Review: The Zombie Playground by Brian Rowe

                                    Goodreads description:Brin Skar has had a rough couple of weeks. She barely survived the grisly vampire attack in Bodie Ghost Town, the mysterious Paul is now a guest in her own home, and her dad Kristopher, dead for over a year, has emerged from the grave to try to kill his only daughter. After two somber funerals and the baffling disappearance of her Film teacher, Brin decides she needs a break from all the pain and heartache. And what’s a better escape than a round of golf at the brand new Macabre Golf Course? But as soon as Brin and her friends hit the links, strange noises and bizarre sightings begin to occur. And unfortunately for the group, the vampire encounter is going to seem like child’s play… especially when the zombies come out to play!

Like the first in this series, The Zombie Playground was a super amazing fast-paced read. This is one of those stories where you’re never left bored because there’s always some kind of action happening. I really enjoyed it and think others will as well.

Brin is this funny teenage girl that has a lot to deal with. Somehow she pulls through and manages to make some witty jokes along the way. I love Brin as a main character and I love the other characters also. Yes, even Anaya- the girl who takes jabs at others because she’s insecure with herself. I’ve grown to like her because I see that while technically the entire situation is her fault to begin with due to her insistence in the first book, she still ends up saving others much of the time.

There is a teeny love triangle. Oh, do not worry. It’s not mushy and stuff like others. Honestly you can hardly tell there’s an underlying romance. This series revolves mostly around a group of friends who encounter a bunch of mysterious paranormal activity in their town and there just happens to be relationships along the way.

Like I said, little romance. It’s basically a horror/comedy. I. Love. It. There’s never a dull moment. Most “horrors” I’ve read do actually focus on the romance. Not this. Nope. The monsters are gross and just all around awesome.

My one complaint is the believability. You’re trying to tell me that all of a sudden there’s just vampires and zombies running around this town? How did they get there? Why are they just now showing up? Didn’t take away from my love of the story, but I feel like these should be answered.

But obviously, I’d recommend this to those who enjoy a good, gruesome story. In the words of the Doctor this was…

Good job, Brian Rowe, good job.

W.W.W. Wednesdays (25)

To play along just answer the following three (3) questions and leave your link at Should Be Reading:

1. What are you currently reading?

2. What did you recently finish reading?

3. What do you think you'll read next?

Review: The Vampire Underground by Brian Rowe

Goodreads description:

16-year-old Brin Skar hates everything to do with the supernatural, so the obsessive film geek isn't happy when she discovers that her junior year Film class at Grisly High is devoted to the horror genre. She's even more disconcerted when she learns that six groups in the class will be writing and directing their very own horror movies.

Brin and five classmates travel to Bodie Ghost Town in California to shoot their creepy film, but they soon find themselves fighting a real terrifying threat when a clan of mean, bloodthirsty vampires emerge from beneath the surface and start attacking the group. The teens, headed by Brin and the egotistical director Anaya Frost, have no help from the outside and become outnumbered by the vampires a hundred to one.

But when Brin meets Paul, a helpful and smoldering vampire outcast who's had enough of his shameful life, she realizes he might be the only key to her survival.

Purchase on Amazon: The Vampire Underground

Positive:

• Evil vampires- YES THANK YOU! There are so many books with vampires that are trying to be good and normal and fall in love with the human girl so it is extremely nice to find one with a whole town of evil vampires.

• Film class- I wish my school had one of these! Wouldn’t it be nice to sit in class and watch movies all year?? The only bad thing is most kids would end up falling asleep. But not me! J Seriously, though. It would have still been a great story if it was just about a girl’s journey through a film class.

• Horror- So ironic. The main character, Brin, absolutely detests the horror genre. And then she’s takes this film class- the highlight of her high school career- and it turns out the teacher is obsessed with the genre. Subsequently he makes the class make horror movies, which, erm, doesn’t end up so well for a certain group of students. Funny, after I read this, all I wanted to do was watch a bunch of horror movies. How sucky is it that we have, like, NO scary movies at all?? Bleh L

• Open homosexuality- I’m trying to phrase this the right way…. There was homosexuality present in the book. No, you don’t get full-on details about it. It’s just some references and jokes that, honestly, I didn’t find would be offensive. Too many authors shy away from this topic, or maybe just don’t convey it right. It was good to see that Brian Rowe could depict homosexuality perfectly. Like it or not, there ARE gay kids in high school, and it needs to be written about more.

Negative:

•  Some word choice- The wording wasn’t bad, really. I just feel the need to point out that there were some words I came across that don’t really fit the target audience. Mostly there were a few at the very beginning. I’d say five words at the most could have been changed. Like I said, it wasn’t bad and didn’t ruin the story at all.

• Fat jokes- I personally was not offended, but an antagonist in the story was, well, overweight, and the other characters took advantage of that. I could see how some people could be easily offended by the jokes and words of some characters.

• The length- Okay, this is a bit of a contradiction. About halfway through the book, when all the action started, I thought “All right, how is this going to last another 100 pages?” and I kept wanting to get to the end. And then I got to the end and I wanted more! So I’m not sure if I’d have preferred it to be shorter or longer.

All I can say now is, this is a story I would definitely recommend. I was so caught up in it from page one. I cannot wait for #2!