Review: Unfed by Kirsty McKay

Title: Unfed

Author: Kirsty McKay

Publisher: Chicken House

Publishing Date: August 27, 2013

Pages/Format: 288, Hardcover
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Fresh meat! From a hospital of horrors to a runaway zombie train, it's an all-new onslaught of the slavering undead in the sequel to Kirsty McKay's killer debut!

Just when you think you're out...it's the morning after the night of the return of the living dead. Or something like that. After running/bus-driving/snowboarding for her life alongside rebel Smitty, geeky Pete, and popular Alice, Bobby thought she'd found the antidote to the Carrot Man Veggie Juice that had turned the rest of their classmates into zombies. When Smitty (mmm...nom, nom) got chomped, Bobby pumped a syringe full of it into him herself.

But now Bobby's a prisoner in some hospital of horrors, with no clue how she got there. And Smitty is missing. What if he isn't cured after all? Bobby knows she's got to find him, even if it means facing Scotland's hungry hordes -- plus Alice's buckets of snark -- again. And this time, zombies aren't the only evil stressing her out. The brain-dead are bad enough, but how can Bobby stop the big pharma business behind the epidemic? Especially when her own mom works for the company?

Book in One Word: MOOOOOORRRRRREEEEE

After devouring--and surprisingly loving--Undead I immediately picked up the sequel. I was dying to know what happened next, especially after THAT ENDING. And I missed Smitty. (He really is the best.) So I began Unfed as soon as possible, and while I didn't love it as much as Undead and it went in a direction I super wasn't expecting, I still liked it!

Kirsty McKay's Undead series is not your average zombie series. It's more along the lines of Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead: there are zombies and they're deadly and want to eeaaatttt yyooouuuu, but this ain't no Walking Dead. This is a more comedic, fun approach to rotten flesh eaters. And let me tell you: I love it. I read this series because I wanted something meaningless like a Hallmark movie--maybe SyFy is more appropriate here--but I ended up being totally engrossed in these books and just loving them. They're kind of ridiculous and rather unrealistic and sort of over the top but it works and honestly, I don't even care. It's a feel good sort of series...but with zombies. Weird, I know. But damn, it's well worth the read.

Unfed continues soon after where Undead left off, and that's where you can color me surprised. I was NOT expecting the story to go there--to be there--but it's definitely interesting and a bit of a twist to your typical zombie story. We get more of an explanation as to how this random zombie apocalypse in Scotland started and just what the hell is going--well, sort of. And spoiler alert, the military and science gets involved but whose side are they on, you know? There are new characters and old characters--computer geek Pete, queen bitch Alice, just your average girl in a zombie world Alice, and rebel bad boy Smitty (my absolute favorite)--and a very different setting. And of course there are zombies. Lots of zombies. And some casualties and plot twists and all around excellence.

I may be just the teeniest bit not in love with Unfed because of how different it was from Undead, but I still am very much a fan and I just really, really like these books, okay? I watch The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead, but I wouldn't really say I'm a fan of zombies. I am, however, a fan of this series and it's light and witty take on zombies and gore and teenagers in peril and stereotypical characters that you actually care about. I just have a bone to pick about that ending BECAUSE HOW IS THERE NOT A THIRD BOOK? HOW? R U D E. We deserve more answers about this zombie world and more Smitty (and, yeah, the other characters too).

Did I like it? Yes!

Did I love it? Nearly.

Would I reread it? Honestly I want to read it right now.

Would I purchase it? YES, and right this moment I am very seriously wondering WHY I DON'T OWN THESE BOOKS.

Who would I recommend it to? Everyone? It's literally a feel good, sort of fluffy zombie series? I mean, if you like zombie stories--less in a scary way and more in a satirical sort of way--and great casts of characters and books that are kind of meaningless but still good, then please read this and then beg for a third book or else you'll threaten to start the zombie apocalypse.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.