Return of the Loving Dead by Araminta Star Matthews and Stan Swanson

Return of the Loving Dead by Araminta Star Matthews and Stan Swanson
Series: Horror High School
Published by Curiosity Quills Press on May 8, 2014
Genres: Love, Romance, Zombies
Pages: 230 : Paperback edition
Source: Received from the author for an honest review
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Being in love with a zombie bites, but that won’t stop true love. Can it? Horror High School: Return of the Loving Dead is unlike any zombie book you’ve ever read. Meet Amber Vanderkamp, senior at Stephen E. King High School. Amber is poised to be class valedictorian when she graduates this year and has her sights set on the New York Center for the Performing Arts for college. Everything is wonderful in Amber’s world. She always gets the lead in her high school’s plays and is counting on the lead role in the school’s upcoming production of Romeo and Juliet. That is until her well-ordered world is thrown into chaos when her boyfriend, Zach, dies and comes back as a zombie. But how can she turn her back on the love of her life? How does she deal with the pressure? And will she remain committed to the boy she once considered her soul mate? Especially when her mother (with secrets of her own) is encouraging her to wait and experience more of the world. And her flighty best friend, Jasmine, is acting more peculiar than ever since Zach has become a member of the undead club. Add in the class bullies, Caleb and Darla, who seem to be doing everything in their power to ruin Amber’s life and everything is here for a page-turning romp through a world where zombies are a part of everyday life.

Believe it or not this is the first zombie novel I’ve read! I know shocker! So going in with that knowledge I was really excited to see how the authors would handle the subject matter and it was…interesting. There was a lot less emphasis on the zombies than I had expected. In this universe they were, more or less, under control and was something the society had gotten used to, which I liked because there was already this stable establishment of other beings.

Moving onto the characters, I honestly felt that Jasmine, Amber’s best friend, should have been the main character. She was funny and snarky and had a lot of really great lines. I like how she went against the social norm too which was really cool and not something you see too often in YA fiction (though it has been popping up more and more lately). Yay diversity!

Amber herself kind of annoyed me and fought a lot with Jasmine which I found sort of weird because aren’t they supposed to be best friends…? Her devotion towards her boyfriend/zombie Zach was really cute and endearing though. She really wanted to fight for him and his rights.

Overall, a good zombie novel that I would recommend for more during the Halloween season to get you in that ghoulish sort of mood. There was also a lot of references to magic and Wicca in here too, which is also perfect for October and the fall season!