It's a fantastic premise and Ash Parsons has very clearly been to cons and understands how they work, that part was great. I also love how different the friends were, that was great to see. I think the actual apocalypse itself was a little dragging (pardon the pun!).

June has been a horror fan ever since that first late-night movie she never should have been watching at such a young age. After years of fandom, its finally happening. ZombieCon is coming to her small, unremarkable city. June won't even let the recent betrayal by one of her best friends put a damper on this day. However, it starts to unravel when cosplayers start attacking other fans... or are they cosplayers?
Ash Parsons has created a traditional zombie survival without the played out damsel in distress main character. June and her friends are take-charge teenagers that crush stereotypes. The story is exciting and feeds my zombie survival desire.

This was so overly descriptive I abandoned it a few chapters in. It might have turned out to be a cute story but I honestly couldn't get past the drawn out opening just to describe the outfit the character was wearing in far too much detail.

This was a cute YA story that really emphasized the importance of female friendship and girl power. It was my first ever zombie story and I found it to be a refreshing and unique. I read it in just one afternoon and it helped me bust out of my reading slump!

I first saw this book a while back on Goodreads and I have had my eye on it ever since. I was pulled in by the cover and hooked by the summary (kind of a you had me at hello situation). I was beyond excited (I mean sequels) when I was offered an arc of it and I could not be happier to be sharing my thoughts about this book with you all right now. Additionally, because I thoroughly enjoy this book.

A big portion of this book focused on female friendships. Despite the hurdles they faced, it was great to see their friendship grow stronger. Each woman faced a challenge that they overcame over the course of the book. As the team grew to trust one another, their bond grew. It was refreshing to see a book portray such strong female friendships. Instead of tearing each other down, these women lifted one another up…bringing down their manipulative coach along the way. The reader felt compelled to watch them succeed and come together as a team!

Also ZOMBIES! Like I love zombies. Give me all the zombies shows, movies, and books. Ash Parsons wrote them incredibly well here stumbling in this fan convention reminded me of the video game Dead Rising. GIVE ME MORE.

While I thought this was a fun read, it wasn't one that hit me right initially and then spiraled into something I *should* have expected but didn't. All of that to say, this book was entertaining in its own right and will likely thrill fans of Zombie books/movies! One thing to note: it starts out slow (in my opinion) and didn't set me up for what the story really was about (aka: zombies and survival). Then again, maybe this is due to the fact I don't read back cover copy or things like that.

I enjoyed the friendships between the main girls, even the rocky road they were walking with another friend. Very girl-drama initially but I really respected how it was handled at the end. And, as you may expect from any Zombie aspect, there was a lot of death. Very sad, and yet like I said, expected.

I think overall the messages portrayed were good and uplifting even if at points I thought things were slightly impossible for the situation (but I decided to suspend belief for the sake of the story).

I'd recommend to fans of zombie lore and can't quite remember if there was language in this one. There is some gore and such but it's not too excessive in my opinion.

My Rating: 3.5*

This was a fun YA take on the zombie movie. It started a little slow, but once it got going it really hooked me in. It did a great job of playing with the final girls trope.

I really enjoyed this one. I love the female characters and am always a fan of girl power. This is such a refreshing book and if I could give it more than 5 stars, I would!

The below review will be posted on somethingofthebook.com and my Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/somethingofthebook/) on 5/17/2020.

I never thought I’d type out the phrase “this girl power, zombie apocalypse book is an absolute delight”, but here we are.

Rating: 4.75 Stars

Where can I even begin with this review? I just finished the book and I feel giddy and fizzy and I want to call my best friends to hang out (*shakes fist a COVID-19*). I didn’t expect this zombie story to make me feel this way and I love it for that. There were a lot of unexpected moments in this novel and I love how it kept true to the YA realm, but gave us a bit more to keep us on our toes.

Parsons managed to craft an action packed zombie thriller and balanced it out perfectly with strong female friendships and how to navigate through difficult times (like bad boyfriends and zombie apocalypses). The best thing about this book was how real the characters felt. I could feel the strength of the bond between June and her friends and it made me remember how it felt to have friends like that back in high school.

The setting of a Zombie fan convention was another stellar point in this story. I love how self aware the story and June were through everything. A zombie breakout at a ZombieCon is ridiculous and wonderful. From the way Parsons was able to capture the feeling of a pop culture convention to the internal thoughts of June, the story felt incredibly authentic, which considering the zombies, is saying a lot.

There were some cheesy moments, but never so much in a way that made me groan or roll my eyes. There were definitely some violent moments, though it never went too far (*glares in general direction of The Walking Dead*). The stakes throughout the whole story were very high and it always kept the tension taut.

Really, I’m not sure what more I could say without going into a play by play of all my favorite parts. Girls Save the World in This One is a wonderful read for the current times. It is a great balance of action, friendship, smashing the patriarchy, and special memories!

I started this one yesterday and, because it struck the perfect balance of scary and funny, managed to also finish it yesterday! While there are some slightly gruesome descriptions (it is a zombie book), this was never overly gory or scary. It was heartwarming while also being incredibly entertaining. I’d recommend this one if you’re looking for something fun and lighthearted that doesn’t take itself too seriously!

*Disclaimer: I received an advance digital copy of this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

SYNOPSIS
Girls Save the World in This One is a young adult horror about teens who slay zombies. The main character June attends Zombiecon with her two best friends. Zombiecon is a fan convention that celebrates all thing zombie. While at the con June and her friends discover that the event has been taken over by actual zombies. Now it is up to June and her friends to survive the zombie horde and save the world.

When I initially read the summary on Goodreads it sounded like the Walking Dead, but marketed to teen girls. I’m not mad at it.

MY THOUGHTS…
First of all, the cover is beautiful. My main reason for picking this up was the cover, not gonna lie.

Soooo…this was just fine. I didn’t dislike it, but I didn’t love it either. It was just a ‘meh’ book for me. I recognize that I am not intended audience for this book. I feel that even if I read this when I was in my teens I would feel the same way. The concept for this was everything, but the execution needed a little bit of work.

Things I liked:
Strong female protagonists
Awesome friendships
Diverse representation
Zombie slaying violence!

Things I did not like:
Slow-paced
The dialogue did not sound like how a teen would sound in 2020
Ending left me unsatisfied…

I liked the premise of this one. It had potential, but I think it tried too hard. It's still a decent story. There's a little love interest, but I found myself wanting the main character June to fall for her best friend rather than the intended love interest.

Have you ever thought about how you’d do in a zombie apocalypse?

I’m not ashamed to admit the thought has occurred to me once, twice, or ten times. I smiled just reading the synopsis... a girl and her two best friends goes to a ZombieCon at their small town convention center but they start noticing some attendees acting a little strange... until it turns into a full blown zombie outbreak!

For a book about zombies, this was both a really feel-good book about girl power and friendships and for a YA, a surprisingly gory and gruesome read! I needed an easy, fun read after the couple heart wrenching reads I’ve been reading and this was the perfect palate cleanser while not being too light... definitely had me tearing up at points.

It read like an action movie... 90% plot, 5% YA messaging, and 5% character development and the love June has for zombies made me crave a binge-watch of The Walking Dead. The cute romance side story was a good addition while not overshadowing the friendships and triumphs at the heart of the story.

Overall, really enjoyed this one! 3.8 stars

Three best friends go to a zombie con enjoying fangirling over their favorite show, until a real zombie outbreak forces them to team up with the show's cast to try to survive. This story starts out as a fun, sassy contemporary but then turns into a sci-fi survival with heart-pounding action and zombie fights, plus an unexpected romance which helps keeps the entire thing grounded. It is an ambitious story but I think it pulled off the genre blending well, giving the reader realistic characters you relate to while also keeping them on the edge of their seat with suspense. I really liked the depictions of the friendships and having issues of betrayal, first crushes, and growing up all intertwined in a real way throughout the unrealistic events of the story. This was a fun thriller that I think appeals to geeks and fangirls like me who don't usually read zombie books, and those looking for zombie fighting action.

I did not care for this book. It had everything I normally love, but this one, I don't know exactly how to phrase it, irked me?

+ Uplifting (by the end) female friendships
+ Diverse representation within fandoms
+ Gore
+ Positive portrayals of women in horror
+ Direct, dialogue heavy text that is great for reluctant readers
+ Great, vibrant cover

-Authentic teen voice? ehhhhh, this sounds like someone who was in high school in the 2000s. I haven't heard the term beffie used in at least a decade. Also what teen says "oh look a cute teen boy?" No one. You would think oh look at that cute boy, being a teenager yourself you probably wouldn't specify that the cute boy was in fact a teen. I certainly don't think "ooh look a cute adult male."
-Are zombies still a thing? I haven't heart a kid talk about zombies in a very long time. Kinda played out.
-It starts so very slow. The first third is describing a con and the zombie fandom. Also a lot of unnecessary background info about friends parents? That didn't matter at all. It could easily be dropped.
- Diverse representation felt incredibly awkward. Like "here is my white friend, she's Scandinavian so she can pull off this look" and "Here is my Indian friend," etc. etc. It made it feel like it was shoehorned in and not at all natural. I appreciate that the effort was made.
- I wanted this to be funnier. I was expecting more witty quips and stronger satire. It certainly wasn't laugh out loud, at least for me.
- Oof apocalyptic books are a hard sell right now.

Overall it is a thrilling tale of survival, just not my cup of tea I guess.

Thanks to Netgalley and Philomel for the Advanced Reader Copy.

Okay, imagine you're going to a con where the cast of your favorite zombie-ridden post-apocalyptic show is appearing. You've hit the exhibit hall, taken pictures with the cosplayers, and are just sitting down to a panel with the whole cast... and the zombie apocalypse happens. For reals. That's how it goes down for teens June, Siggy, and Imani, attending ZombieCon! in their little hometown. They're sitting in on a panel with all the stars of their favorite zombie show, Human Wasteland, when all hell breaks loose. The girls have to put their zombie apocalypse skills to the test to survive, and June has to cope with the indignity of having her ex-BFF, Blair, who's also at the con and on the run from the undead. DRAMA.

Girls Save the World in This One is FANTASTIC. I loved every single page of this hilarious action-adventure story, with relatable teens who are sick and tired of friendship drama, dumb boyfriends, and all of these freaking zombies! June, Imani, and Siggy are quick-thinking, smart, and their friendship bond is #squadgoals. June, in fabulous teen fashion, takes time to agonize over her damaged friendship with Blair while figuring out how to escape zombies and put up with obnoxious cable TV celebrities, and Blair - the friend on the outside looking in - is proof that desperate times can bring people closer. Fans of the other zombie show on cable TV will recognize some characters, and I love the fangirl's dream come true that evolves throughout the book. Who will survive? You MUST read this to find out. Strong female characters, the power of friendship, and a burgeoning romance amidst the zombie apocalypse make this a must have.

This was such a fun book! Girls Save the World in This One is about friendship in small town Georgia and a Zombie Con gone horribly wrong. June, and her BFFs Imani, and Siggy are looking forward to their first Zombie Con. They are excited to meet the stars of their favorite show, Human Wasteland, which is about a group of people surviving the Zombie Apocalypse. The girls are starting their Senior year and are looking forward to spending time together before the real chaos starts. June is the main character. She feels less secure than the other two - not as smart, or as pretty, plus she has a giant zit on her nose. She's been dumped by her boyfriend - who by the way is dating her other "best friend," Blair. The three girls are freezing Blair out, but are surprised to see her enter the convention center with a VIP pass to the con. The three BFFs are having a great time shopping and meeting their idols and looking forward to a photo op with their favorite actor, Hunter Sterling, who place the young surrogate son on the show. June is wobbling between watching Blair in her second row seat and ogling the cast on the stage when she notices a man in a yellowed T-shirt fiddling with the doors to the convention hall. More odd behavior follows and soon the girls, the cast and the rest of the attendees are running for their lives from real "live?" zombies. June, who isn't always book smart. turns out to be a great leader and comes up with excellent plans to escape. The girls end up in a real life survival situation with the actors from the show and other con celebrities. With the support of her friends and their various skills, June is able to shine and gain in confidence as long as she can stay alive.

I really enjoyed reading this. I'm a big Walking Dead fan and my daughter has just started going to cons so I could happily relate to this book. The characters were realistic and charming. Parsons did a wonderful job describing the cast and crew and showing them as "real people." When the action started, not long into the book, it was exciting, believable and well-plotted. While it did involve the quick spread of a contagion, the whole zombie aspect makes for an action-packed, very entertaining read. My middle school readers are going to adore this book - high schoolers will too as will anyone who enjoys fun, friendship and some gory action. Well done Ash Parsons!!!!

A fun zombie romp in what else? A Zombie con! The characters are fun, if a little 2 dimensional. The action scenes are slightly choppy and I had difficulty following the movements through the building, but overall it was a decent read.

This fast-paced, plot-driven book was a lot of fun. Not too many scares here, but a realistic look at con life.

I dug this! I'm into the trend of fandom-themed YA books, and you can definitely tell when authors really "get" fandom. This felt true to me (though as you may know I am NOT a zombie fan), and I also loved its crew of teenage girls working to reconcile their fandom with feminism and social justice. Also, the pain of friendship breakup (and, spoiler, reunion) was well-captured. Not to mention the dream celeb romance!

I still don't really like zombies but the conceit of actual zombies at a zombie fan con was clever and should definitely appeal to fans of Walking Dead etc.