Bad Taste in Boys (Kate Grable #1)

Bad Taste in Boys is utterly hilarious. It sort of reminded me of Paranormalcy by Kiersten White. Carrie Harris knows she’s writing about a book zombies infecting a high school and how silly (but awesome) it all sounds, and therefore, she didn’t write the book to be all serious and over your head. It’s funny, enjoyable, and even a little bit relatable.

Because, despite the fact that Kate is a super science genius, she’s also a bit geeky and unsure of herself when it comes to guys. I loved her voice and really enjoyed reading the story through her eyes.

Review originally posted on my blog http://hobbitsies.net/2011/07/bad-taste-in-boys-by-carrie-harris/

And despite Kate’s super science genius-ness, she’s actually really dense. And I don’t say this like she’s dumb. But I mean – if a finger comes off a guy right in front of you, you tell someone. Or scream. Or evacuate. You don’t go back to brain bowl like nothing happened. Or if a woman grills her own hand in front of you and squirts black gunk out of her mouth, you don’t politely ask her to move her hand. Panic, goddamnit! But, like I said – Bad Taste in Boys is not supposed to be a serious book. It’s partly ridiculous, but 100% fun.

I loved Kate and her developing relationship with the high school quarterback, Aaron. It added a completely different level of humor to the book, something that I understood a lot better than zombie drama, and I really enjoyed that added subplot. It was really cute, the way their relationship developed.

Overall, I loved Bad Taste in Boys. Despite the ridiculousness of the whole thing, I thought the cause of the infection and the cure actually really worked for the story (although I’m not a science genius) and I loved the characters. Carrie Harris really knows how to do humor without it seeming like she’s trying to hard and I’ll certainly be reading more books by her in the future. I definitely recommend Bad Taste in Boys if you’re looking for a fun, sort-of-freaky story with a bonus cute romance.

Definitly worth reading.
BTW not sci-fi at all like other zombie books might be. It was well better than that.

Bad Taste in Boys was a random read for me, something I just picked up for something quick to read.

The characters weren’t as polished as some other novels I’ve read as of late. They seemed a little rushed, but still enjoyable. Kate Grable, the main heroine, was a very insecure girl, yet she didn’t get any sympathy from me for it. It seemed a tad bit overdone, with Kate constantly putting down herself as being a geek and generally not very pretty and also putting down her work, saying she wasn’t great enough to make it in medical school. This bothered me, because I didn’t feel that she needed to be insecure and it just wasn’t very believable for me.

The romance in Bad Taste in Boys wasn’t as plentiful as I would have liked, but what with all her running around trying to find a cure for the zombies – yeah, well she really didn’t have time for romance. What romance there was, however, was sweet and cute and made me go aww.

Now, the plot.. What can I say about the plot? The plot was like a teenage soap opera with zombies. It seemed overdramatic, yet it was still enjoyable and was more tongue in cheek, rather than serious.

Overall, Bad Taste in Boys is an entertaining read, despite some character flaws. It was light and fun and a great stepping stone to more heavier zombie novels.

I really liked the whole zombie aspect of this book. I’ll admit I was weary to read this because of the zombies ( I’m too squeamish to read about dead guys walking around and blood) , but I surprisingly enjoyed it! I loved that Kate is smart and independent and isn’t afraid to be who she is. The only problem I had with her character was that she put herself down, but other than that she was a very relate-able character. I especially loved that she had ambitions, such as wanting to be a doctor and was incredibly smart. This ambition led her to take charge instead of letting others do things for her, which we often see in YA lit.
Now to the romance!
Aaron seemed really cute. I say seemed because we didn’t really get to read that much about him. He was there in the beginning when Kate is crushing on him and just seems to disappear throughout the book. I also felt there wasn’t that much chemistry between he and Kate.
Overall the book was a quick and fun read. Kate is a funny and smart herione whom I’d love to read more about. Everyone should go out and pick up this book!