Reviews

The Day the Dead Came to Show and Tell, by Mira Grant

queenofthesouthernsun's review

4.0

This story haunts me. I think it's something to do with the setting and how I can see every one of these decisions and choices being made by those in power and how each of the fail-safes would fall one by one...

Long story short, I can 100% believe this story of a zombie outbreak in an elementary school and it's perfect horror for me.

books_plan_create's review

5.0

Wow. Things you don't want to think about that would happen in a zombie uprising are now put in words. On paper, that you just read. And will forever be haunted by.

siclarke's review

5.0

Grabs you by the throat and won't let go.

Elaine – Miss Oldenburg to her 6yo students – takes her job seriously. Very seriously. As a grade one teacher in the post-pandemic Newsflesh world, that job is quite different to what readers of our world would expect. And it's probably even further removed from what readers in 2014 would have recognised. Elaine is exceptionally good at her job. So when it all goes horribly wrong, no one could possibly blame her … could they?

Unfortunately, for me, there was frustrating technical issues with this one. For one thing, the leading was so tight that I had trouble (physically, I mean) keeping my eyes on the correct line. That slowed my reading down significantly. Secondly, although the text is clearly delineated into chapters, the ebook consists of one giant chapter from start to finish.

I don't blame the author for these flaws, so I haven't deducted any points. I blame the publisher. This is sloppy, haphazard work on their part. Trad pub continues to charge readers almost as much for an ebook as for a paperback without any justification. To do so and then make such a slipshod job of formatting the ebook is unforgivable.

mehsi's review

3.0

First of all this was one f-ed up book, seriously disturbing, scary and wth. I really was engrossed in the book and I couldn't drop it even though at times I wanted to throw with it.

First of all the kids. Yes, I know they are kids, but come on, they have gotten all those rules in their head, their parents and teachers and everyone warning them about blood, threats of said blood and more, yet there is one stupid ass kid who just got wounded and decided: "Oh hey! Let's say nothing about it!"
Result? Another kid, well over the threshold got infected, resulting in a total zombie outbreak. Now that kid that got infected? He is an idiot as well. I can slightly forgive a 6/7 year old for their stupidity, however I can't forgive a kid that is 4 years older (at least). Oh let's not say anything, oh let's not wash my hands, because that is for sissies. *rolls eyes*
So yeah, frustrated much!

Also the ending, I was expected something to happen with the people who wrote the article about the accident, however now nothing was much done, and I felt empty and disappointed. I went through the book, went through the articles, the chat conversations and more, for a lame ass ending.

The zombie parts and the whole we have to save the little kids part was great and like I said, I was engrossed in the story, hoping and cheering for them, even though we already knew the conclusion thanks to the news articles.

I was also shocked at how everything seemed to fail. Security, the whole checking up kids, the whole layout of the school. Seriously, what is wrong with people? Zombies and infection are still a big threat and you have security that fails like this? And cell phone/wifi blockers? What kind of sick mind thought that was a good thing to add?

But all in all, I just can't rate this story higher than 3 stars, I think, if I have to be very honest, it would even be closer to 2.5 stars.

Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/

taysbookshelf's review

5.0

Another winnner, as always, from Ms. Grant. I really cannot get enough of the books set within this world. My only small complaint is that the ending felt a bit...rushed. I would've liked to see more aftermath. Otherwise, wonderful.

drolefille's review

5.0

Oh man, I know these are never gonna end happy, but I read them anyway.

mugsandpugs's review

5.0

This was absolutely haunting.

I love Mira's work. I'm also a big fan of the horror genre. I'm not easily phased or disturbed. This book didn't especially go into graphic detail regarding the deaths of the children caught in the schoolwide zombie outbreak, but the details we did get- both first and fourth graders with distinct voices and characterization- behaving like kids would in such a situation, coupled with Elaine's frantic attempts to keep the situation together... the kids' absolute trust of their teacher to get them out alive, the way small government regulations all continuously failed these specific children... it was HAUNTING. Beautifully written, but I need to go hug a puppy and sit in the sunshine for a while.

I picked up this and Do Not Taunt the Octopus simply because Monkey/Kitty/Foxy (Elaine) were my favorite characters of the original trilogy, and this did not disappoint. What a story! What an author.

magicalmartha's review

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

stitchinthyme's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

mmichellemoore's review

4.0

bought the novella, stayed up till midnight finishing it; then had to stay up later to read something less nightmare-inducing so I could sleep.