Customer Reviews

You Are So Undead to Me

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Stacey Jay made my first exposure to the wonderful world of zombie literature a fun one! I always think of Michael Jackson's Thriller video when I think of zombies. Not that has any significance for this review, but I just felt like throwing that out there, because that's how I kept imagining the zombies when I was reading this novel. I thought the whole Settler society was a very interesting and unique! And Jay does a remarkable job depicting it.

I was expecting a darker theme, but it ended up being lighthearted and funny. There's a steady dose of suspense, action, humor and romance which always makes for a good read. Megan is a typical teenage girl, I mean except for the whole helping the undead thing. But that is what makes You are so Undead to Me such a charming read!

I had no idea who the culprits were! Now that I know, I don't know why I didn't figure it out earlier, but I was just at oblivious as Megan! I love when a novel baffles me like that. Stacey Jay has written an impressive debut novel and I'm looking forward to reading more by her!

As if high school isn't difficult all on its own, Megan Berry is being stalked by the Undead. Being a Zombie Settler, thanks to the powers passed down by her mother, means getting visits from walking corpses in need of a little help getting their unfinished business finished. Try hiding that from a date! But after a traumatic attack by Reanimated Corpses--think evil blood-hungry zombies made by black magic--five years ago, Megan hasn't been manifesting her powers. Until of course she's all set to join Carol High School's pom squad, date the hottest guy in school and get him to be her homecoming date.

That's when the trouble starts and Megan has to start caring about her duties as a Settler again. Then Reanimated Corpses start popping up and attacking people who are close to Megan. It wouldn't be so bad if she wasn't suspicious of her fellow Settler and rival Monica but unable to prove that she was the one causing the attacks. Afterall, she does get to be protected and tutored in her Settler powers by her childhood crush, Ethan, that can't be all bad. Now if only she can prove to the Elders of Settler's Affairs that she's got the right person pegged before an army of hungry zombies ruins homecoming!

It's not everyday that I just pick up a book based off of the coverart. The cute title definitely piqued my interest and I'm glad it caught my eye because this was one book I really enjoyed from start to finish. There aren't enough zombie books out there for the young adult audience and You Are So Undead to Me definitely delivers the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to walking corpses. The world of Zombie Settlers is a little wobbly as a whole but with more books in the series on the way I think we'll get a stronger foundation of the what, where, who, and why of the group who settles the undead.

Megan is a likable girl with basic aspirations your average teen girl might be after. She and her best friend work on their dance routines for cheerleading try-outs, she crushes on the hot senior football player and just wants to have a hot date for the homecoming dance. Much like another urban fantasy heroine, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, she really doesn't want the responsibilities she's been given. Thus she makes some bad decisions, mistakes and yep, she pays for them. There were some really good didn't-see-that-coming plot twists and plenty of action to keep a less-enthusiast reader entertained.

Overall, I really adored this book. It was fun, humorous and a little dark. Jay blended great elements to make a story teens will love and adults can enjoy too. (A note to parents: this one was pretty clean, not a lot of bad language and just kissing if you're looking into it for a younger reader).

Nicely paced zombie YA. A fun read, but the voice was a little too adult-writing-as-a-teen for me. It bothered me that the 15-year-old Megan was dating a college guy. I did like the concept behind the book, even if it felt like a deviation of Buffy.

This is SUCH a fun and cute read!

Megan Berry is a Zombie 'settler'. Basically she helps the undead settle into the afterlife.

"Welcome to your after-death session. My name is Megan. May I have your name, last name first?" -Megan doing her opening spiel.

Megan has been out of the zombie settling game for 5 years, when suddenly- right before her date with Mr. HOT senior Josh- a zombie shows up at her door ringing the doorbell.

Here's the deal. Once the zombie tells the settler whatever it is that has them bothered enough to CRAWL back from the dead, then they are good to go and head back to the grave.

WICKED interesting twist on the whole 'zombie' thing right?

But zombies CAN be brought back by dark witchcraft and these particular RC's (reanimated corpses) are very very bad and very very dangerous. Someone is raising RC's... and now Megan's childhood best friend Ethan (who is insanely hot now) is back and has decided to be her "pretend" boyfriend in order to protect her from these rogue RC's.

Dude, I know right? I WILL NOT tell you who is behind raising the RC's, but you won't freaking believe it! And the end was full of so many wicked awesome twists that I cannot WAIT to start Undead Much!

This isn't the type of book that comes with any original material or an exciting storyline, but if you're into the woes of teenage life with a supernatural setting, this is your book. The first thing that hit me while reading this book was that it's very "Buffy" and also very predictable, but I must give Stacey Jay credit for her skill in giving me a "will they or won't they" feeling between Megan and Ethan up until the every end. I was as confused as Megan about Ethan's feelings about her and I have to say that Stacey really captured the feelings of confusion and frustrations of teenage love we all feel sometime throughout our youth, but with the exception of that I can't really say I enjoyed being with Megan while she dealt with balancing her school life and her settler duties. She came off to me as a bit spoiled and self-centered who badly needed to "grow up" and put her priorities in order even if she was kinda forced into this lifestyle. She was also very hard to root for when she seemed to put her social life WAY above things that obviously needed her attention more and came off as the girl you're supposed to hate while reading a story. I can't say I enjoyed this book very much, but I can see there being a target group of readers who would enjoy reading this book. I would place this story as a "good try" on Stacey Jay's part for a first book, but I think, along with Megan Berry, Stacey Jay's writing badly needs some growing up to do.

Megan Berry is just an average, normal teenager, except for the fact that she is a zombie settler. Normal zombies are not the Night of the Living Dead, flesh eating variety. They are merely dead kids with unresolved issues who then go to settlers to get those issues of their chest and to be laid to rest. Megan just wants to be a normal teenager who goes on dates not interrupted by the undead and join the pom squad at school. However, someone else has other plans for her. Zombies of the flesh eating variety are only raised by black magic and are called reanimated corpses. When these creatures start attacking people around Megan, she has to find out who is doing and stop them before someone dies. Is it Monica, the vindictive popular girl who has it in for Megan? Or someone else entirely? And will Megan's social life stay intact through it all?

Stacey Jay has created a fresh, new take on zombies that I have never seen before. It's such an over-flooded genre right now, so this is like a breath of fresh air for me. The secret society of settlers was intriguing and also ominous at times. The story was a great mix of suspense, horror, romance, action, and mystery punctuated with moments of humor. The book was similar to Buffy the Vampire Slayer in that there is a girl who has a supernatural calling and tries to balance that job and her normal life. However, the narrative still held its own as a unique story by the strength and individuality of Megan.

I related to Megan, the narrator and main character. She was a teenager with crushes on boys and freakouts about what people at school will think about her. It's expected, but it didn't overpower the novel (which would have been annoying). There were no temper tantrums or super dramatic teen angst. She was very sensible and intelligent. She had depth and a traumatic past involving reanimated corpses. She also knew when to let go of the superficial in order to save people when the situation became really dangerous. She had depth and a traumatic past involving reanimated corpses. I was also enamored and intrigued with the ever changing relationship between Megan and Ethan. I could completely understand her confusion with his behavior and his feelings for her. I was completely emotionally invested in these characters.

You Are So Undead to Me was a great read. I had a lot of fun trying to figure out the mystery before Megan, but ended up being totally blindsided. Stacey Jay's writing flowed well and really sucked me in. If you like supernatural fiction, this book is the one for you. I'm really looking forward to the sequel, Undead Much that comes out next month.

Fifteen-year-old Megan Berry thought that she'd been rid of the Settler gig forever. Ever since the zombies attacked her at the age of ten, she hasn't been expected to continue interviewing the regular, nonthreatening undead to help them settle their worldly affairs so they could quietly go back to the grave.

But now, dead guys are showing up on her doorstep again, and even though Megan's Settler powers have returned full-force, picking up the job she inherited from her mother is the last thing Megan wants to worry about. Homecoming looms, and Megan not only has to work on snagging a date with the most popular football player in school, but she also has to avoid confrontation with fellow Settler Monica so that she and her best friend, Jess, can make Pom Squad tryouts.

How is Megan supposed to work her way into Carol High's upper crust if dead people keep interrupting at the most inopportune times?

Homecoming grows even more unlikely for Megan when she learns that someone is using black magic to reanimate corpses into the flesh-eating variety. What's worse is that they seem to be targeting her, and Megan is having a rough enough time just trying to appear normal while easing back into the Settler business.

This unexpected attraction Megan has for the Settler Affairs officer who's been assigned to her case isn't helping much, either, especially when he starts creeping into every aspect of her life. Megan is going to have to work her hardest to figure out what's going on and keep her life in order, before being a Settler manages to destroy it.

This hilarious story has something for every girl who likes monsters, magic, mystery, and a little kick-ass action. I also found it to be an interesting take on zombies, and I look forward to seeing more of Megan in the promised second book.

Reviewed by: Allison Fraclose

I really enjoyed this young adult paranormal. I think it would appeal to most teenagers and it gives a different twist on this genre'. I was getting a little tired of vampire romances and this one was a cute page turner and a quick read.

This book was sort of a guilty pleasure and I'll tell you why. As a writer I feel totally at home in any section of a book store. As a YA writer I certainly don't have a problem keeping an eye on the comings and goings but as a mom in her late twenties getting caught in the tweenies section isn't tops on my 'to-do' list. Thankfully, YOU ARE SO UNDEAD TO ME was absolutely worth the curious glances I got nabbing this book up. Fun, playful, serious, and fresh. I thought Ethan made for a great character and Megan was honest without seeming too flighty teenager. The Settler info was clear and the author didn't bog you down with too much too soon. I will be picking up the next in this serious for sure and I won't even cringe when I catch my next sideways eyebrow lift. I know, right. I'm soooo progressive.

Megan's life was going great--she had a cool new boyfriend, Homecoming was coming up, and a shot at making the pom squad. Then the zombie showed up. Megan had thought that her Settler powers had faded the night of the accident five years ago, but apparently not. Now she's back comforting the Undead who crawl out of their graves and look to her to attend to their unfinished business.

But there's a slight problem: someone's been reanimating corpses, and sending these violent zombies to kill Megan, foiling all her Homecoming plans in the process. She's positive it is nasty Monica who's behind it all, a fellow Settler who has hated her for years and is jealous of the attention that hunky Ethan has been showering on her. But before she makes her case to Settlers' Affairs, Megan will need irrefutable proof...and time is running out.

Stacey Jay has created one whirlwind of a novel. The idea of a secret society of Settlers who mind all the zombies in the world is a unique and fun one, and Jay does an exceptional job depicting it, despite the slightly shaky beginning. The overall tone of the book was very lighthearted, even during the more suspenseful scenes, and sarcastically witty. Megan is a vivacious and energetic character, although her narration may seem a little shallow (her constant obsession with how hot every guy is comes across as realistic, if not a little tiring) and a bit offhand. However, the structure of the book is solid and the mystery baffling. The added shots of hilarious lingo and zombie butt kicking action add the novel's humor and give the book a steady moving pace. Jay offers just enough of Megan and her world to get readers interested, and has laid the groundwork for a sequel, Undead Much?, which will hopefully expand on Megan and her powers, sans the unrelenting boy talk