The Z Word is one of the most fun books I have read this year. I absolutely devoured this book in one setting. The characters and story line was so well written. I love the concept of the author challenging the idea of rainbow capitalism through the lens of the zombie apocalypse. I highly suggest everyone check this book out!

I love a book where the main character is a chaotic bisexual! I felt so seen!

I however, am not sure I could be as graceful and polite as the main character here if people suddenly started turning into zombies around me while I was just trying to have fun at Pride!

Seriously, the Z Word was so much fun! You've got zombies, drag queens, the coolest pizza delivery driver, Republicans, messy ex girlfriends, and bad fruit flavored seltzer.
What more could you need?! It all comes together to make an amusing book that's part Zombieland, but if it took place at Pride fest and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia if everyone was gay! Read this!

Wendy is bisexual and trying to find her place in the queer community in her new town. It’s hard when her ex is hooking up with members of the community. And then those people start turning suddenly violent and empty- and it starts spreading.

I wouldn’t think a zombie style book would be my thing, but this was just straight up fun. There’s some serious blood, and steamy sex, as well as a lot of lgbtqia diversity. All the characters were awesome; well except for one. It left off with room for a sequel also ; but there was still closure.

“I want to make it through this, but even more, I want them to make it. My friends. The people I love.”

The Z Word comes out 5/7.

I absolutely love zombie stories, but I usually consume them more often via movies or TV shows. When I do get the chance to pick up a zombie book, The Z Word is exactly the sort I want!

The Z Word manages to mix horror, emotions, social commentary, and classic horror chase scene tension all into one. I loved this take on zombies, from the cause of the mutation to the way the zombies react and move in their new form.

What truly made this book click for me was the cast. Our main character, Wendy, has a lot of emotions she needs to work through in regards to her ex-girlfriend. And what better time than a zombie outbreak, right? The cast of secondary characters were fantastic! I found myself bonding with them and wanting to know what would happen to them as well. They’re each very unique and King-Miller does a solid job of bringing them to life for readers.

This debut book is one that fans of horror with a side of humor are going to want on their shelves!

A zombie novel set at a Pride festival? Obviously I'm obsessed! Fiery, funny, and queer as hell, THE Z WORD is delightfully gory and horrific, with juicy critiques of the capitalistic takeover of Pride. The characters are amazingly crafted and feel like my real friends. Reading this book, my face swung from grossed out to tickled to shocked with every paragraph. I adored it!

z is for zombies y'all 😏

wow, I'm gonna be recommending this book left, right and center. The Z Word was an absolute delight! Lindsay King-Miller skillfully walks a fine line between laugh-out-loud humor, nuanced commentary on queer communities, and witty critiques of capitalism. the vibe of being in the middle of a literal zombie apocalypse and still having to clock in for your shift?? exquisite.
(btw does anybody remember the bizarre disconnect between the world falling apart during the COVID pandemic and the complete inability most workers had to just ,,, stay home from work? The Z Word is that exact feeling)


They’ve mostly avoided Mike’s blood splatter, and now they shrug off the poncho and fold it carelessly into a small squarish shape. Belatedly answering Aurelia’s question, they grin at us and say, “I’m delivering pizzas.”
“The fuck you are,” says Logan from the other side of the car.
“Just dropped off the last one,” Sunshine says. “I’m about to head back to the store. My boss said to take the long way and make sure everyone sees the sign.” They point to the side of the car, where a freshly painted YES WE ARE OPEN!!! RIGHT NOW!!! drips lemon yellow onto the pavement.

it's like the official national disaster Waffle House scale, but it's the local pizza store lmao
we have an incredible cast of characters here, my favorite being by and large hot pizza delivery driver Sunshine. I do love a baddie who adds weaponry to their car to fight zombies (and the flamethrower attachments were so iconic lol)


“And then Mike tried to eat us, but Sunshine the hot pizza driver cut his head off, and then we ordered pizza delivery so they’d drive us out here,” Logan concludes. There’s a terrible swirling silence.
“Man, that’s fucked-up,” Beau finally says. “Not the pizza. Thanks for the pizza. You want to grab plates?”


I just really thoroughly enjoyed this book. it had the exact feelings I've always wanted in a zombie book; the helplessness of controlling such an insane situation yes, but the inherent desire to help other people and come together and protect your friends too.
also, it is genuinely super funny. it made me laugh out loud way more than I had anticipated.


“I hate this,” Logan says to her. “You know I don’t even kill spiders, right? I’m into peaceful coexistence.”
“Okay,” says Beau, “but this bitch wants to coexist his teeth into your spleen. You can’t catch him in a cup and take him outside.”


queer rep - queer mc, poly sapphic trans sc, poly sapphic sc, queer (& drag queen!) sc, nonbinary (they/them) sc, the entire supporting cast is queer in some way (bi, trans, sapphic, achillean, etc)
thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc ✨

The Z Word is a fun book - a queer zombie apocalypse novel that also hits on some more serious themes of relationship and how to find and maintain community. There were a few small plot holes, but in general the momentum was really strong and it kept me turning the pages. I'm not sure I'm exactly the audience for this book, but I can absolutely see it will hit strongly with its readership. And the cover is great!

4.5 rounded up.

I absolutely loved this carnage filled queer zombie apocalypse. Reminiscent of 28 Days Later or Shaun of the Dead this is a zombie uprising that happens over Pride weekend told from the POV of a rag tag group of acquaintances that by the end are bonded together.

Sunshjne definitely wins favourite character even with their tiny screen time. Will definitely revisit this for spooky season, or Pride month…probably both.

Fun AND depressing, whee!

Seriously though, it was a solid book, with a few surprises and characters I liked and rooted for (mostly–fuck that one person with a chainsaw)

This book explores the complexities of queer life post a break-up as well as the horrors of a zombie apocalypse and I really quite enjoyed that! Wendy, a bisexual woman is struggling to figure out how to stay inside the community after her breakup with Leah, who introduced her to the local queer scene, when all her friends were Leah's friends first. And if that wasn't enough to deal with after a house party to kick of pride people start acting weird and violent, culminating in a gorey, violent riot during a drag performance.
I really quite enjoyed this book, the chapters are short and you're able to fly through them quickly. I also really liked the characters, especially Wendy, a bisexual barista, Logan, a bisexual drag queen, Sunshine, a nonbinary pizza delivery person and Aurelia (a trans woman) and Sam (a lesbian), Leah's new flings. The story deals with heartbreak, community, feelings of (not) belonging, mental health (particularly depression and anxiety), drag, sex, the horrors of rainbow capitalism and shitty coperations, which were all things I loved! I also enjoyed the gorey, gruesome violence, which was truly flinch-worthy sometimes <3. It also works really well as a zombie apocalypse, hitting many of the familiar beats, while staying fresh and interesting by focusing on a small location and a limited number of events. Sometimes the story moves too quickly for me and there's never really the opportunity to take a breather or for any of the terror to fully sink in, which was my only complaint. I do think the horror of your entire community kind of imploding could have been shown in a bit more terrifying detail. But if you are interested in a less dark zombie apocalypse, while still exploring horrifying concepts this will probably work really well for you :)

3⭐️

I started reading 'The Z word' with good courage after reading the words: satire, zombies and queer.

Unfortunately the book was not for me. It was an entertaining book, but I felt like I was reading a caricature that kept me from getting into the story. There were certainly entertaining moments, but I had to force myself to read on. Unfortunately it didn't happen automatically. I think this has more to do with my personal preference for well-developed characters than with this book per se.
If you like zombies, everything queer and a bizarre story, then this book is definitely for you.

Thank you netgalley for providing the arc. This is my honest review.

A worthy addition to the small, but in-demand genre of queer zombie fiction (not that the zombies are all queer). If you read the synopsis and it sounds good to you, you know what you're getting yourself into and you'll probably like it. It won't win any prestigious literary awards but this story is loads of fun. Bonus: not everyone is white or in their twenties! #WeNeedMoreQueerApocalypses
#NetGalley

Lindsay King-Miller's The Z Word is pretty much all you could ask for in a queer zombie apocalypse book. Suspenseful, sexy, heartbreaking, and funny, I truly didn't want this book to end! Amidst the gore and outright panic that undoubtedly arise during a Pride marred with zombies, The Z Word is also about queer community and chosen family, relationship drama, corporate pinkwashing, and the ongoing attack on LGBTQ+ rights.
I especially appreciated the attention to detail put towards the characters. Not only were the characters diverse and unique, they were also quirky, charming, and relatable.

Sit down, clear your schedule for a couple of hours and prepare to be entertained. This was crazy, funny, a little bit gory and darkly damming of corporate America and politics.
Wendy is a mess, she's made a mess and she has no idea how to fix either herself or her situation. Then Pride comes to town, as does a zombie outbreak, and Wendy gets to step up. I really enjoyed this, I think the world needs more romantic horror, especially when the characters are so kick ass.

Immersive, engaging, and fun. A recommended purchase for collections where queer fic and zombie stories are popular.

I am always on the look out for fun adult queer books and this fits the bill - zombie apocalypse during pride caused by a corporation chasing that pink dollar? Amazing..

We will be stocking this when it comes out :)

Content Warnings: Gore, Police Brutality, Pregnancy Anxiety, Non-Consensual Drugging

I’ll start with that I, personally, didn’t enjoy this book as much as others might. In general, I don’t like zombie outbreak/apocalypse fiction, so I also didn’t care for this setting or the ending of the book. That said, I did feel the book was well-written and had some great moments of both gravity and levity that you don’t often find. The hard-hitting moments are earned and rightfully painful, while the comedy moments offer much needed relief without feeling too out of place. For me, the drag-show-killing-zombie-montage was the best example of the latter. I also really liked the characters in the book, which was really what kept me reading. They are fun, messy, and compelling, even if not all of them were likable. The commentary/cause of the zombie outbreak is a little on-the-nose for me, but having the book take place during Pride overall made a good setting enough for me to ignore it. I think fans of horror-comedy will like this one a lot, even if it’s not to my taste.

*Advance copy provided by publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.*

As an avid zombie reader I was instantly captured by this concept, due to it's unique queer setting and fun cover. And the concept kept being fun throughout the book, but unfortunately the separate themes felt a little flat. As a zombie novel it started of great, but the story had a few plot holes and the conclusion was unrealistic (zombies aside). And the queer setting is SO queer it almost feels like a caricature. It was still an enjoyable read, with some really fun side characters (go Sunshine!).

Gore and sex, and sex and gore. Thank you to #NetGalley for letting me read this ARC.

I keep saying that I'm not a reader of horror, but with this book I'm officially letting go of that self-image.

This book is a queer horror story, that takes place during a pride celebration in the small US town of San Lazaro, with the main character Wendy in focus. More or less her whole social circle is at a house party, sort of a start-off happening for the pride event they have organized together, when weird things start to happen. Maybe not enough to make anyone THAT worried tohugh. But then they wake up the next day, and realize that something has gone horribly, horribly wrong. It quickly goes downhill from there, and a small group of friends suddenly find themselves in the middle of a zombie horror show that no-one else seems to try and stop. That's all I'll say, plot wise.

I especially liked that there was so much humour blended in with the straight up slasher/gore situation going on, it made the story slightly easier to deal with. But make no mistake, there is genuin heartbreak in there too.

If nothing else, the fact that there is a mysterious stoner pizza delivery person, for pizza restaurant Pizzapocalype, called Sunshine should make you intrigued.

Okay so here we go: I’m not usually a zombie apocalypse book kind of gal but I did not want to put this one down! I started reading this one just to get a short Z title for my reading challenged but I found myself pulling for these crazy characters! Kind of scary but not like oh my god someone is going to jump out at me but more like I wonder if this could actually happen! Don’t drink the seltzer!