By Cynthia Ayala

Alice thought she had nothing left to lose. She was wrong. Anima isn’t playing around anymore, they want Alice alive and the Slayers dead and they are willing to do whatever they need to in order to get the job done. It’s war now. A secret connection gives Alice more power than she ever thought she would have, the power to control and cure zombies, and in the wrong hands, it could make Anima even more power. The fight is on and more than one person will lose their life.

The third novel in The White Rabbit Chronicles by Gena Showalter,
The Queen of Zombie Hearts
published on September 30, 2014 by Harlequin Teen follows the protagonist Alice Bell as she fights zombies in this young adult paranormal novel.

There are many pros and cons regarding this novel. The story progression moves quickly and that’s one of the many pros regarding this novel. The tension rises chapter after chapter, keeping the reader glued to the story and entertained page after page. That is one of the elements that makes this story exciting and captivating for the readers. Not just that but this story is based on a unique take on the zombie genre because it deals in real time not in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity is on its last legs. This story is happening now with Slayers, people who are able to zombies hunt and destroy them. Again, another unique element of the story because these are not typical zombies, they are not just the living the dead, they are also spiritual, something that is actually closer to the voodoo lore where zombies came from. These zombies want someone’s spirit just as much as it wants’ their flesh. That makes this novel stand out amongst the vast zombie novels out there, adding to its unique charm.

The only downside of the novel was the dynamics between the characters, the relationships, and how they acted towards one another. Every character is a strong character and each has their own voice giving life to the characters. However, the problem is that they are all strong. Sure, they each have their weaknesses but they are still all very powerful characters on their own. Just look at Alice, if it were not for the humanity and very humans reactions and attitude her narrative employs, she would be considered a Mary Sue caricature. Her narrative is realistic, all their narratives are realistic, and that is one of the many positive elements of the novel. Nevertheless some of the romantic relationships had moments of submissive versus dominant aspects to them that made reading somewhat uncomfortable not only because they came out of nowhere but also because of the fact that the characters were built on such equal grounding that it sort of looks like it came from left field. It did not fit the context and it did not fit the characters relationship.

Other than that, it was an exciting novel. The tension was well placed and allowed for the novel to be fast paced and continuously draw the reader into the text and invest themselves in the characters and the story as a whole. (★★★☆☆ |B)