This is my first year participating in both COYER and the Books of My Heart readalong. I had never read the White Trash Zombie series before this book, but I really wanted to jump in and participate in the read-along! I was honestly a little apprehensive about My Life as a White Trash Zombie. I’m not the biggest fan of urban fantasy, which the White Trash Zombie series is often classified as. Since I’m a huge fan of zombie books, I thought it was worth a shot anyway. It turns out I shouldn’t have worried after all. I loved this book from beginning to end.
| Title: My Life as a White Trash Zombie | Author: Diana Rowland |
| Release Date: July 5, 2011 | Genre: Urban Fantasy / Horror / Paranormal |
| Publisher: DAW | Page Count: 320 pgs. / 9 hrs, 5 mins (audio) |
Blurb
Angel Crawford is a loser.
Living with her alcoholic deadbeat dad in the swamps of southern Louisiana, she’s a high school dropout with a pill habit and a criminal record who’s been fired from more crap jobs than she can count. Now on probation for a felony, it seems that Angel will never pull herself out of the downward spiral her life has taken.
That is, until the day she wakes up in the ER after overdosing on painkillers. Angel remembers being in a horrible car crash, but she doesn’t have a mark on her. To add to the weirdness, she receives an anonymous letter telling her there’s a job waiting for her at the parish morgue—and that it’s an offer she doesn’t dare refuse.
Before she knows it she’s dealing with a huge crush on a certain hunky deputy and a brand new addiction: an overpowering craving for brains. Plus, her morgue is filling up with the victims of a serial killer who decapitates his prey—just when she’s hungriest!
Angel’s going to have to grow up fast if she wants to keep this job and stay in one piece. Because if she doesn’t, she’s dead meat.
Literally.
Summary & Review:
Angel Crawford is a pill-head, high-school drop-out, and convicted felon. She’s what self-righteous Southern folks call “white trash,” and she knows it. Angel has an awful on-again, off-again boyfriend of four years, an alcoholic father, and a penchant for trouble. When she wakes up in the ER after an apparent overdose, things start to get weird. Not only can she not remember her overdose, but she now has an insatiable craving for brains, of all things. Luckily for Angel, it seems someone is looking out for her. Anonymous letters keep appearing at the right moment to help her in her new zombie life. A job opens up for her at the local morgue and no one seems to question her lack of qualifications. This is all great, but why are decapitated bodies showing up all of a sudden?
Angel is such a great character! She’s street-smart and tough as nails. It’s so easy to get behind her character and root for her. I loved the Southern setting, too. I have difficulty finding SFF books set in the South, so I was stoked when I realized White Trash Zombie is set in Louisiana. As someone born and raised in Mississippi, seeing the Southern representation made me so happy.
The mystery and romance definitely take a backseat in this first book, which totally makes sense. Given how much world-building is required to explain the zombies of Rowland’s world, as well as the entire community around the morgue and investigators, there isn’t much time to develop the romance and mystery. I really hope we get more of both in the next few books.
Similar Reads:
If you enjoyed My Life as a White Trash Zombie and are looking for similar reads, I highly recommend looking into Seanan McGuire’s writings under her Mira Grant pen name. Her Newsflesh series is also a zombie series, and I love two of the novellas in particular. The Day the Dead Came to Show and Tell has a teacher protecting her very young students when zombies break into the school. San Diego 2014 tells of a group of unsung heroes during a popular San Diego comic convention as zombies infiltrate the convention center. Both novellas are great and have the same vibes as White Trash Zombie, though they’re a bit different. You can totally listen to these as standalones from the main series, as well (I did!).
Audiobook:
The audiobook for My Life as a White Trash Zombie was nominated for an Audie Award in the Paranormal category in 2013, which I think was absolutely deserved. The audiobook was great! Being from the South, I’m sensitive to Southern narrator accents sounding fake. I have no idea if the narrator has a real Louisiana or Southern accent, but I believed it!
Final Thoughts:
This is such a fun series! I’m so excited for more in this series. I’m hoping for even more action, mystery, and romance in future installments.
Rating: 4/5 stars
Audiobook Challenge
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