My Life as a White Trash Zombie (White Trash Zombie, #1)

by Diana Rowland

Horror meets humorous urban fantasy in first book of the White Trash Zombie series • Winner of the 2012 Best Urban Fantasy Protagonist by the RT Awards

Angel Crawford is a Loser.

Living with her alcoholic deadbeat dad in the swamps of southern Louisiana, she's a high school dropout with a pill habit and a criminal record who's been fired from more crap jobs than she can count. Now on probation for a felony, it seems that Angel will never pull herself out of the downward spiral her life has taken.

That is, until the day she wakes up in the ER after overdosing on painkillers. Angel remembers being in a horrible car crash, but she doesn't have a mark on her. To add to the weirdness, she receives an anonymous letter telling her there's a job waiting for her at the county morgue—and that it's an offer she doesn't dare refuse.

Before she knows it she's dealing wth a huge crush on a certain hunky deputy and a brand new addiction: an overpowering craving for brains. Plus, her morgue is filling up with the victims of a serial killer who decapitates his prey—just when she's hungriest!

Angel's going to have to grow up fast if she wants to keep this job and stay in one piece. Because if she doesn't, she's dead meat.

Literally.

• ISBN10: 1101516593
• ISBN13: 9781101516591
• Publish Date: 1 July 2011
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Daw Books
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

h, MAC2, how you devastated my TBR pile. I came home with so many books and many of them free. Drat that freebie table!

Oh, MAC2, you and your freebie table introduced me to at least one new author and her crazy world of zombies who work in a morgue that now I’m afraid that I might be changing my opinion on zombies.

My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland was simply a delight to read. I was surprised by how much I liked it and by how fast I read it. I’m sure if I had started it on the weekend, it would have been finished in one day.

I identified with Angel and her struggle to make a better life for herself. I’m almost certain when she set that goal it didn’t involve being turned into a zombie first, but those are the breaks. Angel is smart cookie with a lot of attitude. And since this book takes place in Louisiana, I couldn’t help but wondering what would happen if Angel ran into Sookie, Eric and Bill.

While the mystery and its reveal did fall a bit flat and felt hidden behind Angel’s drive to find out who changed her and why, I did enjoy this novel and will probably keep an eye out for the other books in the White Trash Zombie series at the library when I need a light quick read after some of the heavier books I tend to gravitate towards.


This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews

[layawaydragon]

I loved this book and this series. I can't even remember how I came across it, but I read the first one and immediately had to have the rest. They were laugh out loud funny and had plenty of romance, mystery and action to boot.

Angel is a fantastic kick-ass heroine. She's very relatable before and after she gets her shit together. I loved her sense of humor, her revelations, and everything. Reading her was a breath of fresh air and a relief, like I've been waiting for her to come along without knowing it.

I loved the mystery (though trigger warning: drug abuse, date rape attempt, abusive alcoholic and abusive mentally ill person) of what happened to her and what's happening to her.

I loved these zombies: their science, their lifestyles, their communities. I've played more zombie games than read zombie books and even I was bored with their stories. This set up was great and Angel is the perfect protagonist for it.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Five reasons to grab your earbuds and listen to My Life as a White Trash Zombie

• Angela Crawford- She is a twenty-something high school dropout and druggie from the wrong side of the tracks and completely hilarious and lovable. Yep, even as a zombie you cannot help loving this chick. She is snarky, smart and doing this zombie thing by the seat of her pants.


• Southern Louisiana. The setting is perfect for this zombie tale, and Rowland takes advantage of the redneck stereotype to add humor as we discover what it takes to survive being a zombie. From the morgue to life at home, Rowland shares it all.


• Zombies- Rowland adds a twist to zombies. Unlike the mindless brain, eating zombies we usually encounter Rowland’s zombies are smart, heal fast and unless they have been without food for a couple of days and have begun to decay you would never know that the woman in the booth next to you is a brain-loving zombie.


• Mystery- Angel has no idea how she became a zombie and it was fun tagging along with her as she discovered things. We also have an unusual amount of bodies showing up at the morgue beheaded or missing important parts. Angel is inquisitive and worried about her own hide and begins to investigate. I love that despite being a dropout and former junkie Angel is quite smart. Seeing her gain confidence, make decisions and form new friendships all while juggling her new “zombie” status was a hoot to observe.


• Narrator- Allison McLemore rocked this narration from Angel’s redneck accent to capturing her snark I loved listening. Each character had a distinctive voice and she helped capture the author’s intended tone only enhancing the overall story. I cannot wait to listen to the rest of the series.

This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[Berls]

This review appeared first at Fantasy is More Fun.

I should have read My Life as a White Trash Zombie a long time ago. I grabbed it as part of an audible BOGO sale, but more because I'd heard good things from people I trust than because I WANTED to read it. The zombie thing just isn't typically my thing.

But this is going to be a series where I make a huge exception. There's several reasons, but let me give you the top 3:

1. The zombie mythology isn't AS gross. It's kinda vampire like and I really enjoyed it. There were times where my stomach wasn't thrilled, but Diana Rowland managed to make the eating of brains really funny most the time. I should have known from the title - My Life as a White Trash Zombie - but this was more hilarious than I expected.


2. Angel, the main character. I love her, the way you have to love a good person trapped in a "fuck-up's" body. Especially when they try to make a go of improving their life. I can't wait to see Angel develop as the series progresses.


3. The mystery is solid! I constantly had guesses about the who and the why and got close a couple times. But I really didn't figure things out until momements before Angel. But I could have if I'd picked up on the right hints. Exactly the kind of mystery I like.

I'll be continuing this series on audio too - and not just because I own a few (I think). Allison McLemore was great! Her Louisiana southern accents were good (IMO) and I was so entertained by the combo of Diana Rowland's writing and Allison McLemore's voice, I can't imagine not listening. This is a combo that works like Molly Harper and Amanda Ronconi, in my opinion.

If you're not a zombie fan, get over it and try My Life as a White Trash Zombie, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised - like I was. All you need to like it is a fondness for humor, great (struggling) characters, and a bit of paranormal woo-woo.

[Kim Deister]

I absolutely love this book! It is irreverent, gritty, raw, and yet filled with characters that are still sympathetic. The main character isn't just flawed... she is damaged. Yet, even with all of that, there is a lot of snarky humor that I would not have not expected.

In a weird way, this was a bit of a coming of age story for Angel, our white trash zombie. First, she has to come to grips with her new life and learn how to live as a zombie in a human world. And, second, she has to grow up if she wants to stay alive. It's interesting that dying seems to save her life... in more than one way.

I love Angel. She has had a rocky life and she hasn't risen above it. A neglectful dad, a druggie boyfriend, and an unfortunate pill-popping habit. She's a convicted felon, working dead end jobs that never last. She's a high school drop out. She has no future, not really. And then she dies and suddenly she has what she never even considered... the possibility of a future. She is not created to be anything more than what she is and I love that who she is, beyond all the damage, stays true. Her character doesn't suddenly become Pollyanna, but remains true to Angel... in all her white trash glory. I love, love, love that!

All of the characters in this book are fantastic. Kang works for a local funeral home and comes off as an Asian Goth gangster, chains and all. But Marcus, our cop love interest, he is where my heart lies. I love that he is a cop, through and through, and yet he doesn't judge. He has dealt with Angel before in her rather nefarious past, but he still doesn't judge her. Fantastic!

In addition to being a zombie novel, it is a good, old-fashioned murder mystery. Her role in all of this is very unique, and I am not going to expand on that for fear of spoilers! But there are lots of unexpected moments and twists that create a lot of suspense. If the cast of CSI survived on brain smoothies, you would be in the general ballpark of White Trash Zombie!

I'm not going to lie... the cover hooked me even before I knew what the book was about! Fantastically wonderful!

Things to love...

--Angel. I love that she stayed true to herself, even as her life turned inside out.
--Marcus. I love the total lack of judgment. That's refreshing!
--The humor. There was a lot of situational and snarky humor that I really appreciated.
--The ability to make me cringe at some of the more descriptive flesh-falling passages, yet make me laugh at the same time.

Some Quotastic Goodness

--But I'd been craving brains. The smell was like chocolate and cookies and biscuits and gravy and everything else that was delicious. It damn near drove me crazy every time I had to touch one. I’d been fighting the cravings the way I’d never fought the urge to take drugs or get drunk (Loc 40).
--“Still, waking up this early was just wrong. “Why can’t people be reasonable and only die after eleven A.M.?” I whined (Loc. 697).”
--"It reminds me of an old joke: What did the Zombie say to the whore?"
I looked at him blankly. "Um....what?"
He winked. "Keep the tip (Loc. 1871).”

My Recommendation: Fantastically fun, fantastically humorous... just plain fantastic! This is a must read for supe fans, mystery fans, and snark fans!

This review originally appeared on my blog, http://thecaffeinateddivareads.multifacetedmama.com/?p=9431.

[Amanda]

Original review: http://onabookbender.com/2011/08/17/review-my-life-as-a-white-trash-zombie-by-diana-rowland/

I think what I appreciated most about My Life as a White Trash Zombie is the mystery aspect. As this was my first ever zombie novel (though I suppose Pride and Prejudice and Zombies counts? I always forget about it), the mystery helped win me over and ease the transition to reading about zombies. Like Angel, the bulk of my exposure to zombies has been what is portrayed in the movies, so Diana Rowland’s take on zombies was a new one to me. And I liked it.

There were two interrelated mysteries here, and both were well-crafted. Because I read My Life as a White Trash Zombie while on vacation, I read in bits and pieces over two days, and I hate reading books in this way; it is not conducive to writing reviews. My Life as a White Trash Zombie wasn’t the type of book that I found difficult to put down, but it was still an intriguing mystery that had me guessing almost right up until the end. And though I am not ready to call it the best last 4 chapters in a book like Felicia, the ending was definitely fantastic, and I am excited to see where Diana Rowland will take the series.

Angel is not your average heroine, but that is also part of her draw. She doesn’t realize right away that she has become a zombie, and her sudden craving for braaaaainssss as well as her disgust by the craving is nearly comical. Though she lacks even a GED, Angel is proof that you don’t need diplomas or degrees in order to be smart; intelligence is not something that can be taught. I am interested to see where the next books take Angel. The supporting characters were almost as compelling as Angel herself, and I hope that we will see more of them in book 2.