Zombies vs Unicorn

Edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

Simon & Schuster (2010)

ISBN: 978-1416989530

Syndicated from tansyrr.com

This is undoubtedly the YA anthology of the year. The line up of authors is extraordinary, and the stories are consistently good. It helps that it’s a very meme-able anthology concept as well, with authors, editors and readers alike picking a side in the “war” between Team Unicorn and Team Zombie. I was rather pleased coming into this that I didn’t have a side – swinging voters always have more power! But in fact, Team Unicorn and Team Zombie is less about which fantasy creature you love and adore, and more about which one you think is totally uncool.

In essence, Zombies V. Unicorns is an anthology about prejudice. Unicorns and zombies are both fantasy tropes which tend to provoke strong reactions in people – of a yuchhhh variety. Apart from a few notable exceptions, I’ve generally been in Camp Zombies and Unicorns Both Suck, which makes this anthology extra useful as it’s a book for people who thought they hated one, the other or both, which is full of great, vibrant stories designed to make you change your mind.

Having said all that, counting the seven stories I really liked out of the anthology, I have four unicorns to three zombies, and three out of my top four are farting rainbows. Unicorns for the win!

Kiss of Life

Daniel Waters

Simon and Schuster (2009)

ISBN: 978 1 84738 397 6

Reviewed by Tehani Wessely

Interestingly not marketed as the second in a series, thinking it is a standalone novel makes Kiss of Life a little difficult to get into at first. The reader is thrown into a world and cast of characters without any real introduction, and this makes for confusing reading for the first part of the book, until the narrative smoothes out and the characters and past history becomes a little clearer.

Phoebe is alive – traditionally biotic, as it has become known – but most of her best friends are, well, dead. Differently biotic, living impaired, zombies. There doesn’t seem to be an explanation as to why some teenagers are returning to a semblance of life, but they are, and “traditionally biotic” people are learning to deal with it. Some of them, at least. Others would do anything to wipe out the zombie menace, and some of Phoebe’s friends are standing in the way.

Hush, Hush

Becca Fitzpatrick

Simon & Schuster (2009)

ISBN: 978 1 84738 695 3

Reviewed by Tehani Wessely

This book has such a beautiful cover that I’m certain readers will be picking it up just to drool over it, and hopefully, this will lead to them wanting to read it! It’s impossible to underestimate the value of good-looking covers and publishers of YA fiction need to sit up at take notice of these sort of examples, which really draw in the intended readers (ie: teenage girls).

Nora Grey’s life is pretty normal, until Patch comes along. Suddenly, weird things start to happen, and Nora finds herself struggling to not only understand what’s going on in her nice ordinary life, but also for her very survival.