Review of "My Life as a White Trash Zombie" by Diana Rowland

In an earlier post, I wrote about using different sites to broaden my reading horizons. While using Goodreads, I came across an interesting series by Diana Rowland. The first in the trilogy is called "My Life as a White Trash Zombie." Our protagonist of the story is Angel Crawford, who wakes up in the hospital after an alleged overdose. While she's still trying to piece together the events from the previous night, she's given a mysterious lunchbox with clothes, some weird coffee drinks, and a note detailing a new job that's been given to her. Although she is skeptical of the circumstances, Angel still obliges and begins her new job at the coroner's office. As she's learning the business of performing an autopsy, she realizes that she's not the queasy girl she once was. In fact, her stomach is actually growling while one of her colleagues removes the brain from the body. This leads to another note telling her to give in to her need... the need for brains. After all this time, Angel realizes that she's now one of the living dead. Not long after, strange deaths start to pop up over town. People are being decapitated, with the heads no where to be seen. Angel must figure out what's happening to these people and why. Her life, or after life, may depend on it!

Angel has been one of my favorite protagonists so far. I like that she isn't a princess and has to deal with the same things we deal with everyday. Her life isn't the greatest. She is verbally (and sometimes physically) abused by her father, her boyfriend doesn't want to do anything to better his life, and she abuses drugs to escape from all of that. When she's given the opportunity to change, she doesn't hesitate because she knows that this is her second, and probably final, chance to get her life together. The more she works to better herself, the more she is able to distance herself from her father and boyfriend (i.e- the things that were bringing her down). Eventually she comes to reconcile with her father but it isn't a Disney happy ending. She knows that it's going to be a rocky climb to even come close to something resembling a "happy family."

Nothing is sugarcoated in this story. The way Rowland describes death is as if she has actually worked in a coroner's office before. You feel that pain in your chest when they describe having to deal with the death of a child. You feel like you're in the booth watching as they perform the autopsy. At one point, I could swear that I thought I smelled formalin while reading but I think that might have been my imagination. Even the way Rowland describes Angel's interactions with her father illicit many emotions at once. I felt my stomach drop when Angel approaches her trailer, only to see newly littered beer cans strewn about. As she makes her way to her room, I felt that drop turn into dread as I awaited to see what her father was going to do.
Again, this is part one in the trilogy. I'm currently on part two as we speak, with part three already checked out. Overall, I'd give this 4 out of 5 braaaaaaaiiiiiinnnnnnnssssss!

   


Happy reading!