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Alice in Zombieland (White Rabbit Chronicles, #1)

Gena Showalter

Start date: November 1, 2012

Finish date: November 30, 2012

Discussion: Book of the Month

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Sep 23, 2015 Tricia Schneider rated it liked it

Shelves: borrowed, young-adult, urban-fantasy, zombies, pnr, paranormal

I looked at this book about three times before I finally picked it up to read. The cover was eye-catching, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to read a YA novel at the time. However, the whole zombie storyline intrigued me, so I decided to give it a try. The beginning of Alice Bell's story really connected with me. Her family died, the people whom she loved most were lost to her and she had to come to grips with that reality. I felt her pain and her desolation. It was intriguing that her father could I looked at this book about three times before I finally picked it up to read. The cover was eye-catching, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to read a YA novel at the time. However, the whole zombie storyline intrigued me, so I decided to give it a try. The beginning of Alice Bell's story really connected with me. Her family died, the people whom she loved most were lost to her and she had to come to grips with that reality. I felt her pain and her desolation. It was intriguing that her father could see monsters that no one else could see. After the tragic accident that killed her parents, Alice was able to see these same monsters, too.

I liked the story so far. It was a great premise. The beginning chapter really drew me into the story and I wanted to know more. Alice moved in with her grandparents and had to adjust to life without her family while attending a new school. When she meets Cole Holland, she experiences visions of their future together. This explains their instant attraction to each other. Alice, who now goes by the nickname Ali, gets to know the kids in school as well as the teachers and staff.

Ali begins to see zombies outside of her grandparent's house. Other things go on which lead her to believe that she might not be the only one who can see these monsters. Slowly, as the plot unfolds, she learns that Cole and his group of boys can not only see the zombies, but they fight them as well. Not only that, but they have a rival faction who wants to experiment with these zombies. All the while, Ali must figure out what her feelings for Cole mean and if they can have a relationship together while battling zombies.

I enjoyed reading about Alice and her struggle with dealing with the death of her family and battling the zombies. I liked that the zombies weren't re-animated corpses, but were the spirits of the people who had been infected with evil. It was a unique idea and that's why only very few people could see the zombie spirits. Only those people who had the ability to see into the spirit world. However, the thing that bothered me was that this particular school had so many members who could not only see the zombies as well as Alice, but were willing to put their life on the line to fight them. It seemed a bit of a stretch for believability.

This was the first book in the White Rabbit Chronicles. I'd also like to add that the story was written in first person point of view which I love to read. I'm interested to see what else is in store for Alice and her new friends, as well as her relationship with Cole. ...more

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Nov 16, 2012 Christina T rated it liked it

Shelves: zombies, ya

What started out as a really decent paranormal YA ended with a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of suppositions on my part.

What Worked: Gena Showalter's idea of 'Ghost' zombies is unusual and interesting. They are essentially soul eaters that infect the living. She wrote the idea very well and I never had any question as to their existence. It made sense and it was exciting but then it got muddled.

What Didn't Work: Although her zombie concept was great and well explained it appears that the What started out as a really decent paranormal YA ended with a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of suppositions on my part.

What Worked: Gena Showalter's idea of 'Ghost' zombies is unusual and interesting. They are essentially soul eaters that infect the living. She wrote the idea very well and I never had any question as to their existence. It made sense and it was exciting but then it got muddled.

What Didn't Work: Although her zombie concept was great and well explained it appears that the readers of the series have to wait to see every other question answered as Ali, herself, figures them out. We don't know why some people can see the ghost-zombies and some can't. We have no idea how they have special abilities to fight them either. Alice is often reading a journal but we have no idea where it came from or who wrote it. We find there are beings called Watchers but don't know exactly what they are or how they came to exist either. So a biiiiiiiig minus in the world building column.

Also, some of the characters come across extremely immature. Ali's new friend Kat has secrets that are just silly to keep. It's not like she secretly killed her algebra teacher or anything. She also is pretty obnoxious which Ali just loves about her but she actually comes across as annoying. The two of them have a couple of friends who bail at the first sign of trouble and apparently come back with open arms when the coast is clear and yet, they still are friends. It's weird.

The relationship between Ali and Cole is pretty explosive too. Their chemistry is pretty intense and reading about her wrapping her legs around his waist as they kissed made me a bit uncomfortable because they seem so young. I know teenagers do make out (and more) but I thought this aspect of the book seemed out of place and a little more advanced than the rest of the book portrayed the kids. They did talk about sex a few times which could be seen as mature but as I mentioned it just didn't fit. By the way, one discussion about sex between Kat and Ali was just weird and I'm not sure why it was included except to bring Kat's untruths to our notice.

What REALLY Didn't Work: The title is Alice in Zombieland which leads readers to believe this just might be an Alice in Wonderland retelling. Not so much. There are some basic things, like our heroine being very blond and named Alice and she keeps seeing a white rabbit (in the form of a big puffy cloud) but the idea of Alice in Wonderland is more figurative and not literal. This will be a big turn off for those who would love a retelling.

In a Nutshell: Not what I expected based on the title. Because of this and the lack of explanation of a whole lot of concepts this book was a disappointment and I'm not sure I'll even pick up the next book. ...more

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Apr 05, 2015 Adele rated it liked it

very frustrating. its a YA book, that might be great for some people but not for me.
it got my attention then it lost it, got it, lost it. that was the whole book experience for me. it left me frustrated.
i like the story between Ali and Cole. i might revisit it at another stage to see if the book still frustates me... i dont know why i just wanted to scream when it hit another boring bit. the last half of the book i marathon read, and that was good. it was just the first half of the book.

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Oct 07, 2012 Netanella rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: zombies, young-adult, urban-fantasy

Well, this isn't really a zombie book, and it's not really "Alice in Wonderland" - it's a lovely mish-mash of the author's imagination that works well and tells an entertaining story. Fans of the author are used to her paranormal erotica, and this is definitely not. There's high school young adult romance going on, with lots of smooching and high school rumors flying. Of course, since there are monsters - the zombies, that is, and the high school slayers of said zombies, there are lots of fists ...more

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Mar 12, 2016 Nancy rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal, irritating-heroine

I know a load of people have said how great this book was, but it just wasn't for me. I did get to the end (just) but it really was torture. I love paranormal romance and I don't mind a bit of YA but this started out annoying and ended up just stereotypical and silly.

I think my biggest problem of all was with Alice, or Ali as she insisted on being called. She was irritating, vacuous, snarky, and generally a horrible person. Now, I did wonder whether there could be a bit of a culture clash here? I know a load of people have said how great this book was, but it just wasn't for me. I did get to the end (just) but it really was torture. I love paranormal romance and I don't mind a bit of YA but this started out annoying and ended up just stereotypical and silly.

I think my biggest problem of all was with Alice, or Ali as she insisted on being called. She was irritating, vacuous, snarky, and generally a horrible person. Now, I did wonder whether there could be a bit of a culture clash here? I was brought up in Australia then spent 20 years living in Britain, so perhaps what I see as acceptable behaviour differs from what is seen as acceptable in the US. Being loud-mouthed, sarcastic, judgemental, pushy and generally obnoxious just doesn't strike me as being attractive or desirable. Even in a teenager. And I can't believe that that is what girls are supposed to be like in the US. Since when was that seen as the kind of thing a guy would instantly fall for and which would secure you best friends within minutes?

Ali's friend, Kat, was almost a caricature of annoying, and as for Cole, I'm not entirely sure why he was at school (did he actually go to any classes?). None of the characters were three dimensional - they were just cookie cut, 'this is what a teenager should be like' which struck me as being written so teenagers would go 'yeah, ha ha, adults wouldn't get it'. You're right. Adults, and anyone thinking like an adult wouldn't get it. I also got utterly irritated by all of the going to church references. Sorry, but I don't care. It does not take the plot or the action forward at all. It just felt like the author was desperate to slip her own beliefs into the book whether anyone cared or not. I understand the author is quite religious and that's great, but I don't ordinarily read paranormal romance to hear someone's moralising over sex before marriage.

As such, I think that this is the last I'll read of both this series and this author. I am sure it works for plenty of people, but it certainly did nothing for me. ...more

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