What’s The SHORT Story, Morning Glory?: On Bougainvillea by Carrie Ryan

January 8, 2011
Zombies Vs. Unicorns anthology Book Cover

Zombies Vs. Unicorns

As you can certainly see, I am still experimenting with a name for this feature. I’m quite excited to write about this week’s short story. Continuing with the short stories from Zombies Vs. Unicorns, I read Bougainvillea by Carrie Ryan. Holy hell, it was awesome.

Okay, so I’ve read reviews of Zombies Vs. Unicorns where people are all OMFG! BOUGAINVILLEA! But, being me, I reserved my judgement. I’m not sure why, as I know from The Forest of Hands and Teeth AND The Dead Tossed Waves that Carrie Ryan is awesome. I mean, hello, to make zombies part of the environment and sort of the background while the characters rise above that and enter into self-discovery, instead of the whole story being about fighting zombies is exactly the type of thing I like to read. I mean, yes, the zombies are important, but they are second fiddle. Also, I am totes a character study kind of girl.

Bougainvillea is comprised of 21 Before and Now sections. These sections chronicle the life of Iza, a teenage girl who is daughter of the governor of Curaco, which FYI is an island, not just a drink. (I know, paint the stupid sign on my forehead, but really I had no clue.) Right, so we see actually get to see how it was before the mudo became a fact of life. We also see how people cope immediately afterwards. Concurrently, we see how it is when mudo are part of the every day experience.

Holy hell do I love this story. I mean, for 40 pages Iza comes a long way. She fully comes into her own and I love that. I love that she could have gone two ways, and she chose the way I did not expect. The ending is totally a fistpump experience.

I wish all the short stories I read would be of this calibre. Bougainvillea is finely written. There’s an overarching plot. Nothing feels too contrived. I got a real feel for Iza and her motives. Overall, I totally recommend getting Zombies vs. Unicorns if only for this story.

Disclosure: Received for review.

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.
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About April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.