My Life as a White Trash Zombie

By: Diana Rowland

Narrated by: Allison McLemore

Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Nominee, Paranormal, 2013

Teenage delinquent Angel Crawford lives with her redneck father in the swamps of southern Louisiana. She's a high school dropout, addicted to drugs and alcohol, and has a police record a mile long. But when she's made into a zombie after a car crash, her addictions disappear, except for her all-consuming need to stay "alive".

©2011 Diana Rowland (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Allison McLemore's delicate voice and Southern accent give Angel's first-person narration a humorous kick. McLemore excels at bringing Angel's self-deprecating and sarcastic comments to life. Her brisk pacing suits Angel's personality and draws listeners in from the first chapter, keeping them glued to their earphones as she plays up the book's 'gross factor' with drawling descriptions of gooey brains and crunchy skull cavities. She's also good at giving unique voices and mannerisms to secondary characters." ( AudioFile)

An amazingly fresh take on the genre

I just came off of 2 books in the "That Ghoul Ava" series and hesitated to get something that sounded similar so soon. The overwhelmingly-positive reviews swayed me and I gave in. I'm very glad that I did.

The two series share a lot of similarities: Women. Crappy life. Overdose. Awakens as monster. Figure out new life. That's about where it ends though.

While I found myself increasingly annoyed at Ava's rambling and overall dottiness that seemed to increase as the stories went on, Angel's character is the exact opposite. We start out with a character that feels like she's the lowest life form around and generally acts that way. By the end of the book, we have a character that's maturing into an intelligent and proud woman. It's very refreshing and a journey that's a joy to follow.

The author deviates slightly from the traditional zombie lore in how they account for the desire for brains, but I think it adds much-needed depth to the creature and is a good plot-driver.

There's a bit of foul language and a little gore, but it IS a zombie book. I do like the "white trash" background the author gave Angel as it provides for good backstory and a platform for much personal growth.

Toward the end,I had that lately not-too-familiar sensation of not wanting the story to end. Then I was treated to a preview of the next book in the series and breathed a sigh of relief when I realized this was not only the first book in a series, but one that had a healthy number of entries already.

I look forward to the next one (which I'm purchasing right after hitting submit on this review)

Solid Meh, Maybe a Meh+

What did you like best about My Life as a White Trash Zombie? What did you like least?

No spoilers here.

Short Version Review: It's not a horrible "mind candy" sort of story. The majority of the book is pretty slow and repetitive. In contrast the conclusion is fast and sloppy, with a ton of holes.

Long Version of Review:
My issue with this book is the first 75% was horribly slow, boring, and repetitive. As the main character figures out what's going on, it's very predictable and as a reader you're wading through chapter after chapter waiting for the character to figure obvious things out. The author also repeats character history/traits in an annoying way that feels patronizing (e.g., in case you missed the fact she was squeamish in her prior life the first 4 times I told you, let me work it in a 5th time). If I had had anything else to listen to on my roadtrip, I would have switched books about 1/3 of the way in.

Then all of a sudden there's a huge gear shift in the tempo towards the end of the book. We go from clueless repetitive to HUGE leaps of logic to get to a fast-paced conclusion. In some ways I was relieved things were actually happening in the book as opposed to the cyclical "I have to find food for myself" monotony the majority of the book is. However, I have no idea how/why the "bad guys" were named and it seems bizarrely forced and a surprise in a bad (very sloppy) way. I wasn't alone, as I think the main character says something like, "I have no idea how I knew XYZ was the killer. I just did." Oh, ok. Ditto on the "good guy" situation at the end of the book...it made me immediately want to poke the 20 "well then X doesn't make any sense" holes in it. I'm unconvinced the author had any kind of plan for this book...just a meandering ramble and then "Oh, I need to end it" feeling.

That said, if you don't mind the patronizingly repetitive tone of the book, it's not a horrible light read/listen. It's very simplistic and I guess designed to make you feel smart as you're probably about 6 steps ahead of the main character at any given time. I also didn't find the "I'm a clueless trailer trash loser" nearly as charming as most reviewers. I wanted to groan and tell her to grow-up.

What could Diana Rowland have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

My other beef is how the author portrayed the conclusion of an abusive relationship the main character was in. If someone verbally abuses you for your entire life and beats you senseless...you don't make-up and move back in like everything is hunky dory a week later and go riding off into the sunset. Domestic violence is not ok, especially the pretty extreme case painted in the book...and making it seem trivial sets a horrible example for young readers, imo.

Meh

The best thing about this book is the cover art. Considering how awesome the cover art is, that's not as bad as it sounds, but still, it's a bit ordinary. This book is generally well written, if occasionally the author becomes a little self-indulgent with a too-cute turn of phrase.
My problem with the book is that it was dramatically less ambitious that I was hoping for. I'm not normally a great reader of zombie-fiction, because fantasy isn't my thing, but this idea sounded cool. The delivery was a little less dramatic though, less white-trash, and less zombie.

A delightful surprise!!

I don't like zombie books or movies generally so this book wasn't on my radar. But something made me check out the reviews- all very positive- and then I listened to a sample. The narrator is fantastic and the opening to the story definitely pulled me in. I couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the book! I'm partial to strong sassy heroines and newly-made zombie Angel is exactly that. Her life has been tough and becoming a zombie is the best thing that ever happened to her. I was so entertained by the story that I finished it in record time and immediately bought the next book in the series. I hope the rest of the books are as good as the first one!

Fun, easy listen!

If you want a fun listen that's just entertaining, no stress or epic unnecessary sex scenes, this book is perfect! Allison McLemore is the perfect narrator for this book and makes Angel really come to life. This book is everything that I wanted True Blood to be and more.

Lighthearted Zombie tale

Kinda reminds me of a Molly Harper story. Serious stuff is going on, but the narration makes it more of a lighthearted tale, than a new zombie struggling to get her niche in the world. I enjoyed the book and the narration, but I'll probably leave the series at this point. I just didn't get vested in these characters enough to continue on. The ending has a small loose end, but is primarily a wrap-up to the story.

pretty good

i truly enjoyed the parts she was low and on the hunt was edgy and fun

Funny and amazing!

What made the experience of listening to My Life as a White Trash Zombie the most enjoyable?

I love zombies stories in general, but the narrator was the best part of this audiobook. She really gave a voice to Angel and it was perfect to hear it read this way, it was so fitting. I was able to stay hooked to the story and feel like I was truly apart of the novel.

What was one of the most memorable moments of My Life as a White Trash Zombie?

The whole book was amazing. I kept wanting to know who turned Angel into a zombie, but we don't find out until the very end. I loved the ending and was happy to not be left with a cliffhanger.

Which character – as performed by Allison McLemore – was your favorite?

Angel was my favorite character just based on the way Alison read it. The voice of Angel was perfect and made me laugh at the same time. I'm excited to continue the series with her!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes! I only listened to the book while I was driving, but I never wanted to get out of my car because I wanted to keep listening!

Captivating Story Teller with 3 Star Story Line

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I would say that listening to this book helped me find a narrator that I would seek out for future books.

Have you listened to any of Allison McLemore’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I haven't listened to any of her other performances before but now I would to see how she has enlightened other books.

Pretty good read

This is an interesting take on zombies. A story in which the zombie can live amongst humans without them knowing, as in many vampire novels. I like how the main character grows up a lot in the book, taking responsibility for her actions and using a bad history as a jump off point to make something of herself. All that being said, I found the book to be a bit slow and choppy in parts. Perhaps it is simply due to the need for character development, as s common in a lot of firsts in series. I did enjoy the mystery-type story in the book and hope it persists in the next. I will give the next one a try, I did enjoy the narrator and she makes it worth while to give the next one a go.