Bad Taste In Boys by Carrie Harris
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Pages: 201
Publisher: Delacorte Books
Published: July 12st, 2011
IBSN: 9780385739689
Someone's been a very bad zombie.
Kate Grable is horrified to find out that the football coach has given the team steroids. Worse yet, the steriods are having an unexpected effect, turning hot gridiron hunks into mindless flesh-eating zombies. No one is safe--not her cute crush Aaron, not her dorky brother, Jonah . . . not even Kate! She's got to find an antidote--before her entire high school ends up eating each other. So Kate, her best girlfriend, Rocky, and Aaron stage a frantic battle to save their town . . . and stay hormonally human.
Kate Grable is horrified to find out that the football coach has given the team steroids. Worse yet, the steriods are having an unexpected effect, turning hot gridiron hunks into mindless flesh-eating zombies. No one is safe--not her cute crush Aaron, not her dorky brother, Jonah . . . not even Kate! She's got to find an antidote--before her entire high school ends up eating each other. So Kate, her best girlfriend, Rocky, and Aaron stage a frantic battle to save their town . . . and stay hormonally human.
Kate is outraged to find the coach of her high school football team giving the team steroids, but her anger quickly turns to fear when the drugs turn out to be contaminated. Rather than giving the footballers a boost on field, they seem to be turning them into zombies. Not only is she the only person who understands the outbreak, but also the only person with a chance of curing it before it gets out of hand.
Bad Taste In Boys, at only 201 pages, is a quick read, emphasised by the fast-paced nature of the plot. You can't put it down because a) you don't have time to, and b) because there aren't breaks in the drama that would allow you to. It jumped straight into the action, built suspense effectively, and didn't leave too much time after the denouement hanging.
Kate was an great protagonist to see the story through. She had a distinct and likable voice, even if her goofiness occasionally wandered a little too far from Endearing, and she drove the story forward with her determination, though the determination was mixed with enough nervousness and reluctance to allow us to relate. Though her ability to solve the problems she faced with such convenience and ease reminded me of Nancy Drew, and this likeness was only reinforced by the corny conclusion.
Her love interest, Aaron, fell a little flat. He was fully fleshed out, and neither was the attraction. Kate spent much of the story working solo, and Aaron's appearances were few. We had to rely on Kate's recounting of his dreamboat factors rather than seeing for ourselves, and so, it isn't completely believable. It gave the vibe of a romance implemented just to be there, to fit into a genre in which
Something in the mood of Bad Taste In Boys -- be it the characters' general flippancy about the outbreak, or the simple brand of humour -- gave the impression that it was intended for a younger audience. While I certainly enjoyed the book, some of its appeal may have been lost on me, as typically a reader of older, darker YA.
Bad Taste In Boys is a book I'd recommend specifically to fans of younger YA, or to fans of middle grade novels. But it's light and fast and silly, and readers of high-drama, high-tension novels may enjoy this one as a rest.
