Alice in Zombieland- Gina Showalter

Title: Alice in Zombieland 
Author: Gina Showalter
Source: Borrowed from the library
Series: Yes
Rating: 2.5/5















Goodreads Summary:
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

There was a lot of buzz surrounding this book and it sounded like an interesting premise so I was interested in reading it and finding out what it was about. I have to say I was not left feeling satisfied once I finished this book.

The big thing for me was the characters. I had a hard time relating to the main character and I found her childish and frustrating. I understand part of this is her age but I felt like her younger sister was more mature and well rounded while Alice acted like the younger of the two. Alice seems to constantly put herself in situations where she needs to be saved. She continued to make the same mistakes over and over again. The love interest was also not an overly likable character.  He was dark and broody and a little controlling which was not overly appealing. The side characters, including Alice's sister and her friends were the ones who really made the story.

The premise and the beginning of the story captured my attention immediately. The story starts with Alice losing her parents and her sister. She is taken in by her grandparents who were not a pleased when Alice's mother married her father. She meets a girl in the summer who becomes her friend at school  and introduces her inadvertently to  Cole who makes Alice see unusual things. 

I do have a copy of the second book and I will eventually get to reading it. I thought the story was ok.  I hope there will be more development and growth in the next book in this series.