It wasn't good enough to hold my interest. Too many books, too little time. Moving on.

Boring and not what I was expecting from a novel in this genre. Also disliked the characters so much! Dnf at 75%

3.5 stars

A nonreader friend of mine told me about this author because he read a book of his and enjoyed it, he constantly told me to read one of his books and I finally picked up Zom-B. For the most part, I enjoyed it.

The biggest turn off was B's father, he's a racist and an abusive man.

For the most part I really enjoyed this book, but I think one of the main turn-offs for me was B's father. He's racist, abusive, manipulative, and an all around terrible human being. I felt like it took awhile to lead up to the massive break out zombie scenes and I wish we would have had more zombies in this book, because I was expecting more. It felt like we only got 20 pages of zombies and I WANT MORE ZOMBIES. xD I'm still looking forward to continuing on with this series, but I wasn't super impressed by this first book.

I found it a very interesting read. I'm not much for zombies, and the description of violence had me squeamish, so I planned not to read any more after the first one. But once I finished it, I found that I wanted to know what else happens to B.

For one thing, it's very difficult to like B. Shan made a huge, somewhat unabashed racist of out his main character, which I guess is kind of refreshing, since usually protagonists are saints. But still. B's always getting into fights, making fun of people, stealing things--clear signs of a bully. One hopes that B will change course throughout the series, which is a compelling reason to keep reading.

Spoiler

After a teacher explains that B's father is basically a Nazi, and then that whole thing with the Muslim baby--which seemed really contrived, I might add--it seems as though Shan is trying REALLY HARD to push an agenda, which I find very annoying. And yet, I keep reading.

I did like that, despite being a racist, and perhaps an all-around horrible person, B is very observant. You see, as the story gets more urgent, that B is noticing things that everyone else is too panicked to pay attention. Things that seem pretty important. It makes you wonder what this whole zombie agenda thing boils down to. Also, I enjoyed that a good portion of the book is showing how most people don't believe this whole "zombie thing" is actually happening, that it's just a hoax of some sort. I think that's a pretty realistic depiction of what it would look like. People don't want to believe something so horrible is actually happening.

Last, but not least, the ending.

Spoiler

First of all, I suspected that B would become a zombie at some point. The title "Zom-B" suggests as much. In fact, I was just waiting for the change to happen, but it makes sense that it doesn't occur until the very last page. Also, we're all pretty grateful to see that B would rather risk being eaten by zombies than to continue following a horrible father. It was kind of foolish, true, but B had to make a stand somewhere, and I think that the courage wouldn't have presented itself in a lesser sort of situation.

Alright. The gender reveal. Holy crap. I was so confused, why the dad would be saying "that's my daughter! Becky!!" when this whole time, I just assumed that B was a boy. I mean, the bullying, the rough demeanor, the racist-ness, you just assume. But then, when Shan talks about soaking in the bath, or crying, or slapping girls, see, that's more of a feminine thing, and it makes it confusing when you assume B is a boy. But you keep reading, and forget about it. I had to read the paragraph for or five times for me to realize that, yes, B, Becky, is a girl. And then, before I even finished the book, I started flipping back through the book, trying to find a part where the author had said anything related to the gender of his main character, and I realized that it's said nowhere. Since it's written in first person, B never says "oh, by the way, I'm a girl", and the word "I" is not gender specific. And then whenever anyone talks to or about B, they just refer to her as "you" or "B". I had absolutely no idea. I mean, B starts off the book with a shaved head, for goodness' sake! 10/10 for the plot twist, and the showing that it doesn't matter what's in your pants: you can be a racist bully with a horrible father, either way. And I'm grateful for the way it was written. Often when the protagonist is female, everyone automatically assumes the book is going to rely heavily on whether or not the main character has a boyfriend, which is ridiculous. This way, you can pay attention to her as a person, with real problems, than just somebody's "significant other". Well done, Darren Shan. Well done.

Super quick audio guys. I think it was three hours long?

Now I’ve seen so many people read this book/series and yet I never even tried to dive into it. So when I saw that audible was having an awesome sale on audios, I caved and got it. Mostly because it was a short audio but I also secretly wanted to know what people liked about it.

Zom-B was an interesting zombified book since it was so short I was kind of confused on how the zombies first showed up in this school. Maybe I skipped over it because of all the running, screaming and dying happening. I was also a bit shocked with the kkk reference and how racist the mc’s dad was. However, the most shocking part was how she knew that her dad was racist and instead of getting in trouble or abused by him - she just lets it go. Heck, the whole thing with Tyler was so freaking sad. At least I think his name is Tyler? Can’t double check right now since I’m typing up this thing from my phone. So Tyler it is.

The ending was pretty good. I love the whole revenge because honestly she deserved to have her heart ripped out and eaten. She was a bitch and selfish. So there’s that and now I’m kind of hooked and want to see how the rest of the series goes. I hope her dad dies.

Well, that was quick, not something I recommend, nor will I be reading further into the series.

Zom-B is the first book of a twelve-book series. It begins with a zombie invasion in the town of Pallaskenry in Ireland, already throwing you into a bit of action, which is just what we need because the true action doesn't really occer until about half-way/two thirds of the way through the story (but, please, don't let that put you off!).

We then get to know B Smith, the protagonist of the story. B's father, Todd, is an abusive father and husband and a diabolical racist. We also come to find that Todd isn't the only racist B's life. Shan has done a wonderful job of seeing Todd through B's eyes, who is only a teenager. B is confused: is Todd in the right, or are B's instincts to go against dad in the right, especially where B's coloured and foreign friends are concerned?

I absolutely love that Shan is exploring these issues in a book that, when you pick it up, you think is just going to be another Darren Shan horror story, simply about zombies. But when is anything in life simple (when is anything in a Shan book simple!?) It's something new and, in many ways, darker. Despite being best-known for young adult fiction, Shan has made this story a great learning tool for youngsters and adults alike (as I, an adult, have discovered), for social and personal problems. It definitely puts the series to come in good stead.

Then, we come to the horrific zombie invasion of B's home town of London. B is in school when the zombies attack, and they go in hard. No one is safe, which is typical of Shan's writing - not even the most important of characters is immune to death, not even his protagonists.

I would say more, but that would involved a lot of spoilers! All I'll say is it gives plenty of shocks. And I'll leave you with a question: is B and boy or a girl?

Something to think about as you read the book.

Read this review in full (with spoilers!)here: http://watchreadandsee.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/darren-shan-lends-his-brains-to-zombies/

the only reason this book got 2 stars was because of the "surprise twist" at the end. it was so full of hate that it made me never want to read one of his books again.