Book Review: Bad Taste in Boys

Written by: Carrie Harris

Published by: Delacorte Press

Release Date: July 11, 2011

Source: Purchased

5 stars - I loved this book -- it's a must read!

Synopsis (from Carrie's site):

Someone’s been a very bad zombie.

Super-smartie Kate Grable gets to play doctor, helping out her high school football team. Not only will the experience look good on her college apps, she gets to be this close to her quarterback crush, Aaron. Then something disturbing happens. Kate finds out that the coach has given the team steroids. Except . . . the vials she finds don’t exactly contain steroids. Whatever’s in them is turning hot gridiron hunks into mindless, flesh-eating . . . zombies.

Unless she finds an antidote, no one is safe. Not Aaron, not Kate’s brother, not her best friend . . . not even Kate . . .

Honestly, I don’t quite know what attracted me to a book about zombies because normally, I clutch my crème brulee torch tightly and pray I don’t have nightmares when I’m exposed to the slightest bit of zombie lore. The cover was definitely what caused me to grab it off the dolly as my unsuspecting book seller wheeled the fresh stack of new releases by me. But, then I turned to a random page and started reading and what grabbed me was the voice of the protagonist, Kate. Here’s a sample from page 72-73 (and you know me by now, it includes a hot moment with the quarterback of the football team, Aaron.)

He held out his hand, and I took it. There was a moment of heart-stopping panic during which I wondered if I had misread yet another social situation, before his fingers folded over mine. He probably just needed some friendly reassurance. Or maybe I’d been magically transported into a musical, and we were about to break into a song-and-dance number. I’d believe that before I’d believe he was interested in me.

I cleared my throat and lifted my eyes from our intertwined fingers. They looked good together. “Um…I could help, if you want.”

“Thanks, Kate. You’re the best.”

I shuffled uncomfortably. I didn’t know how to interpret this. Instead of AP Latin, I should have taken Talking to Boys Without Stammering.

See what I mean? Kate is smart, scientific and the trainer for the varsity football team. As she investigates the use of steroids by certain team members, I couldn’t help thinking of other characters who share her determination to do the right thing and find the truth. Yes, I’m thinking about Veronica Mars and Sophie from the Hex Hall series. Kate could easily sit at a lunch table with the two of them.

I have to mention Carrie’s writing because she plunked me in the middle of a football game and I followed her story and the characters feeling like I knew them from page one. And all of the characters are fully fleshed out (you knew a bad metaphor had to pop into the review at some point, right?). Seriously, I loved them all but Kate’s younger brother may have made me laugh the most.

I finished this in one sitting and I found myself having to explain my giggles and snickers to my family. Sometimes, I think those are the best kind of books, don’t you? So on these hot summer nights, don’t look out the window into that dark backyard of yours and wonder what’s out there, instead pick up Bad Taste in Boys and sit back with your crème brulee torch by your side and enjoy a story about a funny, smart, curious girl.