by Carrie Harris
3 Stars: A Good Read
Series: Kate Grable #2
Hardback: 240 Pages
Publication: November 13, 2012 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Author | Goodreads | Amazon | Kindle
Senior year is positively hair-raising.
Kate Grable is geeked out to shadow the county medical examiner as part of her school’s pre-med program. Except when he’s arrested for murder, she’s left with the bodies. And when Kate’s brother Jonah stumbles upon a dead gamer girl, she realizes that the zombie epidemic she cured last fall was only the beginning of the weirdness taking over her town. Someone’s murdering kids—something really hairy. And strong. Possibly with claws.
Is it werewolf awesomeness like Jonah and his dorktastic friends think? Kate’s supposed to be a butt-kicking zombie killing genius…but if she can’t figure out who’s behind the freakish attacks, the victims—or what’s left of them—are going to keep piling up.
It’s scary. It’s twisted. It’s sick. It’s high school.
Life can’t stay normal for long if your name is Kate Grable. After the “zombie” epidemic, Kate finds herself investigating a series of murders and figuring out what is causing the murder scenes to look like the attack was committed by a supernatural creature. Truth be told, I hadn’t read Bad Taste in Boys (Kate Grables #1). I was able to read through this without having read the first book; however, it really would have added to the reading experience.
There are flaws in this book. If I look at it from a critical standpoint, I could point out how the humor is overdone–few lines pass without any–the love rival is a clichéd bimbo, and the story jumps from scene to scene without smooth transitions. I’m not a big fan of Aaron, and this book doesn’t give me much time to puzzle over him, but he seems nice and he’s not a bad boyfriend despite his indecisiveness at how to handle Elle (love rival). I could point out more if I took the time to do so, but I won’t. All this aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the humor. This is a short book and isn’t meant to be taken seriously (though not because of the length). It should be read for the funnies.
Kate is a wonderful heroine. There aren’t many books out there about science geeks, and I love Kate’s voice. She is a nerd and geeks out over sciency things, but she’s also breaking out of her shell. Her confusion over how to handle her first boyfriend is cute; at the same time, she doesn’t let him off the hook with Elle. She’s pragmatic and, though she acknowledges that she thinks about him a lot, she isn’t the kind of girl who can’t live without her guy.
Best of all, I love the scientific explanation for werewolves. Just like with the zombie epidemic, Kate finds herself searching for the cause behind humans taking on werewolf qualities, and she searches for the cure.
Again, this book isn’t meant to be taken seriously. If you love humor mixed with the pseudo-paranormal, mystery, and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, this is the perfect book for you. As Christmas is approaching, this would be the perfect gift for a friend/relative looking to spend the dark days of winter curled up on the couch or in bed with a good book.
A copy of this book was provided by Random House for review.
Author: Crystal
A story girl at heart, Crystal is a bibliophile who can easily spend the day immersed in a good read. She writes under the name Kristy Wang. You can follow her writing adventures on X and Instagram @_kristywang.
Eva says
I think this sounds like a fun read — I like humor and I like your assessment of the scientific exploration of werewolves!
Plus, I always love a good heroine!
Thanks for the review
Crystal says
Thanks, Eva. I hope you enjoy this book! 🙂
Vivien says
I read Bad Taste and enjoyed it. I don't normally read humor but this was really cute! I've been looking forward to reading the sequel.
Crystal says
It sounds like a fun read. I really need to read Bad Taste! 🙂
Natalie Aguirre says
I just bought Bad Taste in Boys. I'm not a humor person but hope I like it. And I went to Carrie's book signing and discovered she lives in the same town as me. I am so excited because she's so nice and it's exciting to connect with a published author.
This sounds good too. I'll have to add it to my list. Thanks for the honest review of what was good and bad about it.
Crystal says
I typically don't read humor either, but when it's done well it can be really good. Let me know what you think about both books! 🙂