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Title Eat Your Heart Out
Author : Kelly deVos
Genre: Young Adult Horror
Pages: 352 Pages
Release Date: June 29, 2021
Where to Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indigo | IndieBound
Thank you TBR and Beyond Tours and Razorbill Books for providing a review copy and the opportunity to be a part of this tour.
Synopsis
Content Warnings: Fatphobia (challenged), gore and blood
Shaun of the Dead meets Dumplin’ in this bitingly funny YA thriller about a kickass group of teens battling a ravenous group of zombies.
In the next few hours, one of three things will happen.
1–We’ll be rescued (unlikely)
2–We’ll freeze to death (maybe)
3–We’ll be eaten by thin and athletic zombies (odds: excellent)
Vivian Ellenshaw is fat, but she knows she doesn’t need to lose weight, so she’s none too happy to find herself forced into a weight-loss camp’s van with her ex-best friend, Allie, a meathead jock who can barely drive, and the camp owner’s snobby son. And when they arrive at Camp Featherlite at the start of the worst blizzard in the history of Flagstaff, Arizona, it’s clear that something isn’t right.
Vee barely has a chance to meet the other members of her pod, all who seem as unhappy to be at Featherlite as she does, when a camper goes missing down by the lake. Then she spots something horrifying outside in the snow. Something…that isn’t human. Plus, the camp’s supposed “miracle cure” for obesity just seems fishy, and Vee and her fellow campers know they don’t need to be cured. Of anything.
Even worse, it’s not long before Camp Featherlite’s luxurious bungalows are totally overrun with zombies. What starts out as a mission to unravel the camp’s secrets turns into a desperate fight for survival–and not all of the Featherlite campers will make it out alive.
A satirical blend of horror, body positivity, and humor, Kelly deVos’s witty, biting novel proves that everyone deserves to feel validated, and taking down the evil enterprise determined to dehumanize you is a good place to start.
Review
A group of teens, a fat camp and a new diet bar that had bizarre side effects- what do the three have in common? They are part of Kelly deVos’s story Eat Your Heart Out. Part action – Part horror satire, Vivian, Allison and the rest of the crew take on a camp zombie apocalypse. I enjoyed every moment of the story, including the very campy vibes it gave off.
Before I dive in, remember when there were fat camp shows on TV that were just -ughhh? Well, Eat Your Heart Out created a setting that was not the focus of the story, which I welcomed wholeheartedly. Yes, there are a bunch of teens and young adults at a fat camp and yes they are considered fat, but that wasn’t all there was to the story. The story focused more on the zombie defeating action, the witty ways the characters worked together mixed with a ode to slasher movie stereotypical characters. It talked about fatphobia but also showed that being fat wouldn’t stop these teens from kicking zombie butt and figuring out how that nasty diet bar is related to the new zombies. In short, Eat You Heart Out portrays the message of how harmful society can be towards people they consider fat and the toxicity of diet culture. It was done well and while important did not take shine from the focal point of the story.
One thing I loved most about this story and am a general fan of is the use of multiple point of views. It was great to hear form many characters and always have a fresh look into what was happening next. I tihnk Kelly did well in making sure that although there were multiple point of views, the plot did not get away from that. When thinking of characters, I can’t say I have favorite because I enjoyed each character I was able to read about and how their part in the story complimented the protagonist[s]. What I did enjoy most about the characters were their sense of humor in an otherwise pretty dreadful situation.
Overall, Eat Your Heart Out was a campy horror story that I didn’t know I wanted and needed. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who may want to venture out of their comfort genres like myself [I am a huge fantasy girl] and to anyone who wouldn’t mind escaping to become a part of a team of zombie fighters.
About the Author
Kelly deVos is from Gilbert, Arizona, where she lives with her high school sweetheart husband, amazing teen daughter and superhero dog, Cocoa. She holds a B.A. in Creative Writing from Arizona State University. When not reading or writing, Kelly can typically be found with a mocha in hand, bingeing the latest TV shows and adding to her ever-growing sticker collection.
Kelly is represented by Chloe Seager of the Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency in London. Her work on body positivity has been featured in the New York Times as well as on Vulture, Salon, Bustle and SheKnows. Her debut novel, Fat Girl on a Plane was named one of the “50 Best Summer Reads of All Time” by Reader’s Digest magazine. Her second book, Day Zero, is available now from Inkyard Press/HarperCollins.
Author Links: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads
Giveaway!
(Open Internationally):
One winner will receive a finished copy of Eat Your Heart Out. The giveaway starts on June 28th and ends on July 5th.
A Bronx Latina Reads 