Zombies VS Unicorns
Fiction
By Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier
Reviewed by Mikayla H.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Zombies, running amuck, killing everything in their path, are near your home. A unicorn baby, who is cute but deadly, is trusted to your care after the mother’s final breath. In Zombies VS Unicorns, a collection of short stories, these are typical obstacles that the protagonists run in to. Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier are leaders of two teams. Team Unicorn is led by Holly Black and Team Zombie is led by Justine Larbalestier. Both teams argue their points of view so well that it makes it hard to choose who to side with- Team Unicorn or Team Zombie.
Team Zombie is made up of zombie lovers, who write classic Zombie stories. Zombies are undead humans who have no heart, but Team Zombie ironically writes stories about zombies with hearts. These zombies usually fall in love, but whether or not they live happily ever after is the author’s choice. The most interesting zombie story is about a non-dead girl who lives on an island that her father owns. She is tough and rough, so when there is a zombie attack she takes action. Her father, who is a coward, is turned into a zombie and attacks her. Who is behind this attack and why? Although Team Zombie has some amazing stories, they can’t compete with Team Unicorn.
Team Unicorn, led by Holly Black, is truly superior. Many think that unicorns have healing properties, but no one thinks of them as killing machines. Team Unicorn shows the two sides of a unicorn equally well. Unicorns have a deadly sense of justice and use their powers to execute judgment on criminals. In one story, a girl can communicate with the unicorns but refuses to because a unicorn killed her cousins. One day, destiny calls and she is forced to take on the responsibility of caring for a baby unicorn. This is an ironic situation because she hates unicorns but is the last hope for this baby unicorn.
Both teams bring the best of their stories together to make a great book. Although the teams have some disagreement on who is the best, zombies or unicorns, they put their debate to good use and make a book where they can settle their disagreements out in public. This allows the reader to get involved in the argument and makes the book fun to read.
