Official Review: Undead Redhead by Jen Frankel

[rssllue]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Undead Redhead" by Jen Frankel.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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This is a review of the horror novel Undead Redhead by Jen Frankel.

This is not your typical horror tale. The story has quite a lot of humor in it and almost reads as more of a relational comedy with some horror elements sprinkled over the top. As the title suggests, the protagonist is in fact a redhead who has indeed come back from the dead as a zombie. There happens to be one slight problem with her reanimation: Sharon, the redhead, is (was) a vegan. So no brains for her thank you very much! Not only does she have to now adjust to being a very sentient, yet mildly rotting zombie, but she also to has to find an atypical undead regimen to satiate her growing hunger. There are most assuredly no eateries out there that cater to her “special needs” diet. On top of that, she finds herself stuck in a fuchsia bridesmaid’s dress (still clashing with her red hair postmortem) with high heels to match! What is an undead girl to do?!

The first thing that Sharon has to accomplish is to come to terms with her now being a walking corpse. She has retained all of her old personality, but her memory is somewhat fractured as to how she in fact came to die. The Redhead (as Sharon starts to call her dead self) also has to learn how to deal with the living around her as she begins to interact with them after literally climbing out of her coffin shortly before her funeral took place. Building relationships, finding suitable food and trying to figuratively and literally keep herself together is proving to be quite the challenge for the Redhead. She doesn’t even have a clue as to how she became undead in the first place!

The novel is written very well by Ms. Frankel and was quite an easy read. The story was not only engaging, but also very logically put together. Everything seemed to have a purpose for occurring and the characters acted consistently throughout the book. Though the novel had many farcical elements, they were all presented in a realistic framework that kept the story on track and believable.

One element in the book that I remain somewhat undecided upon is the author’s habit of introducing a character without much initial description. Later on in the story, those descriptors would suddenly be filled in. This was a bit enlightening while conversely being somewhat irritating at the same time. One way to see it is that it could open up our eyes as to how we can have a preconceived notion of someone that we later discover to be incorrect. On the other hand, it was frustrating to have built a mental image of a character that got turned a bit on its head by the latent information. There also were a few typos sprinkled throughout the book, but definitely not too bad overall. Just to let the readers know, there were a few minor (mainly humorous) drug references and some random swearing just in case you might be bothered by either strongly.

I would recommend this book to light horror fans (no gore alerts here!), those who enjoy some romance, as well as those who like comedic and ironic situations in their stories. I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I went back and forth between a 3 and a 4 for a bit, and if I would have had the option I would have given the novel a 3.5 out of the 4 possible stars. In the end, I ended up rounding up to the full 4 stars simply because the book deserved it. A nice job by Ms. Frankel in crafting a quite enjoyable read!

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Undead Redhead
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[gali]

I am not a horror fan, but it sounds like a good book. Thank you for the great review!

[bookowlie]

Very entertaining and insightful review! I love that phrase "mildly rotting zombie."

[bluemel4]

I really enjoyed reading your analysis and critique of this book. I agree that it can be frustrating when authors withhold descriptions, but I like your reasoning for why it happened.

[anonanemone]

I am not a zombie person but this book sounds pretty cute. I would definitely give this a go at least to see how the whole vegan zombie thing works out. Hopefully, that character build up issue won't put me too off kilter. Great review, rssllue! Congrats on an original sounding and humorous book, Jen!

[rssllue]

Thank you all for the kind words @anonanemone @bluemel4 @gali @bookowlie ! It truly is a unique zombie story. I guess it could almost be labeled a zomcom.

[anonanemone]

So long as it's not a zomromcom...

[rssllue]

Nice.

[jfrankel]

Thank you so much for the great review! I couldn't have had a nicer slightly early birthday present.

[Gravy]

Half stars! Half stars! Half stars!

Sorry, I digress

This sounds very interesting. A zombie redhead, in fuchsia(!)...that just stirs the imagination!

[rssllue]

Thank you so much for the great review! I couldn't have had a nicer slightly early birthday present.

You are most welcome! It was a really good story! And happy early birthday!

Half stars! Half stars! Half stars!

Sorry, I digress

This sounds very interesting. A zombie redhead, in fuchsia(!)...that just stirs the imagination!

It is indeed quite the tale. Very entertaining!

[Tanaya]

Awesome review! I loved the title as soon as I saw it, and I'm glad to see that it doesn't disappoint. If just the review of it is this entertaining, then the book really must be something special.

[rssllue]

Thank you very much! It is quite the good read!

[bookowlie]

I agree, the title is cool. I still think the sequel should be called, "Mildly Rotting Zombie." (my favorite line in your review).

[rssllue]

It would be an honor if that would actually happen! And I am quite pleased that you like that line too @bookowlie !