Holly Black

Justine Larbalestier

Twelve short stories by a variety of authors seek to answer the question of whether zombies are better than unicorns.

Zombies vs. Unicorns

Vicky  Nuñez 

Before reading this book I was team Unicorn all the way, but with the mere introduction I knew I have always been Team Zombie. They represent the descend of humanity. Unicorns? They are just cute & fluffy and after this anthology, I think I should avoid them at all cost.

My favorite stories were mostly the Zombie stories, the ones you should look forward to reading are: Children of the Revolution by Maureen Johnson, Inoculata by Scott Westerfeld and the last story(& my favorite) Prom Night by Libba Bray. Oh, and honrable mention to Love Will Tear us Apart by Alaya Dawn Johnson.

Evewn though i like the Unicorn stories, I didn't enjoy them to the same extent as the Zombie ones.

The first Story The Highest Justice by Garth Nix is a great start, between some of the kind of enjoyable Unicorn stories were The Third Virgin by Kathleen Duey, it was creepy & not exactly a favorite, but it got me thinking. My favorite unicorn story and the one definitely worth reading was The Care And Feeding Of Your Baby Killer Unicorn by Diana Peterfreund, I, for once would totally read a whole book about the main character. 

Some disappointing stories was A Thousand Flowers by Margo Lanagan, it was creepy, but not in the nice creepy kind of way, more in the please-make-it-stop-creepy way. And Cold Hands by Cassandra Clare, my dissapointment over Clare's story was not that I did not like or enjoyed it, I did, but I expected more, it was just okay, much like the rest of the stories, but it was awesome as Maureen's or Libba's which was what I was expecting.

Overall, it was a great anthology, many funny & enjoyable stories, some more than others and the most important they got you thinking. As expressed above, I believe ZOMBIES are more versatile to write about & more awesome. And it's all because of Justine Larbalestier, I'm very much sorry for Holly B, but Justine kicked ass and I need to get one of Justine's books ASAP!

Maui S.

This was an interesting read. I'm for Team Unicorn though.

The stories I liked were The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Unicorn from Team Unicorn and Cold Hands from Team Zombie.

Thais Souza Passos

TEAM ZOMBIE!!! TEAM UNICORN!!!! ALL THE TEAMS!!!!

As an art major - I set my expectations way too high strictly according to how much I loved this damn cover. 🤣

Pages inside, meh.

Jessica Nottingham

I debated for a good long time whether to review this book as a whole, or to break it into story components like I've seen a few others do. I finally decided to just do a general review. After all, half the fun of diving into a compilation like this is discovering each story for yourself! I wouldn't want to take that away from my dear readers. So instead, I'll try to explain what I love overall. Shall we?

Let me start out by saying that I don't generally read many anthologies. As a reader, I'm big on being able to connect with my characters and their lives. I want to feel invested in them as I follow them throughout the story. Anthologies make that a bit difficult to do, since the authors are limited to a short story and therefore limited in the amount of character building that they can do. Make sense? Okay, now take everything that I just said and throw it out the window. Yup, I'll wait. Toss it right out. This book made me 100% love anthologies and I only hope that there are more out there like this!

Each story in Zombies vs. Unicorns opens with banter between Holly and Justine, and that in itself is pure fun! I enjoyed all the stories in this anthology so very much, that it's impossible for me to declare a favorite. However I will say that Maureen Johnson's zombie children gave me some crazy dreams! Some of the stories are slightly disturbing. Some of them will have you giggling maniacally and then wondering why on Earth everyone is staring at you. You might think I'm kidding but I warn you, don't read this book on the bus. (Unless of course you're on a bus full of crazy people, in which case you'll blend right in.) The swap between zombie and unicorn themed stories keeps the book light and moving, and I read straight on through until the end!

In an effort not to ramble on about my love for this book, I'll wrap it up here. Suffice it to say that if you enjoy zombies or unicorns, or "zombicorns" (zombie/unicorn hybrids that a friend and I fully support) then you will enjoy this anthology immensely! The sheer talent on the contributing writers makes it hard to choose what side you are truly on. I've debated this deep question and I think I've come up with an answer. Yes friends, overall I'm Team Zombie. Celebrate or throw tomatoes as you wish, then get down to your local bookstore and pick up a copy of Zombies vs. Unicorns!

Zombies vs. Unicorns

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