DNF. The characters were so pretentious and unlikable. I couldn't get past page 13.

Darren, you've done it again, you've shaped a great world with graet characters. But...what the hell?
I mean...from the Owl Man, to different kind of zombies, to the weird mutants and whatnot which caused all sorts of questions...this book left me wondering a lot.
And I wish I saw those full art pictures, butr I'll check them out later, (I read from an ARC).
And what the hell was the ending? I mean... the surprise at the end...then he was killed.
And poor Tyler < / 3

LET ME MAKE THIS PERFECTLY CLEAR. (Because I have had far too many derogatory comments on this review from too many people) This review is MY opinion and mine alone. Just because you looove this book and looove Darren Shan does not give you any right to come to my space and tell me that I am ignorant, or stupid, or wrong, or that I "just didn't understand the book." I despised this book, therefore I ranted about it. That is called MY HONEST OPINION. You're entitled to yours, are you not? Well so am I. And that doesn't make either of us wrong.

I find it positively disgusting that I have to consider taking this review down because people can't keep their rude ass comments to themselves. I almost did. But you know what? I shouldn't be ashamed for my opinion. But I am fucking SICK of getting snide comments on this review. People are demeaning me for rating this when I didn't read ALL of it - yet, I read 90% of it, including skimming and speed reading. The 10% I missed was the 10% that had the "big twist" in it.

Spoiler

I KNOW B IS A GIRL, as about 14 different people have informed me in the comments. That does not make her horrendous behavior acceptable and that would NOT have changed my opinion of the book.

The other 90% was so awful and rage-inducing that I would have still ended up writing the same exact thing.

I like characters with flaws and maybe even a hint of darkness. I love antiheroes. But there is a HUGE difference between being flawed and being a complete fucking asshole. I find racism highly offensive, and I have no desire to read about it. Yes, I know it happens. I was engaged to a biracial man. But guess what? I can count the negative interactions we had in our two years of dating on one hand, because I surround myself with people who are just as open-minded as I am. I know racism is a problem. I had a few racist friends as a teenager. But see the key word there? HAD. There's a reason they're no longer my friends. I do not tolerate bullying and racism in real life, nor do I tolerate it in fiction. If something offends me, I have EVERY right to scream that opinion from the mountaintops and to cut that something out of my life. I do not want negativity in my life, real or otherwise. So if you cannot state your opinion in a polite manner, without slinging insults at me for having my own opinion, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE. From here on out, I will be deleting any and all rude comments. That is all.



**CAUTION: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS**

Let me just say: This synopsis is NOT the one I read. If I had read this one, I probably wouldn't have even bothered with this book. Despite it's short length, I didn't actually read all of it (like 90%). I made a valiant effort. Really, I did. But the lead character, B, was such a douchenozzle that I simply couldn't go on. I usually don't rate things I don't read all of, but I think I read enough that I can, in all fairness, rate this one star. It pissed me off THAT much.

There was absolutely NO redeeming quality in B. He didn't even have a sense of right and wrong, and his moral compass was nonexistent. Mainly because of his father, but still. He was cruel to anyone and everyone, and his attitude rubbed me the wrong way. He tried to buy beer (underage) from a gas station, then mouthed off and made fun of the Arabic guy manning the register when he denied the sale.
One of the teachers made a derogatory comment about B's dad (which was actually founded in truth), so B went and slashed the guy's tires and through a brick through his window. Um?

B pretended not to be racist, but he really was. He acted like he wasn't so he wouldn't be like his dad (who was an even bigger asshole than B).
B didn't like Tyler - not because he was black (so he claimed), but because B stole money from him and he told his dad - 'not keeping his mouth shut and putting up with the theft as any good victim should.' What. The. Eff. And he took a candy bar right out of a girl's hand, and thought she was wrong for getting upset about it. So not only was B a complete jackass, he was a bully, too. FABULOUS.

There was this scene where he was cruel and racist on purpose to piss of a black girl that stood up for Tyler, causing her to lose her temper and attack him. So what does B do? He punches her in the face. Wow, does that make you feel like a man? Hitting a female? Real f*cking classy, dude.

Spoiler

I now know that it was a girl punching another girl, but that still doesn't make it any better, because of this:

Then he says, 'I feel smug, because I know Dad would be proud if he could see me now, bringing an interfering black girl down a peg or two.'

That scene was the last straw for me, I couldn't stand any more. I skimmed to page 100, hoping that there would be some sort change in him, and landed right in yet another scene where B was picking a fight with Tyler. Nope, still an asshole. So I skimmed through the last 50 pages.

Sadly, I didn't find anything better. Quite the contrary - it got worse. Whaaa? That's even possible? Yep.
I spot a couple of teachers inside, chewing on the remains of their colleagues.
"They won't be failing you again," Dad says and we both laugh.
What the hell, man. Cuz it's totally hilarious WHEN PEOPLE ARE F*CKING DYING. D-Y-I-N-G. Argh!! I wanted to throw the book at a wall.
Then - THEN - the zombies are overtaking their group, so B's dad tells him to 'Throw the bloody chimney sweep' to the zombies to save themselves. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A F*CKING PERSON HERE. And B actually did it! Seriously?! Then he blames it on his dad. Nevermind that it was HIS actions. 'He turned me into a killer. He made me throw [said person] to the zombies.' He didn't make him do anything! All he did was tell B to do it, and B did it. B's dad could have told him to jump off a cliff and he'd have done it with a smile on his face.

The realization that he was wrong did come, but only in the last several pages when it was too late. The ending was alright, I guess. He finally got what he deserved.

I felt as if this story was pointless. There was barely any zombies in the first half of the book. It was mostly high school crap, and B hanging out with his friends. There were way too many characters; they were all a giant blur of ridiculous nicknames and didn't have their own personalities, so there was no chance for attachment to any of them. I couldn't bring myself to give two shits about this story (probably mostly because I despised the main character).
This was my first Darren Shan story. Would I read anything else by him? Highly doubtful.


Favorite quote:
"Trust no one. Always question what you're told. Don't believe the lies that people feed you, even if they're your teachers or parents. At the end of the day you have to work out for yourself what's right or wrong."
This is probably the only meaningful sentence in the entire book...and no it didn't come from B (in case you were wondering). He wasn't that deep.


ASSESSMENT
Plot: 1/5
Writing style: 2/5
Originality: 1/5
Characters: 0/5
Pace: 2/5
Cover: 3/5

I really don't know how I feel about this.

The way the story is written, with little to story building and zombies only entering the picture more than halfway through, I should be appalled. Buuuuutttttttttt I already starting listening to the second one so I'm starting to understand more of how Shan wrote this series (and got $$$$ grabby so he could sell more books). Plus I didn't truly get the effect of the ending "plot twist" that everyone complains about since I was listening to the book rather than reading it and the speaker, though their voice was raspy and teenage and rather generic for the hard person of B's character, I could easily tell B's gender just by the language they use (you see that? no spoilers because pronouns). So I' m going to give it more of a 2.5 for the following reasons:

Plot: 2
Eh, I guess? not much happened other than B being a racist prick and then zombie's attacking??
Characters: 1
Racism so far hasn't even played an important part in the second book, so why was the first almost 90% racist actions and slurs???
Voice Actor: 4
They actually are the reason I finished the first book
Language/writing style: 3
Shan does have a way with words, I'll give him that. As a college student, I'm sure some of the magic is lost on me. Rather, if a teenager was reading this, they might be more enthralled than I
Zombie style: 5
New zombies, new monsters, I like.

So until the end of this book I thought B was a boy. It's a typical zombie book with the extra that the bones and teeth grow and a green moss growing over the wounds.
It was an interesting book her dad was extremely racist and abusive and in turn B is as well b/c it's taught after all. Then near the end she decides not to go with the man she loves and fears and gets turned into a zombie herself.

This is the first Darren Shan book I've read, so I can't compare it to his others; hopefully, though, this isn'this best.

The writing is decent and the story rattles along at a good clip (I read it in just over an hour) but it's quite clear that Shan wrote this with a raft of sequels in mind. Nothing is explained (like B's C-shaped scar, or who the Owl Man is) and ultimately this just ends up being a long build up to a zombie survival horror that doesn't really bring anything new to the genre.

In Shan's introduction to the proof edition (which is the version I read - I'm not sure if this introduction is contained in the finished copy) he asks that readers find a way to talk about the book without giving away what he calls a large, important twist. I saw it coming from quite early on, and I'm not convinced it is that big a twist, though I can certainly appreciate what Shan has tried to do. I won't discuss it, but I also can't find a way to write the next part of this review without giving the game away. So, with that said, spoilers ahead...

The best thing about this book is the exploration of bigotry and racism that comes through the exploration of how B deals with both her father's racism and her own racist behaviour. It's a little heavy-handed and unbelievable in places - for example, B's converstion with her headmaster would never take place in the real world - but it's certainly interesting to see it in a teen book that isn'texplicitly concerned with race (as oppossed to a book like 'Noughts and Crosses', for example). It makes for uncomfortable reading at times, and in all honesty some of the most horrific parts of this novel stem from the behaviour of B and her father rather than the zombie apocalypse going on in the background.

Overall it's a fun read, but probably not one that I'll go back to - although I do want to find out what the deal with the Owl Man is.

Zom-B is a radical new series about a zombie apocalypse, told in the first person by one of its victims. The series combines classic Shan action with a fiendishly twisting plot and hard-hitting and thought-provoking moral questions dealing with racism, abuse of power and more. This is challenging material, which will captivate existing Shan fans and bring in many new ones. The protagonist is initially very unlikable, but this is by design. The exploration on racism and prejudice is explored through a zombie story, leading to an interesting plot-twist that may lead readers to the next book in the series, despite following a protagonist that could be described as an awful bully.