Thursday, December 16, 2010

Review (3): Zombies vs. Unicorns

Zombies vs. Unicorns
Edited by Holly Black & Justine Larbalestier



Release Date: September 21, 2010
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Pages: 418
Source: Library
Author Website: http://www.blackholly.com/ 

It's a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths—for good and evil—of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies. Contributors include many bestselling teen authors, including Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Maureen Johnson, Meg Cabot, Scott Westerfeld, and Margo Lanagan. This anthology will have everyone asking: Team Zombie or Team Unicorn?
_____________________________________________________________________

Why I Read This: It's a book about zombies & unicorns, who woudn't want to read it?

Stories: I really enjoyed reading all of the stories - some more than others - but overall they were pretty good and convincing. Even though they were all either about zombies or unicorns, they all showed the  different aspects of the two topics. Each unicorn story represented the unicorn in a different way; some unicorns were killers, others healers, some "rainbow-farting unicorns". The same thing goes for the zombies; some were man-eating monsters, others just people trapped in their own heads with no way out. Overall, they were all interesting and unique, but my favorites would definitely have to be Purity Test by Naomi Novik (Team Unicorn), The Children of the Revolution by Maureen Johnson (Team Zombie), The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn by Diana Peterfreund (Team Unicorn), Cold Hands by Cassandra Clare (Team Zombie) and Prom Night by Libba Bray (Team Zombie).  There were also some (Inoculata, Cold Hands, Prom Night) that would be awesome if they were expanded into series or just into longer stories. These ones kept me wanting more and wondering what would happen next. 

Dialogue: The commentary before each story was hilarious and very useful. The information that was given really helped me understand the stories better or they were just fun, interesting facts about both of the topics. 

Cover: I love how the picture of the zombie and the unicorn are all you need to figure out what the title is and what the book is about. It basically says it all without really doing anything. 

Overall Impression: Team Zombie!

Rating: * * * 1/2

2 comments:

  1. I've been wanting to read this book, it looks really good!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Everything with Holly Black's name on it is fabulous! Have you read her Tithe series?

    ReplyDelete

I LOVE getting and reading comments. Knowing what you guys have to say really helps me figure out if you are enjoying what I'm posting or not, so thank you.