Dreadfully Ever After: Review

Title: Dreadfully Ever After
Author: Steve Hockensmith
Release Date: March 2011
Published By: Quirk Books
Pages: 320
Goodreads Rating: 3.54 stars


Review: Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy finally have everything they ever wanted - each other, and protecting their village from zombies, or as polite company calls them, dreadfuls. However, they've barely been together when Darcy is bitten by a dreadful, which means he is well under his way to becoming a frothing zombie. Elizabeth knows she should behead him as protocol calls for, but when she finds out that an antidote might just exist, she has to grab that chance to cure him - and the chance for a real happy-ever-after.

I found this entire classic mash-up of Pride and Prejudice to be completely delightful, and DREADFULLY EVER AFTER was the perfect ending for the trilogy. Just like the previous books in the series, all the characters stayed true to their literary portraits - they just had the addition of being kick-butt warriors and zombie-slayers. Sometimes the fact that certain characters were so good at fighting didn't mesh too well with their personalities, at least for me, but I was still able to sit back, relax, and enjoy the story.

Of course, with every zombie book comes action, fighting, and gore. I'm all for some fighting scenes, but gore sometimes makes my stomach turn if described vividly enough. There were a couple spots here and there that made me cringe, but for the most part I was able to handle it perfectly well. Along with the action, there was a definite sense of humor running through the plot, and I appreciated that the book didn't take itself too seriously.

I ultimately enjoyed the book. My only complaint was that I just didn't find it as hooking as it could have been. While some parts were quite suspenseful or funny, there were other parts that dragged on and had me counting the pages that were left. DREADFULLY EVER AFTER might not have been the best book for me, but if you want an action-packed zombie book with a literary flair, this is definitely for you!


I received a free copy of this trilogy for review. This is no way affected my review, which is 100% honest.