Book Review: Bad Taste in Boys

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris

Series: Kate Grable #1

Official Website

Description: Kate Grable is horrified to find out that the football coach has given the team steroids. Worse yet, the steriods are having an unexpected effect, turning hot gridiron hunks into mindless flesh-eating zombies. No one is safe--not her cute crush Aaron, not her dorky brother, Jonah . . . not even Kate! She's got to find an antidote--before her entire high school ends up eating each other. So Kate, her best girlfriend, Rocky, and Aaron stage a frantic battle to save their town . . . and stay hormonally human.

Review: I didn't like this book. At all. And that's a shame, because the cover and title are really cool and interesting. And so was the synopsis! I expected a short read about zombie-fighting and romance, and I got those things. But it was bad.

Kate Grable is that annoying girl who knows she's smarter than everyone else. She's a nice girl, friendly with everyone. But she will announce to friends that she's going to AP Bio. And she'll make sure that she puts that AP in front of it. And if you say, "Hey Kate, how was bio?", she'll jump down your throat and correct you that it's AP Bio. She's a smart girl. And she doesn't let you forget it.

And the romance? Jesus, it made me cringe. It felt like it was happened to a 12 year old girl who was getting her first kiss. The entire relationship between her and Aaron had me dumbfounded. She begins the book lusting after him, and she tells her mom about this boy she has a crush on, and it seemed so juvenile. And then like 30 pages later, he just kisses her?? Like, out of nOWHERE. Honestly, I thought it was going to take halfway through the zombie epidemic for them to ""fall in love"" but it took them about 30 minutes. It was so unrealistic.

All the characters were so forgettable. Aaron was just a stupid jock. Her brother was a geek. Her friends were the popular, pretty cheerleaders. It was all so stereotypical young adult. I can guarantee you that in 30 minutes I will forget about this book.

The jokes made by Kate were so unfunny. I'm thinking back on it now, and it was just embarrassing. I actually had to check and make sure this book was not aimed at 12 year-olds. (It wasn't.)

And Kate would tell people all different stories regarding the zombie thing. She told her brother the actual story. She told Aaron it was an illness. How did she keep track of all the lies she was telling? Why didn't she just tell her friends that THERE IS A ZOMBIE PROBLEM. I NEED HELP. Classic AP kid. They gotta do everything by themselves.

It was all just so... pure and innocent? I dunno. I expect this to be a Disney Channel Movie in the next 5 years. And if I had to hear one more time how she has no clue what she's doing, but she's watched zombie movies (ya know, cause she's not like most girls), I was probably going to do nothing. But I will rant about it on the internet.

I actually forgot the name of the book when I started writing this thing. I'm not even joking. My last three google searches are, "zombie young adult", "kate mcgrath", and "bad boys zombie book".

Overall, Bad Taste in Boys is recommended for fans of zombies, tame romances, and girls who make sure they're smarter than you. (Needless to say, I will not be reading the sequel.)

"I might not have been great with the romance thing, but no one was going to outscience me. Especially when there was a hot boy at stake."

Bad Taste in Boys//Carrie Harris