This just was not for me.
It was crude beyond belief and too silly to be funny.
I really should have not wasted my time.

I’m a firm believer in mixing it up. I’ll go from a mystery to dystopian to historical; switching from dark to disgusting to laugh out loud funny. I love when an author can push my limits and make me say, “Sweet Jesus, did they just do that!?” Brahm Stroker was going to allow me to penetrate the world of Dick Shooter and Bunny Hole.

I was hoping and anticipating for Rated Z to push my boundaries and shock me. I don’t know if it says more about the author’s efforts or my expectations, but I was left unfulfilled. I’ve noticed others were shocked and disgusted, some found it accomplished the goal, others did not. I felt like such a great premise could have had better execution.

Most zombie books have pretty clear lines between the zombies and the uninfected. They don’t get along or cooperate. The zombies exist to infect, and the survivors must battle for their lives. Rated Z ignores the accepted zombie. I’m okay with that, but I would have liked a bit more danger, it helps to up the comedic factor.

Rated Z had a captivating concept and I’m sure that the right person will love it. I was just left with a feeling of wanting more.

*3 Stars

It's the Zombie apoclypse, brought about by a tropical disease, and only Dick Shooter and Bunny Hole, porn stars extraordinaire have the skills to survive it. Unfortunately, Dick is getting stiffer as the zombie virus spreads through his body, and he has to find some way of fighting back his urge to kill.

This book has got two really neat ideas. The first is the slowly dying protagonist, and the extreme measures he goes to in an attempt to keep himself alive. It could make from really interesting character development. The second idea is the way the zombie virus throws people into repetitive habits, acting out their obsessions as they slowly fall to bits. Could have given us some slow declines in the various cast members that had an impact on their ability to survive.

However, what this book does with those ideas is mostly dick jokes. Yes, his name is Dick. Yes, if you happen to mention his penis (which is plot-relevant enough to make the list of main characters), there is the inevitable "yes, that's my name joke". I eventually stopped counting how often it came up. If Dick was doing this in some knowing manner to gain a bit of cheap laughter, that'd be better. Instead, he's an idiot. I don't remember the last time I disliked a main character this much.

Though Bunny is not much better, being a shallowly written sex obsessed sex maniac, who wants nothing more than to take full advantage of the ever-present phallus. I can't decide if she's meant to be a parody or not.

It's intentionally gross-out, and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Some of the scenes could be impressively horrific with a defter hand. Giving in to your obsessions has a nice reminiscence of Se7en, such as the fellow determined to constantly eat, but it's written in such a weirdly casual style that it loses all power.

The ending of the book sets up a sequel. I will not be reading it.

Gross and snarky. This book was both totally funny and totally gross in equal parts. And while I did enjoy it, I'm not sure I will be reaching for,the next of the series. I may have reached my quota on zombie porn stars.

When a disease that turns people into something-like-zombies ravages the world, a couple of porn stars try to lead a band of survivors to safety.
This book is well named, since it starts with a porno shoot. . . in excruciating detail. The metaphors fly fast and free, but at least some of them are funny. It’s silly, not to be taken seriously. When a character comes back from the dead, the mortician doesn’t faint, actually takes it pretty much in stride after a few incredulous moments. It’s that kind of world.
On the other hand, there’s far too many characters introduced too early. Some are sympathetic, oddly enough the porn stars most of all. Anything bad that happens to Erica is fine by me. But it felt like there were far too many storylines. If I stopped reading for a day, I forgot some of the characters. The Andrew storyline could have been left out entirely. It’s a rambling plotline, enough so that I hesitate to call it a plot, more of a situation to drop characters into and see how they react. But then I doubt story was the point, and it ends in an abrupt cliffhanger.
The best thing I can say about this book is it’s got heart. . . numerous other body parts and functions as well, but mostly heart.

I could not finish this book. I just couldn't get into it.

Totally disgusting and hilarious. However, if I had known that it was a serial novel I wouldn’t have read it.

This isn't exactly what I thought it would be. It's crude, very funny, and has a unique take on zombies I haven't seen anywhere else. I didn't realise going in that it was the first in a series, which might have affected my willingness to read. It is extremely gross, especially a particular scene near the end. Be warned.

I wasn't too clear on the rules, either. Some people are zombies, some are dead but still essentially themselves, some dead but themselves can control some zombies...there was no explanation, things just kept happening. If things had been made clearer, this would be a five star from me, solely on the humour and uniqueness.

Receiving an ARC did not affect my review in any way.

I’m not going to lie to you. This gets gross. There’s a scene that I should have seen coming, didn’t, and was pretty disgusted by. (If you’ve read it, you likely know the scene.) But there are other scenes that are also gross.

Aside from gross, the book is raunchy, over the top, and very, very funny.

You see, it’s a silly concept and kudos to the author for embracing that silliness and going for it full force. The book is decidedly tongue-in-cheek, not your typical zombie, and just plain fun (and gross – don’t forget the gross).

And never before have I said this: I loved those two porn stars. They were just so sweet!

I will admit that the author lost me with one character – she was too over the top and since the entire book is over the top, that’s saying a lot. She became a walking caricature rather than a full character for me.

Will I read the next book in the series? I’m honestly not sure. As of right now, I need a break from this. Could be, though, when the next book is published, I may be curious enough to give it a go. I kind of want to see what happens to our sweet porn stars!

Not my thing at all. I read 15 % of the book and then stopped. I was not interested at all