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.