Review: Undead by Kirsty McKay

Title: Undead

Series: Undead #1

Author: Kirsty McKay

Genre: YA, paranormal, horror, apocalyptic

Publication date: September 2012

Published by: Scholastic

Source: Borrowed e-book from library

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Synopsis:

Being new at school bites. But at least it doesn't kill you. Mostly.

Bobby thinks she might well be on the School Trip from Hell. Too bad she's a noob, too bad her classmates don't rate her weirdo accent and too bad that Scotland is having the worst blizzard since the Ice Age. Looks like she's going to be on this school bus for a quite a while; could things get much worse?

Yep. They could.

Inexplicably, her classmates start dying...and then they come back to life again...and what's more, they're very, very hungry.

With nowhere to run and no contact with the outside world, Bobby is thrown together with a raggle-taggle group of survivors at a roadside café. There's indie kid drop-out Smitty, the class beauty queen Alice, dweeby Pete and two near useless adults: a half-conscious bus driver and a volatile petrol station attendant.

The frenemies struggle to stay alive - through explosions, deadly battles and a breakneck chase through the snowbound wilderness. Somehow they have to make it to safety - and get some answers - no matter what the cost.

Can they survive the Undead? And each other?

My rating: ★★★★☆
I've been wanting to read this book for a while because it just sounded so fun, and I am so glad I finally did! I really loved it!

First of all, I really liked the setting of this book. It's not every day you read a book where a good chunk of the story takes place on a bus (well, not me anyway), so really liked that originality. Of course, not the whole story takes place there. We also get to see a bit of a castle plus there is a whole bunch of running around everywhere (coffee shop, gas station, a lake-type thing...) which I actually happen to love in a book! There's something about these running-away-from-evil/survival type of stories that really just appeals to me.

I also loved all the diverse characters introduced in the story: the new girl Bobby who is actually pretty tough and brave (considering the situation), loner (yet totally funny and awesome) Smitty, your typical mean girl Alice (who I actually kind of liked sometimes), and nerdy Pete (who frustrated me sometimes). We also get to meet some new characters along the way; some I loved and some I hated.

I liked the concept of the book with the whole zombie thing and how they were made well enough, but finding out who was behind the whole thing actually wasn't too shocking for me, unfortunately. It was a little predictable.

But, overall, I really enjoyed the read and am really looking forward to reading the sequel and seeing how they deal with the zombie epidemic! Also, I really love the cover! It's what initially caught my attention!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! :)