Eat, Brains, Love

by Jeff Hart

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062200341
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	10/01/2013
Series:	Eat, Brains, Love Series , #1
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	435,558
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.90(d)
Lexile:	HL800L (what's this?)
Age Range:	13 Years

About the Author

Jeff Hart is originally from Rochester, New York, and now lives in Brooklyn. He is also the author of Eat, Brains, Love.

Editorial Reviews

09/02/2013
Debut author Hart brings a sympathetic voice to the zombie phenomenon in this offbeat adventure, which combines romance and road trips with government agents, conspiracies, and gore-filled feeding frenzies. Stoner Jake Stephens and cheerleader Amanda Blake unexpectedly “necrotize” at lunchtime; by the time they’re done and have come to their senses, dozens of classmates are dead. Naturally, they flee. On the run from the secret Necrotic Control Division, they are faced with fellow zombies, human predators, their horrible hunger for flesh, and an unexpected romantic connection. Meanwhile, teenage psychic Cass is tracking them telepathically for the NCD, but the longer she stays connected, the more she questions her supervisors and their shadowy agenda. Alternating perspectives and a fast-paced plot keep the story moving as Hart fleshes out his world with memorable supporting characters and a premise that hints at a much larger picture. (Is Iowa completely lost?) The body count is predictably high, with corresponding visceral details, but Hart balances it out with touches of humor and teenage self-awareness. A Full Fathom Five property. Ages 13–up. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Features characters shambling toward personal identity in sweet, funny, and incisive ways. Zombie fans will find this debut full of (undead) heart.

Booklist

Jake begins his day focusing on a special English class assignment that is due and a confrontation with a school jock who happens to be dating the girl of his dreams. At lunch, his world is turned upside down when he hears screaming, sees people running in terror, and notices that Amanda, his secret crush, is eating all her friends at the table. Jake's friends turn to him for help, and Jake eats his friends. When Jake and Amanda realize they just ate half the students in the cafeteria, they decide to take off. Cass is a teenage physic who helps a secret government agency track down and kill zombies while covering up their existence. Cass begins to have a deeper physic connection to Jake and his thoughts. She believes he is a different kind of zombie, and she has second thoughts about her career choice. This zombie-filled, apparent series opener lacks a clear purpose in major plot or setting; however, it does deliver good character development, quirkiness, humor, zombie horror, and road-tripping adventure. It is an easy read with fast-paced action and has a unique back-and-forth first-person point of view between the two main characters (Jake and Cass). Many readers of horror and humor genres will enjoy this novel, even with its few flaws in overall story development. It does have an open ending, and hopefully there will be a sequel that answers some questions. This book is a worthy addition to any popular fiction collection. Reviewer: Karen Sykeny

VOYA - Karen Sykeny

10/01/2013
Gr 9 Up—A loner and a bit of a derelict, Jake is not your typical high school student. His ideal day is playing Call of Duty-type games on Xbox. But all that changes when he turns into a zombie in the school cafeteria and consumes his best friend and many members of the senior class. When he becomes human again, he finds himself allied with the most unlikely partner-Amanda Blake. A popular and gorgeous cheerleader, she has never given Jake the time of day. Realizing that they need each other to survive as zombies, Jake and Amanda try to retain their humanity while searching for answers or a possible cure. To complicate matters, they are being hunted by a top-secret government organization that uses teen psychics to locate zombies. Cass, one of the psychics, finds herself sympathizing with Jake and Amanda's situation while discovering that members of this organization are involved in experiments that Cass considers unethical and immoral. Told from alternating chapters by Jake and Cass, Hart's action-packed plot is full of suspense and humor. Although some characters seem superficial and stereotypical, readers can't help but identify with their struggles, their principles, and, most importantly, their humanity. A captivating first installment that leaves fans eagerly awaiting its sequel.—Donna Rosenblum, Floral Park Memorial High School, NY

School Library Journal

2013-09-15
Slacker Jake and beautiful high-achiever Amanda find themselves unlikely allies when they both turn zombie in the cafeteria of Ronald Reagan High School and eat most of their friends. They leave the carnage behind and light out together, just steps ahead of the Necrotic Control Division, the top-secret military unit that seeks to control the zombie threat and conceal it from the general populace. The NCD's secret weapon is Cass, a teenage psychic who can survey the devastation and telepathically track down zombies. But in Jake's case, she finds herself, bizarrely, falling for him. Hart's sexually transmitted zombie virus doesn't permanently necrotize its victims; regular helpings of human flesh (rats or other animals will do in a pinch) help them heal from catastrophic injuries and seem normal--until it's time to eat again. Jake and Cass alternate narration, Jake's convincingly teenage, profanity-laced voice describing his increasing attachment to Amanda despite her rotten taste in music, and Cass' revealing a lonely, isolated girl increasingly questioning the morality of her mission. Once readers decide to accept both a zombie virus and telepathy, they're in for one hell of a road trip, one that's funny, gross and scary in equal, alternating measures. What will they find in zombie-controlled Iowa? Readers will be slavering for the sequel to find out. (Horror. 14 & up)

Kirkus Reviews