Thursday, September 30, 2010

Review: Zombies vs. Unicorns


Hardcover, 432 pages

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry

Released: September 21st 2010

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?

My Rating: 4 /5

My Thoughts:

This short story collection is bursting with amazing authors (Carrie Ryan, Diana Peterfreund, Scott Westerfld, Meg Cabot, Cassie Clare and Libba Bray) plus a few new to me authors. This is the best part about short stories, finding those new, great authors! Alaya Dawn Johnson's writing was so catchy and fun, so I'm definitely going to have to keep my eye out for more from her!

Each story begins with a debate between Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier , with Holly being pro-unicorn and Justine pro-zombies. It was fun reading their little jabs at each other. I must admit that I flip-flopped a lot between Team Zombie & Team Unicorn as I was reading, but since a side must be chosen, I'd say I'm..... Team Unicorn!!!

It's always hard reviewing collections so I figure I'd rate a few of the stories that stood out for me:

Favorite - The Care & Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn
Best Ending - Bougainvillea
Creepiest - A Thousand Flowers
Craziest - Love Will Tear Us Apart

So now that you know my side, I should explain myself. Although the zombie stories were great, they are dead, cold & eat brains (yuck!). Unicorns, on the other hand, can be so much more. As noted in the stories, they aren't just white & fluffy, they can be cute & cuddly pets that stick up for you, fall in love with humans and pro-create (yes, ewww), can heal the sick or steal their life! See, so much more variety here.

There you have it folks, go read Zombies vs. Unicorns and tell me what team you're on!

5 comments:

  1. I just bought this yesterday and am so looking forward to diving into it. I'm going into it Team Unicorn. I'll give Team Zombie a chance, but it'll take a lot of convincing to make me flip sides!

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  2. Enjoyed your review! I'm leaning towards Team Unicorn, but am willing to give Team Zombie a chance, as the new style zombies can be pretty cool. Aside from the whole dead & eating your brains part that is...*L*

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  3. Alita & Alexia ~ the Zombies were great reads, I think the Unicorns were more fun due to the shock factor in some of them. Those stories had a much wider range I tell ya!

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  4. I don't think I can root for Team Zombie on this one. The fact that zombies eat humans and I'm a human has me running.

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