Review: Twice Shy

Twice Shy by Patrick Freivald

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Book Info: Genre: Horror (Zombie)
Reading Level: Young Adult (with warning for self-mutilation (cutting), extreme ruthlessness and violence)
Book Available: October 26, 2012 in Paperback and ebook
Recommended for: Fans of hard-core violence, alternate ideas of zombies

Disclosure: I received a free ebook ARC from Journalstone, via a special, member’s-only promotion. I am not under any obligation, but am happy to provde an honest review.

Synopsis: High School Sucks. It’s worse when you’re dead.

Ohneka Falls is a small, Western New York town where everyone knows everyone and nothing of note happens. Ani Romero is a sixteen-year-old girl who wants to play sports, hang out, and kiss Mike, her middle-school crush. A childhood carrier of the zombie virus, she died at fourteen but didn’t become a mindless, brain-eating monster. Her controlling mother forces her to join the emo crowd to hide her condition behind a wall of black clothes and makeup, and her friends abandon her.

When creeper Dylan learns her secret, he falls into obsession, with Ani and with death. She bites him in self-defense. Persecuted by the jocks and ignored by Mike, Ani struggles through the motions of life hoping her mother’s research unveils a cure, or Dylan dooms them all to a hungry, walking death.

As her emo facade crumbles in the face of jealousy and obsession, Ani knows that the worst thing she can do is be true to herself.

My Thoughts: I’m not much of a fan of traditional zombie stories – to me, there is only so much that can be done with brain-eating, brainless, shambling hordes before the interest wanes. That is why I am so fascinated by the ways that people are turning the zombie genre on its head, to find a new way to tell zombie stories.

I, in some ways, had trouble putting myself into Ani’s shoes, because deep inside, her tendency is to be a jock and a “spirit” girl – her favorite color is “Barbie-Dream-House pink” – while, when I was her age, if emo/goth had been an option, I would have so been a goth (based upon my vampire fixation). However, watching her go through these struggles, to pretend to be emo, which was so against her natural tendency, to watch the lengths her mother went to in order to protect her (that is an eminently practical woman, that’s for sure), I couldn’t help but empathize with Ani. This writer does a phenomenal job into bringing the reader into the life of this young girl, cursed before she was even born, having to live a lie in order to remain free...

The ending shocked me, crushed me, laid me flat. Originally I had this rated as urban fantasy, but that ending – that was a hard-core, horror-level ending. Wow. So, warning to all – this is not a light read, it is not light fare, but it is an amazing book. Highly recommended.



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