Review: A Mad Zombie Party by Gena Showalter

Book: A Mad Zombie Party, Gena Showalter

Series: White Rabbit Chronicles #4

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Release Date: September 29^th, 2015

The enemy has risen from the grave. Together we slayers must stand, or one by one we will fall.

Ali Bell's crew of zombie slayers thought they'd won the war against Anima Industries, the evil company responsible for capturing and experimenting on zombies in an effort to discover the secret to immortality. In the last epic clash, the slayers lost many of their crew and closest friends. But Frosty, the ice man himself, has not recovered from one casualty in particular — the love of his life, Kat Parker.

On the path to self-annihilation, Frosty receives a message from beyond — Kat's spirit returns, insisting he partner with rogue slayer Camilla Marks. Frosty will do anything for Kat. Except that. Camilla's betrayal caused Kat's death.

But when Anima rises from the grave stronger than ever, Frosty, Camilla and all the slayers will have to work together to survive. And one broken slayer will learn that sometimes the line between hate and attraction is blurred... and the road to redemption may mean letting go of the past and grabbing hold of the future. 

Rating: 5 stars

*spoilers for Queen of Zombie Hearts in this review, beware*

The Alice in Zombieland books was one of those rare book series that I hadn’t heard anything about, good or bad, but took me completely by surprise as it was so intoxicating and un-put-down-able. It was originally a trilogy, but I was so happy when the author announced she was going to write a fourth book because I missed these characters so. And A Mad Zombie Party fits in so perfectly with the rest of the series, even though it’s a different POV, and is the perfect finale to the already perfect series.

It was addicting from beginning to end. I’d read the first half in a day but forced myself to slow down so I could savour its awesomeness. Showalter surpassed herself again with this wonderful addition. I have to start reading her other series!

Anyway *clears throat* I digress. The first three books focused on Ali and Cole and their hot and steamy romance as we had Frosty all loved up and happy with Kat. However, by the third book’s end something horrifically sad had occurred to Frosty’s and Kat’s happily ever after. In this book we see Frosty still lost inside himself as he tries to live life after death, which in his eyes, seems impossible. What’s the point of living if his Kitty Kat isn’t by his side?

I almost cried during his chapters at the start. Showalter wrote his grief so perfectly for his character. Even though I wanted to shake him at times, it was also such a “Frosty” thing to do that I couldn’t be mad at the author for writing him that way.

And being in Frosty’s head was wonderful! We always knew he was a tough, sexy, strong and caring guy from the other books, but getting inside his head, we see even more just what makes this guy tick and I fell in love. Sorry Cole, you’ve been pushed back!

We also get the POV of Milla. At the start you have to hate her because she betrayed our characters in Queen of Zombie Hearts to protect her brother. But she became one of my favourite heroines after this book. While Ali will always be top contender (we did have three books with her, after all), I adored Milla’s strength. She’d been through so much tough shit in her life but she never ever gave up. Ever. She was willing to do whatever it took to protect those she loves because she’s suffered terrible heartache in life and she’s not about to let it keep happening.

She was feeling immense guilt over her actions in Queen of Zombie Hearts, but she knows she can’t change the past and has to learn to live with it. However, that means she’ll do whatever she can to help the people she betrayed, including staying by Frosty’s side 24/7 to save him from a terrible fate. Which is exactly what Kat asks her to do in this book. Even though Frosty hates Milla for her involvement in Kat’s death, he’ll do whatever she says because he loves her so much.

I didn’t know how Showalter was going to make us love Milla and Frosty together after seeing his epic love for Kat, but she did it. Being around each other 24/7 allowed them to really bond and get to know each other, and it wasn’t rushed at all, and being inside both their heads really allowed us to really understand them. It was wonderfully paced and well-written and you can’t help but love those two by the book’s end.

"The boy I was craved Kat. The man I am craves Milla."

The secondary characters are also really prominent, which was awesome. Ali’s hilarious commentary continued to put a smile on my face and her and Cole’s love still had me gushing. They’re all only teenagers, but they’re a family; loyal to each other to the very end, no matter what. I loved how they welcomed Milla into their group because of her bond with Frosty, too. I love them all so much and won’t ever forget them.

This is definitely the final book in the series as Showalter tidies up the book with an epilogue in a series of letters which shows our characters in ten years’ time. It was a perfect ending and a beautiful goodbye. It put this huge smile on my face when I finally closed the book.

This book is an excellent addition to one of my favourite series and I urge anyone who hasn’t read it to pick it up, and anyone who hasn’t read the series to pick up Alice in Zombieland yesterday.