100 Pages A Day...Stephanie's Book Reviews

Highshcooler, Stella Blunt has just received the worst news of her life- her mother has gotten a new job and they will be moving from Nova Scotia to Vancouver.   Stella is on the heavier side, tends to say what she thinks and knows kung-fu, making friends is not her forte. Stella puts on her big girl panties, as her dad says and makes the best of her first day at her new school.  Stella hears a wide variety of fat jokes, and her chemistry lab partner, Howard apparently can't do much except ogle and drool directly at Stella.  Stella is having a hard enough time without the one person at school who might have a lower social status then herself crushing hard on her; but the next day Howard is completely different- polite, charming and interesting.  Howard can't help but be around Stella and a relationship forms, but Stella knows that Howard and his family are different.  As soon as Howard spills the beans about essentially being a zombie, an outbreak happens.  They all seem to want Stella's brain in particular and the Feds are blaming Howard's family for the whole thing.

 

 

Chemistry is a play on the Twilight series that fixes many of the criticisms that Twilight garnered.  Stella herself is outspoken, not afraid to ask questions, tough and not your typical body type.  Stella's parents are also very present, supportive and hilarious.  They are involved in her life and have plenty of awkward conversations, just like real highschool kids have to go though.  One of my favorite lines was " ...while I completely acknowledge and recognize that you are not responsible for men's reactions to you, teenage boy's brains do tend to shut down when they see a pretty girl. "It's all about the boobs," said my father."  Howard also isn't your typical pretty boy and because of his condition, he is seen as an outcast.  However, because of his elongated time as a teenage boy, he has a gentle nature and a lot of insight.  I did like how the Z03818 virus was explained and how Howie and his family were still more on the living side of the virus than the dead.  The romance in the story did move pretty quickly with love found within a matter of days.  Although, the action, mystery and suspense of the zombie outbreak was on point and was a great blend of conspiracy, danger and chainsaw actions.  Overall, a perfect read for paranormal romance lovers!