Customer Reviews

Zombie Queen of Newbury High

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was fast-paced and fun. I'm a vampire girl myself, and have never read any zombie books before, so this was a good place to start.

I have to say, I love all these authors that mention Buffy and Angel. The references in Zombie Queen left me with a huge grin on my face, and I think even Joss Whedon himself would be proud.

I particularly liked the characters of hypochondriac best friend Candice, and tall, dark and loveable Chase. Both were intergral to Mia saving the senior class, and both came through like an honorary member of the scooby gang. I also loved the humour throughout the book, which included witty one-liners that made me think I was watching an episode of Buffy. The dialogue was quick and quippy, which made the story flow at an easy and enjoyable pace.

I'd recommend this if you're a fan of Buffy and Supernatural, or if you just want to read a quick, entertaining book.

Prom is a big deal, especially if you're asked by the football god himself. So, when Mia is asked by Rob to prom, she is ecstatic. That is until the super evil cheerleader, Samantha has a problem with her date and decides to swoop in on Rob. Mia feels that she needs to get Rob's attention back, but she just doesn't know what will do it. But, Mia's best friend, Candice has an idea. You see, Candice is a hypochondriac and she has to get all kinds of special vitamins and more to make sure that she stays healthy. Candice suggests that Mia goes with her and see if there's a love spell that the store can provide her with. When they get to the store, a weird witch looking lady waits on them. That should have been Mia's first clue to run out of there, but she doesn't.

After the spell is done, things start to look up for Mia. Well, except people start to act a little funny around her, especially the new guy, Chase. He seems to think that her little love spell has turned the senior class into zombies. Mia is a huge Buffy fan, but isn't zombies a little far fetched? Well, apparently not. That means in about four days they will all be zombies and eat Mia, that is unless Mia and Chase can save the day. Now, let's see if Mia can fix what she did in time to save the senior prom and her skin.

Zombies are in. Seriously. I'm loving that vampires are moving over for the new paranormal books! Zombie Queen is a great new and original story. I love Mia and her crazy friend Candice. They are very easy to relate to and you can't help but to feel for poor Mia, when Samantha steps in. Ashby keeps the story more on the realistic side of paranormal, so it's not as far fetched as you might imagine. Ashby keeps the story rolling with a lot of action in it and keeps you anticipating about the prom and how everything will turn out. A very fun and light read!

re posted at http://writersblockreviews.blogspot.com

What do you do when the most popular boy in school who, for some unexplained reason, acted like he wanted to be your boyfriend only to suddenly start snubbing you for the soon-to-be prom queen? Well, you buy a love spell from a batty old lady in a hole in the wall magic shop, of course! In Mia's case, however, she just might have accidentally, inadvertently, totally didn't mean to turn popular guy, prom queen, her best friend, and the rest of the student body into flesh-eating zombies out to devour her (their queen) as the first course in a creepy zombie flesh-fest. Oops. Luckily, Chase, the strange know-it-all in science class, does double duty as a paranormal containment secret agent and is prepared to help Mia reverse the spell...or slaughter the soon to be zombie-turned student body before they turn into full-fledged zombies and start eating the living. You know, whichever.

Billed as an homage to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a light-hearted satirical take on the paranormal romance genre, Zombie Queen makes a good effort but ultimately falls short of the mark. Though there were a few laugh out loud scenes, the book lacked the snappy dialogue and witty one-liners of Buffy. The constant Buffy mentions, meant to elevate the book, served more to remind the reader of the far superior show and how much this book lacked in contrast. Though the show was mentioned often, there weren't really any inside references or jokes that fans of Buffy would appreciate and enjoy identifying.

Forgetting Buffy, however, Zombie Queen does a good job of poking fun at the paranormal romance genre. The ribbing was cute and upbeat without being cruel or derisive. Mia and Chase don't make the best romantic leads (there wasn't much chemistry and their personalities weren't really developed much), but they're more than adequate in providing humor. The funniest character by far was Mia's hypochondriac best friend who convinced Mia to buy the spell and finds herself turning into a zombie.

This is a light, quick, and fun read that I do recommend. Just don't expect Buffy.

Mia Everett could not believe her luck! The cutest boy in school, Rob, went on SIX dates with her and asked her to the prom! All of her dreams come tumbling down when pretty, popular, cheerleader Samantha Griffin sets her sights on him to get the prom queen tiara. She always gets what she wants. So, Mia is completely desperate and enlists the aid of her faithful (and hypochondriac) friend, Candice. Together, they procure a love spell and perform it at a school assembly. Mia is convinced that it worked because everyone is suddenly nice to her and bringing her lots of tasty treats. Later, she finds out from Chase Miller, undercover agent of the Department of Paranormal Containment, that it did, but not in a way that was expected. She inadvertently turned the senior class in to zombies AND they want to fatten her up and eat her! Can she reverse the spell before it's too late or will Chase have to kill the entire senior class? Will she still have a date to the prom?

This book was really light and fun. I've owned it for a while and when I finally got to it, I read it easily in a day. The language was very fluid and the story flowed very well. The characters all had defined and unique personalities. I think with this type of novel, it's easy to fall back on flat stereotypes, but Amanda Ashby seizes this opportunity to create likable and memorable characters. Mia is my favorite character. Despite her irrational, shallow behavior, I really like her. I relate to her because I too have an obsession with everything Joss Whedon and I wasn't very popular in high school. I had a lot of fun reading her story with all the references to pop culture and her sense of humor. Candice is also a great character, with her hypochondriac tendencies and high intelligence. Her quirkiness is so endearing. I really liked seeing great, detailed characters that still have flaws, but remain likable.

This novel, much like E. Van Lowe's Never Slow Dance with a Zombie, is not just about zombies (although zombies are still awesome). It's really about standing up for your own convictions and being an individual. Mia had to admit to herself that she liked a boy that may not have been as popular as Rob, but has more in common with her, knows her, and loves her for who she is. When trying to solve the problem she created, Mia shows great maturity and even forgets about the petty conflict between her and Samantha until Samantha keeps persisting. Mia shows growth through the novel and learns some valuable lessons.

Zombie Queen of Newbury High by Amanda Ashby was very fun and entertaining to read. There wasn't any zombie carnage, but there was humor, fun, and heart. I would recommend this to anyone, but especially those who aren't into gory horror.

This was a cute YA book. I think it would work well for the younger YA crowd who is into paranormal stories. There wasn't a lot of depth in the book, but it was a nice change from the vampire and werewolf books that I have been reading lately. There really isn't much for me to say about the book. I read it all in one sitting--it was easy to breeze through. The characters were cute and the plot was fun and that's all!

This book was too funny. The premise itself is funny so obviously you'd expect the book to be funny. The whole "we must kill the zombies before they eat us" thing wasn't too dark or anything, but it was serious, and the book provided much comic relief. Mia's hypochondriac friend Candice was especially good at providing comic relief, with all her worries about what disease she had that week.

I loved pretty much everything about Mia. She was delightfully flawed and realistic. Her Buffy obsession, fear of heights, annoyance toward her sister, and her actual need for help to fight the zombies made her especially relate-able.

Also, I liked all the broken cliches in this book. I loved how Mia wasn't popular, but was still dating Super Popular Boy. I also liked how the zombies didn't just automatically go around eating people, but rather, they had to go through stages before they became flesh eating beasts.

I don't really have much else to say about this one, except that I really really liked it and highly recommend it.

Mia Everett is just a normal teenage girl: she fears heights, she loves the Buffy series, she has a crush on the hottest guy in school, she's the neighbor of the popular cheerleader, her sister is a popular wannabe, and...

She turned all of the seniors - and even some teachers - into flesh-eating zombies through a love potion gone wrong.

That's when Chase comes into the picture. He's always been the quiet, anti-social guy in her Biology class, but when he comes to her saying that she didn't perform a love potion - that she really performed a spell that turned her classmates and best friend, Candice, into zombies - well, she immediately starts to fall for her knight in shining armor.

And if all of this wasn't enough to take in, Mia also has to worry about her prom, which is just days away! Will she be able to cure her classmates, and her prom date, before the actual dance? And if not, what will happen to her friends and the students? Will they really become zombies? And why do all of them seem to salivate whenever she's around?

Amanda Ashby writes a very entertaining and quick read about a teenage protagonist who has to fix the catastrophic problem she created - or else she'll never be able to enjoy the ball with Prince Charming. Many readers will be able to relate to Mia and her quirky ways, and others will simply fall in love with her witty humor. And if that doesn't work, there are always hunks Rob and Chase.

ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEWBURY HIGH deserves the five stars. This is a very original story that isn't too far-fetched that teenage readers can't relate at all - it's the perfect mix of reality and imagination.

Reviewed by: Steph

Oh boy, what is there to say? Usually, when sitting down to write a review, I am enthusiastic about picking apart the novel and figuring out what worked and what didn't. Only, with Zombie Queen, I'm not at all excited. Why? I think part of it has to do with the fact that I found it incredibly difficult to finish the book. Another reason may have to do with the fact that I am SO ready to move on to something else.

So what went wrong? Well, for starters, the characters were an issue from page one. I had difficult discerning Candice from Mia and found both characters very forgettable. Actually, I found all of the characters forgettable. With third person omniscient, I think it's imperative the author create unique characters and give the readers reason to care for them, especially since we aren't given the opportunity to slip into the protagonist's shoes like with first person narrative. So when that doesn't happen, as with Zombie Queen, it makes for a boring read.

The story itself is very linear and easy to follow, bumping the rating from one star to two. Though, for a more tenured reader, this book will probably be far too predictable and formulaic. There's no strong language, drinking or sexual themes, so it's absolutely suitable for the tween market but more savvy teens may find it a bit boring. Like with Vampire Stalker things happened in a clockwork manner, precisely when and how I expected them to. No surprises. None.

There's really not much more to say.

Also reviewed on my blog, the Vintage Bookworm. ([...])

Zombie Queen of Newbury High was really good. It wasn't the best zombie book I've read, but it was really pretty fun to read.

It's a very quick read, I finished it in one day (Which is hard for me to do nowadays with my son!). The writing was pretty good, I will definitely be reading more from Ashby sometime soon, hopefully. I kind of wish there was a sequel to this book because I want to know more about Mia and Chase, but I know that probably won't happen. Boo!

I absolutely LOVED Chase, I was rooting for him throughout the whole book! And ah, Candice. You gotta love her hypochondriac craziness; she's hilarious! I'd so get along with her if she was my best friend. =) Didn't really like much of the other characters, which doesn't completely matter since they weren't the main ones or anything. If that makes sense.

Every time I thought. "Woohoo! They've figured it out!" something else happened and it threw that thought away. I saw a few parts coming, but not all of them. Which was good. Sometimes people think that if you throw some sort of paranormal element, or creature, into a novel it has to be all serious. Don't get me wrong, though, I love a lot of the serious ones, but it is refreshing to read one that is just plain fun and not so serious. I mean, they are put into a crisis, but they still kind of have fun with it.

Overall, it was a great read. I would recommend it to zombie fans, it's definitely another new take on zombies. But it wasn't a favorite. But I will remember it.

The story it's self was pretty good. About half way through the book, I thought that not much else could happen since they resolved all the issues, but then, the author threw in some mini twists that kept it alive and interesting. Sure, the book was predictable, but I liked the little creative parts the author put in that gave it diversity. The only part about the book I didn't like was the ending.I just thought that at some points, the author sped things up, or just threw things in to make the story make more sense. I understand why she did it, I just thought that it moved a little fast.

The personality of the character really held my attention. I could relate to Mia with the whole 'I have a huge crush on the blond popular boy', because what girl hasn't?, but I don't think I'll ever turn my school into zombies while trying to make him love me. Anyways, I thought she was witty and I liked her attitude.