By Kojo Steven Sakai Performed by Lauren Ezzo / Performed by Lauren Ezzo

I was scanning through Twitter like one does and came across an author friend of mine who said her book was up on Audiobook Boom! only I’d never heard of it till that moment. So of course being the book nerd that I am, I had to see what she was talking about.  I was surprised to see Audiobook Boom! was giving away free audio books to anyone who would simply write a review. I thought, why the hell not. I read them like candy anyways, so I might as well do one for an author who’s looking to move forward a bit. So in exchange for a free copy of the audio book, I’m writing this brutally honest review. And so without further ado, I present to you Romeo & Juliet vs. Zombies.

I had no idea what I was getting into when I picked ROMEO & JULIET VS. ZOMBIES as my book. I’d never heard of the author or the book before but I’m usually willing to give everything a go at least once. This was not what I’d expected at all. It wasn’t like Pride & Prejudice & Zombies which is sort of what I was expecting. Instead, it was a gender bent retelling. I enjoyed most of it for this reason alone. Romeo’s nickname was Princess and Juliet was a warrior. I loved the priest who secretly hated everyone and was trying to bring destruction instead of  peace.

That all being said, and keeping in mind I know nothing of this author, it felt like a debut book. There were times when the writing was a bit sloppy and the adverbs made me cringe. On a whole, I feel like the unique story made up for this. I can’t help but feel it would be a stronger book with maybe one more edit from fresh eyes. Someone who can cut out the telling and transform it to showing. On a whole though, it wasn’t half bad and I think I picked a decent title for my first Audiobook Boom! title. In the end, if you’re a fan of Shakespeare or Romeo and Juliet, I’d say give this a try. Zombies only ever spice things up a bit!