The zombie apocalypse has arrived. Apparently, nobody is particularly worried about it.
✶ PRE-READING ✶
A zombie romcom involving smoothies, mushroom farming and a farmer's market sounded like exactly the sort of ridiculous combination I was willing to give a chance.
I was expecting zombies, romance and probably a little chaos. What I got was considerably more romance than zombies—and honestly, I had a great time with it.
✶ POST-READING ✶
As I thought... this is much more of a romcom than a zombie story.
Even weeks into the outbreak, people are still debating whether they're actually dealing with zombies or simply a strange new health craze. There are some bites, and a few zombies apparently do buy brains to eat, but there aren't really coordinated attacks or the sense that everyone is about to be overrun.
Nobody seems particularly terrified.
Instead, the focus is firmly on Zoey and Nick: their banter, their increasingly complicated relationship, and the friends surrounding them.
And that works surprisingly well.
I loved the conversations between Zoey and Nick, and the whole friend group has that lovely feeling of people who are genuinely having fun together. The book is much more interested in who these people are and how they fit together than in making the zombie apocalypse frightening.
It surprised me by... how much I enjoyed the setting.
The story spends a lot of time around outdoor markets, which was an easy win for me, and the Portland setting gives everything a very specific atmosphere. I don't know Portland well enough to judge how accurately it's portrayed, but the descriptions certainly felt like they came from someone who knew the city.
There are also some wonderfully silly touches. Romero the stray cat is obviously named for George A. Romero, and the use of cordyceps mushrooms even gets a The Last of Us reference.
The result is less 28 Days Later and more “what if the apocalypse happened, but we were still going to the farmers' market and trying to work out whether the cute mushroom farmer likes us?”
And honestly? I was perfectly happy with that.
If you're looking for a genuinely frightening zombie novel, this probably isn't it. But if you want a fun romantic comedy where the zombie outbreak is essentially an extremely inconvenient backdrop to falling in love, there's a lot to enjoy here.
✦ RECOMMENDATIONS ✦
Book Recommendation: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion, for another story that takes the zombie premise somewhere considerably more romantic and surprisingly tender.
TV or Movie Recommendation: Shaun of the Dead. Not because the stories are particularly similar, but because both understand that you can have zombies, death and an apocalypse happening around you while the characters remain remarkably concerned with their ordinary lives and relationships.
✧ VIBE CHECK ✧
A colour palette: market-stall red, mushroom brown, leafy green and the bright colours of fresh fruit.
A soundtrack: upbeat indie pop, bicycles rattling past and plenty of conversational background noise.
A season: late summer, when farmers' markets are overflowing and nobody wants to admit autumn is coming.
A mood: flirtatious, funny, chaotic and cheerfully unconcerned about the apocalypse.
A scent: fresh coffee, ripe fruit, damp earth and mushrooms.
A texture: a canvas market bag stuffed with produce, warm from the afternoon sun.
★ TAROT CARD PULLED ★
The Lovers.
Not because this is simply a romance, but because The Lovers is about connection and choice.
At the heart of 10 Things I Hate About Zombies is Zoey and Nick finding their way towards each other. The zombie outbreak provides complications, but the story is really interested in the choices they make, the way they communicate, and the people they become when they're together.
Sometimes the world ending is just another reason to work out who you want beside you when it does.
✦ THE TRUE QUESTION ✦
Can you fall in love when the world is falling apart?
Apparently, yes.
Especially if there's a farmers' market nearby.
Final Thoughts
10 Things I Hate About Zombies publishes on the 10th September, 2026. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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