Ash Parsons

When ZombieCon comes to their small town, June and her best friends battle long lines for photo ops, meet their favorite actors, and save the world from actual zombies when things get real.

Girls Save the World in This One

Petaco

I'm back on a zombie kick. I thought this book was ok. I knew what I was getting into based on the title and the fact that it is YA. You can only do so much with zombies at that level. It's a bit more on the light-hearted side rather than serious horror. That's fine as I do prefer a bit of comedy with my zombies. 

 It's a bit unbelievable at times, but maybe that's part of my "get off my lawn" personality. Many references and slang terms that will date this book in a few months. 

I did like the good friendships and I liked the setting of the book in a convention center. I enjoyed the rest they stood up for each other. I love the cover as well. For some reason, the way she introduced her friends and their races bothered me.

I would not say this channels Shaun of the Dead at all... Or Clueless.

Ana Paula

This was such a cute read, it was refreshing reading about a group of teens that actually focus on surviving (although there are mentions of romance, its far from being the main focus) 
I feel like it would make an amazing graphic novel or cartoon show 🥺

A ravenous read. --Kirkus Reviews Shaun of the Dead meets Clueless in this hilarious YA horror comedy set at a local zombie convention--featuring a teenage girl gang that has to save the world from a horde of actual zombies. Perfect for fans of Geekerella, Undead Girl Gang, and Anna and the Apocalypse. Mega-fan June Blue's whole life has been leading up to this moment: ZombieCon! The Ultimate in Undead Entertainment has finally come to her hometown. She and her two best friends--gorgeous, brilliant Imani and super-sweet, outrageously silly Siggy--plan on hitting all the panels and photo ops, and meeting the heartthrob lead of their favorite zombie apocalypse show, Human Wasteland. It's going to be the best time of their lives--and one of their last adventures before they all split up for college. And when they arrive, everything seems perfect. June's definitely not going to let anything get in the way of the flawless con experience--even though she's endlessly anxious about the SATs and college admissions, and she can't seem to avoid her ex-best friend Blair, whose VIP badge lets her walk straight to the front of every single line. No matter what, June is determined to make the best of her dream day at ZombieCon! But something's not quite right at the con--there are strange people in hazmat suits running around, enthusiastic cosplayers taking their shambling a little too far, and someone actually biting a cast member. Then, at a panel gone wrong, June and her friends discover the truth: the zombie apocalypse is here. Now June, Imani, and Siggy must do whatever it takes to survive a horde of actual flesh-eating zombies-- and save the world. A hilarious and heartfelt horror comedy, that is an ode to zombies, friendship, and girl power. Praise for Girls Save the World in This One Readers looking for all of the good, the bad, and the ugly of the zombie apocalypse will be absolutely thrilled to read this book . . . . Hand this book to anyone who likes zombie apocalyptic horror. --Booklist This fun coming-of-age story tackles popular topics such as cons and zombies with an inclusive cast of characters, and highlights the power of friendship and strong women. VERDICT: For those who love zombies and action-packed books, as well as reluctant readers.--School Library Journal An excellent read for any teen who loves thrills, action, and stories of survival. --Publishers Weekly

Charlotte Lusted

*Girls Save the World in this One* is a contemporary young adult horror novel that follows zombie-fanatic June and her two best friends as their dream day at a horror convention takes a turn for the worst when the apocalypse comes to their sleepy, suburban town.

When I heard about this book I was beyond excited - a female-centred horror book that seemed to be crafted from the imagination of my own teenage mind when I was in the depth of my *The Walking Dead* phase. The first 40% of the book had me hooked. Personally, when reading something written from the perspective of a teenager, I enjoy a more colloquial writing style which passes up dramatic, flowery prose for a more down to earth, funny and relatable narration that feels authentic and nothing like an adult trying to capture the essence of youth, despite the way that idea of youth ties in with the plot. Despite its serious and scary setting, the book at its core is a teen novel, its core themes are friendship, loyalty and forgiveness, which is personified in the main character, June and her relationship with the other girls in the novel. At some points, June felt like a stand-in character for the reader to project on which, with the book's relationship with fandom culture, is unsurprising. As a horror and zombie fan myself, I related to June intensely on a surface level and was lucky enough to see myself in her deeper as well, and as a not-long-passed teenager, it was easy for me to understand the intricacies of her relationships with the other girls too: her relenting loyalty to Imani (which, in all honestly, I thought was going to deliver on queer friends-to-lovers, but I digress); her equally deep devotion to Siggy, sometimes stained with jealously and annoyance; and her misplaced hatred of Blair, stemming from a silly teenage incident that really didn't mean much when the world came to the end. The heartache and wholesomeness of all of those friendships made me love the novel in that way, made me nostalgic and also made me adore the way Parson depicted teen girls as mature and smart despite their sometimes childish differences. That notion spilt over too into the sparse yet interesting mentions of women in fan culture and horror in general, which I won't get too deep into, but I still deeply appreciated (most female horror fans will have their own Janet O'Shea somewhere out there).

However, my glowing love and appreciation for this book started to wither around halfway through. As much as I loved the YA style of what I had already read, once the apocalypse began and the horror was supposed to start I found myself underwhelmed. I liked how much it focused on the girls and their intelligence in the life or death situations, after a while it got awfully cliché and repetitive. The latter half of the book featured June and the gang making a plan, enacting the plan, facing a drawback from the plan wherein a side character died, rinse, repeat. Three or four times with varying seasonings added each time that attempted to disguise how utterly boring it was to become. This is what I worried about when I picked up this book - the zombie outbreak story has been (excuse the pun) done to death and I hoped this book would do something new and interesting. I don't expect every new horror novel to revolutionise the genre, but unfortunately, my expectations were that this book was going to blow me away that I just felt let down. By the 70% mark I was just hoping it would end, and by the shine of a female-centred horror novel had worn off and I realised the book didn't have much to offer beyond that. The horror aspect of this book is a backdrop to just another young adult novel about growing up, which is fine in its own right, but not at all what I was expecting. On top of that, the new characters that were introduced and which made up our zombie survival group were nothing but filler names so that Parsons could kill people off like it was some pre-requisite for a horror novel that failed to deliver on the emotional aspect. None of them were distinct or interesting and worst of all when one of them died, I felt nothing in the way of what death in a book should make me feel. It was lacklustre in that aspect and unfortunate considering the potential the first half showed.

Overall, the first half of *Girls Save the World* was promising and indulgent, but after the halfway mark the cracks began to show, and the book stumbled, succumbing to the boring hoard of mind-numbing horror average-ness, it's potential becoming a snack for the undead that wanders its pages. 3.5 stars

laura

* I got this book for review from the publisher for my honest thoughts*

I really did love the various representation that was shown in this book including learning disability and just rep in general. I really loved the concept of this novel as well. A con seeing meets a real life zombie issue. It was super fast pace story with a trio of girls at the heart of it. I did find the past pace nature sometimes a hard to follow. Also the three main characters, it was hard to feel connected to the other characters we meet in the second half of the book. I really do think this would make fun movie. I also loved the fandom convo that was at the heart of this read as well! I would def read more by this author in the future.

Helena Cristina Nogueira Pereira

3.5 stars.
I actually liked this one, but something was missing!

Kate

I had such high hopes for this book. I mean, it features everything I love: zombies, comic-cons and girl gangs and whilst it was very fun, I didn't love it as much as I'd hoped I would. I wasn't the biggest fan of the writing style and, in general, everything felt very surface level. From the characters, who felt very one dimensional to the relationships to the plot itself. It all felt just ever so slightly underdeveloped. 

However, I did have fun with it and overall, it was a very entertaining and easy read that was perfect for a summers afternoon. I just think it could have been something more.