graphic enough that younger teens couldn’t enjoy the book. I think the author’s recommendation of 13+ is a good guideline.

Rating: 4/5 Stars