Review: Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris

Bad Taste in Boys 

by Carrie Harris

Published: July 2011

Publisher: Delacorte Press

ISBN: 9780385739689

Available: Amazon 

Blurb:

Someone's been a very bad zombie.
Kate Grable is horrified to find out that the football coach has given the team steroids. Worse yet, the steroids are having an unexpected effect, turning hot gridiron hunks into mindless flesh-eating zombies. No one is safe--not her cute crush Aaron, not her dorky brother, Jonah . . . not even Kate! She's got to find an antidote--before her entire high school ends up eating each other. So Kate, her best girlfriend, Rocky, and Aaron stage a frantic battle to save their town  . . . and stay hormonally human. 

Review:

First, I absolutely love this cover! I just wish it was a bit more representative of the story. It gave me a dark, serious vibe, but the book was definitely more on the humorous side. 

The book does funny well. It's not the flat out kind that gets annoying fast, but it has a touch of self deprecating humor that pops up through Kate and her out look on life. Kate's character really is what keeps this story together. She's smart and knows it. And best of all she's not afraid to show it. Her access to the football team is due to her future goal of going to medical school and she uses her medical knowledge to help her figure out what's going on. 

Kate's brother Jonah is great as the annoying younger brother that ends up not being so bad. Their relationship felt natural and he didn't end up as just a plot device. He played an important role in the story and there were a lot of moments throughout the book that he makes great. 

Aaron is Kate's love interest and even though he's portrayed originally as the super high school hunk, he ends up coming across as a pretty normal guy. Kate has a lot of nervousness dealing with him at first that makes him seem aloof, but once Kate relaxes, Aaron's character becomes a lot clearer.

The best thing about Bad Taste in Boys is that it doesn't shy away from the blood and guts that is the heart of a good zombie story. So many humorous YA zombie books I've red have played it safe, glossing over the gross factor of zombies, even avoiding any part of it by changing the essence of what zombies are. Harris stays true to zombies and gives us the gore. If I didn't want gore then I wouldn't read about zombies!

This is definitely falling into the category of better zombie books I've read.