Book Review: Eat, Brains, Love by Jeff Hart

Eat, Brains, Love
Author: Jeff Hart
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Horror | Zombies | Humor
Released: October 1st 2013
Review Source: HarperTeen

A laugh-out-loud funny, surprisingly romantic, zombie road trip novel filled with heart—and brains. Eat, Brains, Love is perfect for fans of Isaac Marion's Warm Bodies.

The good news: Jake's dream girl, Amanda Blake, finally knows his name.

The bad news: it's because they both contracted a mysterious zombie virus and devoured the brains of half their senior class. Now Jake and Amanda are on the run from Cass, a teen psychic sent by the government's top-secret Necrotic Control Division to track them down. As Jake and Amanda deal with the existential guilt of eating their best friends and set off in search of a cure for the zombie virus, Cass struggles with a growing psychic dilemma of her own—one that will lead all three of them on an epic journey across the country and make them question what it means to truly be alive. Or undead.

Eat, Brains, Love follows two teenagers- one that is a recently turned zombie, the other is a psychic that's trying to catch said zombie. Sounds intense right? Well, it is but it's also really funny. Jake is just a normal, under-the-radar, type of guy minding his own business. But, next thing he knows he's eaten half of his class. The other half was eaten by Amanda, a popular girl that Jake thought didn't even know his name. But, he's got her attention now! When "their meal" is over they run. Obviously. Then the government shows up with Cass, teenage psychic working on this "project" to eliminate all zombies. Because the world, or the U.S. doesn't know of this epidemic. Cass can see what Jake sees, she knows where he is and it's her job to hunt him, and Amanda, down. But, complications arise starts questioning herself and who she works with. Feelings arise, also...maybe.

My favorite thing about this book was all of the laugh-out-loud moments. How can a zombie book be funny with all the gruesome stuff going around in it? I don't know, but Jeff Hart pulled it off. I have heard a lot of people comparing it to Warm Bodies. I have yet to read Warm Bodies, but like I said, the humor is definitely there. And, the heart-warming stuff too. Going by the movie, if you're a fan of Warm Bodies you'll appreciate and love Eat, Brains, Love.

I felt a variety of emotions throughout this book, as expected. Ha! But I found myself connecting with Jake faster than with Cass. I like how Hart "designed" these zombies. He found a way to humanize them and I love that. I'm hoping this is a series and it continues because I will definitely follow it. If you're looking for a heart-warming and laugh-out-loud book, do yourself a favor and read Eat, Brains, Love!