Book Review: A Dandy Among the Dead by Izzy Von
Genre: Zombie Horror
Age: Adult
I was lucky enough to receive a couple of Izzy Von books last year right before I went on hiatus and now that I have returned (more or less) to reviewing, I wanted to dig right in.
I say it all the time, but zombie horror is one of my favorite subgenres and it’s absolutely slept on, especially in books. So often people stigmatize zombie stories as cheap or overdone but I honestly think it’s one of the best vehicles for both social commentary and character development. I love getting to see the extremes of human nature in the direst of circumstances, and exploring what different authors do with the undead world building.
Izzy Von absolutely stepped up to the challenge of making this world and its zombies unique. The fact that the survivors are still learning what is and isn’t possible for the different kinds of undead means that we, the audience, get to explore the bounds of reality alongside our protagonist, The Dandy.
As much as I did like the field-guide element of documenting different types of zombie, The Dandy was probably my favorite aspect of the book. She is stylish, bold, and unapologetic. She has a unique voice that did a lot to bring flavor to the story, and I love that she embraced her stage presence as a permanent persona following the downfall of civilization. The commitment to self-actualization is one of the most relatable and aspirational elements of the story.
There were a couple aspects of the book that didn’t resonate as well for me that I would sum up as personal preference. Primarily, The Dandy was in the wrestling scene prior to the outbreak, and I am just not interested in wrestling. Von gets a lot of points in my book for writing those scenes in a way that felt authentic, but not all-consuming—they were just my least favorite scenes.
The other area that didn’t quite work for me was the romantic subplot. It was a minor aspect to the story, but with the breakneck pacing of the everything else happening, I just didn’t feel like there was enough time to establish chemistry between The Dandy and her love interest. I feel that way about most romantic subplots in horror, it’s always the thing I’m toughest on.
To cycle back around and end on a positive note, however, I loved the representation in this story. It would be a little spoiler-y to get into the nuances of where it worked best for me, but I will just say that Von was able to balance realism with hope for a very queer cast. I’m always impressed when sympathy and understanding for queer characters is so present in the story, even when they’re facing discrimination or violence.
I am looking forward to checking out the second book, and if you’re into zombies, wrestling, queer stories, read-in-a-sitting style horror books, or any combination thereof, I highly recommend checking out A Dandy Among the Dead.
Review by Cat Voleur
Instagram: @catvoleur
