Review: Bad Taste In Boys by Carrie Harris

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: July 12th, 2012

Someone's been a very bad zombie.
Kate Grable is horrified to find out that the football coach has given the team steroids. Worse yet, the steriods are having an unexpected effect, turning hot gridiron hunks into mindless flesh-eating zombies. No one is safe--not her cute crush Aaron, not her dorky brother, Jonah . . . not even Kate! She's got to find an antidote--before her entire high school ends up eating each other. So Kate, her best girlfriend, Rocky, and Aaron stage a frantic battle to save their town  . . . and stay hormonally human.

(Courtesy of Goodreads)

Okay, so I am firmly Team Zombie (if you don't know what I'm talking about, go read the fantabulous Zombies Vs. Unicorns); they are probably near the top of  my list of favorite paranormal creatures.  When a new YA about zombies comes out, I am always eager to read it.  When I saw this book, I had a double urge to read it because of the cover.  It's awesome.  

Carrie Harris is a 2011 debut author, so I didn't have much by way of expectations, but I decided to give it a go because of the aforementioned reasons, plus the authors that blurbed this book are awesome!  You can't go wrong when the fabulous Andrea Cremer (Nightshade, Wolfsbane), Kiersten White (Paranormalcy, Supernaturally), and Jeri Smith-Ready (Shade, Shift) all give a book positive, gushing reviews like these:

"With this laughing, shrieking riot of a debut, Carrie Harris captured my heart...and my braaaaiins." -Andrea Cremer

"Kate Grable is my new hero. Thanks to Harris's darkly funny, twisted, and sexy tale of high school drama gone un-deadly wrong, I know who I'm calling during the next zombie apocalypse. Science nerds have never been so cool." -Kiersten White

"BAD TASTE IN BOYS is a nonstop romp, with more mayhem than a mall full of mocha-chugging monkeys. I loved watching Kate try to keep her sensible, scientific head amidst rampaging zombies and amorous football players (often the same people). Bring me my next dose of Carrie Harris NOW!" -Jeri Smith-Ready

So, I read it and I really, really liked it.  I liked Kate, the main character A LOT.  She was smart, nerdy, driven, angsty, and best of all, funny!  The supporting characters were great too.  Carrie did a great job with her descriptions, and I could totally picture her lame-ish/awesome brother with his foam sword, her swoon-worthy love interest, her troglodyte-ish football player/zombie ex, the takes-it-a-bit-too-seriously football coach, and her bubbly BFF.  

I laughed many times throughout this book, and am still kind of smirking as I write this review.  The book was an easy read; the plot moved quickly and there was lots of action to go with the laughs.  I loved that Kate is a normal teenage girl with teenagey things on her mind (boys, homework, fitting in), while still managing to be a little different from the norm.  There were a few holes, and a few parts felt a tiny bit rushed, but overall I thought it was really well done.  

Carrie's next book in this series, Bad Hair Day, comes out November 13th, 2012 and I will definitely be reading it for Shanyn over at Chick Loves Lit's Sophomore Reading Challenge.

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 

Grade Level Recommendation:  Pretty mild.  Standard zombie stuff (killing and eating of humans, appendages falling off, etc.).  A couple of make-outs mentioned.  Teen drinking.  Overall though, I think Kate is a great role-model, so I would say this book is fine for grades 7 and up (ages 12+).