Book Review: Zombies Vs Unicorns

In February of 2007, the YA world was rocked when writing rock stars Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier got into the mother of all absurd arguments. Lines were drawn, sides were taken, the YA community was ripped in half as everyone rushed to proclaim which team they were on in the epic battle to decide which was cooler: zombies or unicorns.

Since then, fans have eagerly awaited the release of the Zombies vs Unicorns Anthology, a book which would, hopefully, settle the matter once and for all. Holly(Team Unicorn) and Justine(Team Zombie) spent months collecting the creme de la creme of YA authors to their sides. And on September 21, 2010, readers will at last get to see the final battle in print.

But I've got an ARC sitting all nice and tidy and signed on my shelf. Why yes, I am pretty darn smug about it.

I struggled with this review for a bit, trying to decide how I wanted to go about it: did I want to review each story individually or the book overall? Of course, I've decided to do a little of both.


The Good:

There are no bad stories in this anthology. None. Readers are free to discern which stories to read based on interest, author, and team preferences. Of course some stories shine more than others. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Alaya Dawn Johnson seems to be a Team Zombie favorite, while Diana Peterfreund's "The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn" - a spin-off of her Rampant series - is raking in the praise from Team Unicorn. When I said that Holly and Justine had used the creme de la creme for this anthology, I wasn't kidding. Sure, the individual stories have trip ups - Carrie Ryan's "Bougainvillea" has some pacing and organizational issues, while Meg Cabot's contribution to Team Unicorn irritated me (though I consider that a reflection of my own personal tastes since I haven't liked anything by Meg Cabot) - but the anthology starts strong and finishes the same.

The Bad:

Sadly, the only part of Zombies vs Unicorns that consistently detracted from the book was Holly and Justine's introductions of stories. In the forward, their bickering was amusing. It set the tone, and reminded readers that this was done in fun. But from the first story on, I noticed a trend: Holly would talk about the merits of the story while Justine would toot her proverbial horn in favor of Team Zombie and leave it at that. This was still funny for the first few introductions, but three stories in, it lost it's charm.

If Holly had mirrored Justine's behavior once or twice and simply said "Team Unicorn" over and over again, or better yet, if Justine had talked about the merits and pitfalls of a story beyond 'it has unicorns, it sucks' or 'it has zombies, it rules', - I think there would have been a much stronger sense of equality between the anthologists. As it was, I began entering each story wanting to hit Justine with something or hoping that Holly would on my behalf.

The Left-overs: 

Maureen Johnson, "Children of the Revolution" has MORE than made up for my disappointment with "Law of Suspect" in the Vacations from Hell anthology. Congrats.

My Rating: 4.5/5 Mushrooms

Team Unicorn Forever,
Maria D.

What Are You Reading 7/26

It's a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (...more  

It's a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths--for good and evil--of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies. Contributors include many bestselling teen authors, including Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Maureen Johnson, Meg Cabot, Scott Westerfeld, and Margo Lanagan. This anthology will have everyone asking: Team Zombie or Team Unicorn?

- from Goodreads

 I got my hands on this long awaited anthology at BEA. I love it. I'm almost finished with it. But even having not finished it, I can tell you with great authority that you should go out and get it the DAY IT IS ON SHELVES. Or you can pre-order it. That works, too.

Eat (brains), Love (unicorns), Pray (for bigger guns),
Maria D


Ps - TEAM UNICORN FTW

Unicorns and Obama

Once again, the zombie vs. unicorn debate rages on in another corner of the blogosphere. The latest hub of derision finds its home on the FiveAwesomeFansofYA Community run by the fabulous Devyn of Faerie Drink fame. After being invited to the foray, I felt the need to put in my two cents. Here it is, devoid of sign ups and facebook. Enjoy.


I'd never given much thought to the whole "unicorns vs. zombies" argument. But when the subject became too prevalent to ignore, I realized "wait, I'm a unicorn person!" This came as a bit of a surprise to me. I've always been a bit of a horror fan, what with the crazed grandmother who thought ghost stories and Buffy the Vampire Slayer were proper ways to send a five and six year old to bed, so initially, it seemed that the obvious answer would be zombies. However, while I enjoy Shaun of the Dead as much as the next person -blame crazy grandmother for obsessive love of British comedy as well-, I found myself being pulled closer and closer towards Team Unicorn.

The easy answer would be that, as a girl, it's all about the ponies.I won't deny this completely, seeing as how I do love horses. I also love sharp, pointed objects like swords, and as Holly Black has pointed out on numerous occasions, unicorns have swords ON THEIR FRICKIN' HEADS. I'm paraphrasing there, obviously, but you get the point.

Zombie's, as it is universally agreed upon, represent the domination of conformism in society and our fate. But unicorns, ah unicorns represent magic and hope. Just like Obama. I know many people who think magic and voodoo is to blame for Obama. Which is okay. Personally, I blame failed and corrupt government programs and bio-weapon testing for Bush and Cheney, and zombies. To each her own. The only true worth of zombies is to remind us what happens when we stay at malls too long and make sure we always carry blunt objects with us in case of an attack. So while zombies may have ruled for the past 8 years, I say it's high time for unicorns to rise up and rule with their magic and sword bequeathed heads! Remember! Unicorns support Obama, while a world filled with zombies is a world run by Cheney-bot with his cold, metal, zombie resistant heart; a unicorn on the other hand could pierce right through that sucker.

Viva la Team Unicorn!!!