Zom-B (Zom-B, #1)

Sep 21, 2012 Braiden rated it 2 of 5 stars

After seeing the cover and liking it, I was quite enthused to read it – to read a book about zombies, Darren Shan-style, from “the master of horror.” I haven’t read any of Darren Shan’s previous works; this was my first. But I do know many, including Amber, devour and love anything he writes so I was expecting something spectacular and horrific from Zom-B. I haven’t read many zombie-centric books lately, so Zom-B was the first for a while (Andrew Fukuda’s The Hunt could count though but that’s d...more After seeing the cover and liking it, I was quite enthused to read it – to read a book about zombies, Darren Shan-style, from “the master of horror.” I haven’t read any of Darren Shan’s previous works; this was my first. But I do know many, including Amber, devour and love anything he writes so I was expecting something spectacular and horrific from Zom-B. I haven’t read many zombie-centric books lately, so Zom-B was the first for a while (Andrew Fukuda’s The Hunt could count though but that’s different). I had expectations for Zom-B because of others’ reactions like Amber’s; I expected a bit too much, I guess. After 200 pages – I’ll admit Zom-B is a fast read with few illustrations to add to the graphicness of it – I left with nothing, besides memories of zombies shoving brains down their throats and of a boy who became just like the father he loathes (view spoiler). The zombies shoving brains down their throats was the only good thing.

I was pulled into Zom-B by the… uh… prologue you could say – the “Then…” – as we were introduced to a character that seems to be important later on down the track and we see zombies and a young boy, Brian, struggling with what he is seeing. Then we get to B's story. For the first chapter I liked B – we learn about his parents and see zombies on the news and witness a debate between his parents whether what they’re seeing is real or CGI or something else. I liked B for the fact that towards the end of that chapter he prepares to protect his mother from his father, showing a strong trait in our protagonist. And then the book continued and his character went downhill for me – I liked him less and less, consequently putting distance between myself and the book. I felt nothing worthwhile came from it because of that. (view spoiler)

A few incidents occur in the book which made me label B as a bully, and with this bullying came racist comments and slurs and loads of bigotry. Although racism is realistic in our world and occurs in those ages too, I thought it was not needed and Darren Shan could have written those scenes differently. (I have nothing against it; I just thought it was stupid.) I suppose, however, that it showed us what influence poor role models and parents can play on children’s behaviours and attitudes – B got it all from his father. But then again you go back to the beginning where B has a disliking for his dad. And then at the end B listens to his dad and does such a terrible act – oh no! – and becomes his dad, and then spends some time brooding what he has done. I found B’s character inconsistent and there was a decline in the character's likability and maturity. Others would call it a flaw; to me, it’s a flaw that’s too major to seem minor. However, there is a moment past halfway that the aforementioned trait came out again; would’ve liked that to come forward at the end, too.

Darren Shan’s writing voice and “plot” may have deepened the ravine and furthered the distance between myself and the book. If anything, Zom-B is for the lower ages of Young Adult, more to the point where it’s called high Middle Grade. It felt juvenile for what I was expecting from a YA zombie book, especially when the cover has “the master of horror” on the front. I found the story in this book was nothing spectacular, but it is the first of a twelve-book series so Zom-B was an introduction if anything. Nothing surprised me and I won’t be returning for the next eleven books. I may just retreat to Charlie Higson’s The Enemy books or Jonathan Maberry’s Benny Imura series – now they’re fantastic (even if I have yet to read them, hence why I say “retreat”) YA zombie books, with much more to them than just zombies or flesh-eating beings. …Going back to Zom-B and disregarding the “Then…” beginning, the zombies don’t really appear until over halfway through the book.

I guess it all comes down to expectations. I will still keep Zom-B on my shelf even if the only reason to is for the awesome cover.(less)

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Dec 16, 2012 Jessi Larie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dnf

More reviews by me at Auntie Spinelli Reads

**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. 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 t...more

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Sep 15, 2012 Amber (Books of Amber) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Full disclosure: I'm a HUGE Darren Shan fan (and a poet, apparently). I've been a fan ever since the final book in The Saga of Darren Shan book was published and I read them all in one go. That's twelve books, people. So my review may be SLIGHTLY biased, because I love all his books.

Also, I'm not going to write an 'in-depth' review, because it'll be hard not to spoil the mind blowing twist that happens towards the end. And Darren included a note and asked people not to mention that the main char...more Full disclosure: I'm a HUGE Darren Shan fan (and a poet, apparently). I've been a fan ever since the final book in The Saga of Darren Shan book was published and I read them all in one go. That's twelve books, people. So my review may be SLIGHTLY biased, because I love all his books.

Also, I'm not going to write an 'in-depth' review, because it'll be hard not to spoil the mind blowing twist that happens towards the end. And Darren included a note and asked people not to mention that the main character is actually in a coma and he's dreaming the whole thing. Wait... what?

Haha, just kidding, but my previous statement still stands. I'm not going into too much detail with this review.

I think before reading this book, you should be aware that there's a lot of racism and parental abuse. B's father is extremely racist, and he's raised B to be just like him. B is slightly conflicted, but for the most part B's racist as well. It's all very uncomfortable, and I think some people will be put off by it, and understandably so. Nevertheless, it is a character flaw and it's important, so don't worry about it being there just for the sake of it.

It's VERY hard to like B. However, I do hope that as the series progresses we'll see B grow as a person.

There are two twists in this novel, the one towards the end being the most shocking. The twist/outcome of the novel at the very end wasn't expected either, and it really makes you wonder what's going to happen next because there are eleven more books to go and... yeah. But the first twist - the extremely shocking one - makes you rethink everything you've just read. I sat there blinking at the page for at least ten minutes, trying to figure out what had just been said.

Overall, this is a fantastic book. It's action packed and awesome, although there aren't as many zombies as I would have hoped. But the ending was AMAZING.

Note: Please be VERY careful when reading reviews for this book on Goodreads, as I've noticed that some people have spoiled one of the twists. Probably without meaning to, but still.

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This pretty much sums up how I feel after reading this book:

description

I'll write a proper review once I've pulled myself together, because aFROLAUJTIWYHUTOW£UILH%N"£<%HTWSIOFXHVN (less)

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Nov 18, 2012 Cameron rated it 4 of 5 stars

After finishing, the Demonata, his second long-running series back in 2009, Darren Shan seems to have been in a bit of a rut for the past couple of years. The Saga of Larten Crepsley seemed, in my opinion, to be a rehash of old stories, entertaining enough but nothing original: an unnecessary addition to a bygone era. I was similarly disappointed with the thin executioner, though for different reasons. Zom-B, however, seems to represent Darren Shan's return to form.

I approached this book with tr...more After finishing, the Demonata, his second long-running series back in 2009, Darren Shan seems to have been in a bit of a rut for the past couple of years. The Saga of Larten Crepsley seemed, in my opinion, to be a rehash of old stories, entertaining enough but nothing original: an unnecessary addition to a bygone era. I was similarly disappointed with the thin executioner, though for different reasons. Zom-B, however, seems to represent Darren Shan's return to form.

I approached this book with trepidation. I had high hopes for it but was at the same time greatly afraid of a let-down. The cover and title seemed somewhat cheesy, giving me the impression the book would end up being rather juvenile. When I heard the book had pictures in it too, I thought all hope was lost.

Then I heard that Darren was attempting to tackle issues such as racism and my interest was again piqued. I was curious to see how he would handle this. It was a few years ago that I read the Demonata and the first Saga, so I don't really remember if those books were at all message-laden, though I think not. Certainly not to the extent that Zom-B is.

Though my trepidation remained (I still feared this would be too juvenile for my liking) I was interested and hopeful enough to go ahead and buy the book.

Zom-B is an easy read, as are most of Darren Shan's books. I got through it in a single evening, and was pleasantly surprised. It was fast paced, fun, and, in true Shan fashion, gory. Darren handled the themes of racism well, posing a lot of moral questions. Most decent people would think that the answers to these questions are obvious, yet Darren portrays some appalling characters who defy reason in their beliefs. It is sad to think that there really are people in the world who think as B's dad does. As well as racism, Darren also brings family dynamics into the mix, questioning when it is appropriate to follow one's parents or when one should stand up for their own beliefs. It actually quite impressed me how much Darren managed to pack into a book that only took me only three hours to complete. His writing in Zom-B is much more mature than I've seen in the past.

B Smith is one of the best characters Shan's written. B is a character who managed to provoke a lot of emotions from me, most of which were polar opposites. I could go from loving B on one page to hating him the next; go from admiring him to being appalled by him; go from pitying him to resenting him. B also managed to surprise me at a few points(wait until you find out what 'B' stands for!), though I think most shocking is one scene in particular where B does something that brings to a head the moral struggles he's been experiencing. You'll know what I'm talking about when you read it.

Another character I found interesting, one who only appeared twice in the book, was Owl Man. His identity is never truly explained (we can assume that will come in later books) but it seems likely that he is to be the central villain in this series. Darren Shan has a history of writing intriguing and creepy villains, Lord Loss and Mr. Tiny being two of his best, and Owl Man looks like he has potential for greatness. I look forward to learning about the nature of his identity, as well as seeing his true motives.

One thing Darren Shan does well is taking an old idea and putting a new spin on it. In the Saga of Darren Shan, the author took vampires, creatures that have appeared in countless books and films throughout the years, most of the time sticking to the Dracula archetype, and completely reinvented them (without making them sparkle, I might add...). He did the same with demons, in the Demonata, taking these beaten-to-death ideas and reinventing them with originality. I initially treated Darren's approach to zombies with cautious interest, much as I did the book as a whole. Zombies, of course, are not a new idea. But then again, neither were vampires or demons so I was fairly optimistic. For the most part it seems as though Darren has done a good job, and though we'll have to wait for later books to know for sure, it looks like he's done well to add some new originality to an old idea.

The biggest problem I had with this book--pretty much the only one--were the illustrations. As I said, I was wary about them from the start, and it seems my concerns were warranted. In my opinion, illustrations, particularly the black and white comic-book kind we find in Zom-B, are best left for children's books, not ones aimed at teenagers. With books for young kids, pictures serve as a way to keep children focused on the book in their hands and assist with bringing the book to life. Older kids and teenagers, however, are usually at a reading level where they don't need pictures to visualize. They can manage that on their own. I didn't think a book such as Zom-B warranted the illustrations it was given. This is just my personal preference. I know a lot of people loved the illustrations. But I felt they were unnecessary and interrupted what was otherwise a fast-paced page turner.

All in all, Zom-B is definitely the best book Darran Shan has released since Hell's Heroes, and the start of what I hope will be another great series. Zom-B reinforced my opinion that Shan is better at writing long-running series, rather than the shorter ones and one-offs he's been coming out with lately. Despite a cheesy looking title and cover and some misplaced illustrations, Darren has provided an entertaining read that manages to pack some intriguing characters and tough moral questions into just two-hundred pages. Well worth reading for both old fans of Darren Shan, as well as anyone new to the author. (less)

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Oct 01, 2012 Elizabeth (Elizziebooks) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bea-2012, young-adult

Can we talk about how misleading the prologue is? Man, I thought this book was going to be chock FULL of zombie beheadings. Double tap! But no, it was more about this teenage boy, B, and his own metaphorical zombie life. Okay, later on in the book, there are REAL zombies, and throughout the book, there are more and more news stories about the zombie plague making its way around the world.

B is a bully raised by a bully. I don’t think that it is right that he bullies others, nor do I wish to justi...more

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Oct 31, 2012 Adeeb rated it 5 of 5 stars

I will not review this. It is impossible not to give anything away.

This book is amazing, nail-biting, UNBELIEVABLE!

Read it ASAP

Update:

I'm reading other people's thoughts about this book and I'm looking at negative reviews. I'm just shocked at the 1 stars! Not because I loved this book, but because of the reason they rated it so low!

Everyone hates this book because B is racist! WHAT? That's the point, Darren Shan creates a story where you're supposed to HATE the "protagonist". Someone please exp...more

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Apr 28, 2013 Alicia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: abuse, boy, dysfunctional, graphic, multicultural, religion, science-fiction, series

Well it says to be continued, so we'll see where Shan can take this next. A very short zombie thriller in which B, an English school boy, is mere inches away from becoming a zombie after the news begins covering a zombie apocalypse in Ireland. Yet, this is only the last 1/3 of the book. The first 2/3 is actually a painful reminder of stereotypes, bigotry, and hatred. B's father is a no-holds-barred racist who attends meetings and shares with anyone his dislike for blacks, Muslims, Indians, etc,...more

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Apr 16, 2013 Derek rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: zombies, ya-fiction, darren-shan

I absolutely loved this book, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes Darren Shan's writing. I'm not sure this would be the best place to start with Darren Shan; I would recommend the Cirqu du Freak series over Zom-B to first time Shan readers. The Thin Executioner would probably an even better place to start, since the main characters of Zom-B and The Thin Executioner have a lot in common, and would get a reader prepared for the type of character that narrates this book.

That being said, I am...more I absolutely loved this book, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes Darren Shan's writing. I'm not sure this would be the best place to start with Darren Shan; I would recommend the Cirqu du Freak series over Zom-B to first time Shan readers. The Thin Executioner would probably an even better place to start, since the main characters of Zom-B and The Thin Executioner have a lot in common, and would get a reader prepared for the type of character that narrates this book.

That being said, I am a hardcore Shan fan, and I devoured this book. What I love about this book and Shan's writing in general is that it strives not to be typical YA fiction. It is not easy to step into the protagonist shoes, and not because of the supernatural events presented. Our narrator is raised by a racist, and an abusive one at that. B often has to choose between placating an abusive racist parent and standing up for the morals he (view spoiler) truly believes in. What I really find interesting is that no other character, save B's father, endorses this racist behavior. B lives in a society where racism is unacceptable, and none of B's friends condone the way B acts. When family pressures B to become a despicable human being, but the rest of society develops him into him to be understanding of the world around him, B experiences a struggle for identity that persists throughout the book, and is not quite yet resolved at the books conclusion.

But what about the selling point of this book. Where are the zombies? Well, they're very much in the background for a lot of this particular book. They show up at the end, and it's a fun ride when they do. This is typical Shan action, complete with his fast paced, gory detail. This is an introduction to a series, though, and I have high hopes for more zombie carnage in the books to come.

One critique I have is that I'm not sure race was the subject to handle here, only because B's father's point of view seems a little extreme in a modern setting. I'm sure there are people who still feel this way in present day, but I'm not sure if it's quite to this degree. I would have recommended perhaps dealing with homophobia over racism, but only because I come into contact with it so much more often. That may just be the area in which I happen to live.

I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this series. I want to know how B develops as a character. Shan is an intelligent writer; I believe he researched the psychology of abused children, how they feel about their abusers, and how the abuse effects the way they view themselves and the world before writing this book. Shan's protagonists do not necessarily start off likable, but they earn a reader's affection as the series goes on. B isn't at the top of my list for favorite Shan characters just yet, but I'm willing to see how my opinion changes by the time I get to book twelve.(less)

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Feb 19, 2013 Denysia Yu rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People who like books that don't involve zombies till half way through.

This book was a freaking whirlwind of insane zombie activity. Now I have to admit the beginning of the book got me really started. But then it got kind of boring. The life and story of B, a week before the zombie attacks actually occur in London. Is it weird, that I think that this book is refreshing in the sense that it's different from other zombie books, because of the racism? I mean, you don't get that many people who like writing about racism like this. If you haven't read Warm Bodies pleas...more

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Feb 19, 2013 Faye rated it 3 of 5 stars

I really really really wanted to be able to give this book a two-star but I'm not completely heartless when it comes to Shan. I love the photos in the book. Thought that was pretty cool. 'B' really made me mad in so many ways yet at the same time your like 'the main character shall prevail!'.... Nope.

I found the first 120 really repetitive but this review isn't all gloom and doom because it finally kicked off to a start when the zombies arrived! Did it annoy anybody else that they jumped out of...more

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Feb 13, 2013 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: high-school, zombies, read-in-2013, young-adult

This was my first Darren Shan book and I honestly thought that it wouldn't be my cup of tea. However one of my friends said that I MUST read it, so I did.

I know that a lot of people didn't like this book, and gave it one star because they thought that the main character, B,was a racist. In a lot of ways this is true. B does make nasty and spiteful comments about anyone who is not white. Some of the things said hit home, but they are the reality. And B wasn't entirely racist. At several points B...more

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Feb 05, 2013 Reading Teen rated it 3 of 5 stars

2.5

At a Glance:
Ever since I realized that zombies were didn't actually exist, they've been among my favorite of mythical creatures. And since there is a serious lack of good books about dragons and unicorns right now, zombie books are currently some of my favorite. So, when I see a book titled Zom-B with some pretty cover art, I am naturally attracted.

Action:
Besides the very beginning and the very end of the book, there is a surprisingly small amount of action in this book. However, what action...more

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Feb 03, 2013 Chris Bissette rated it 2 of 5 stars

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...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!

If you are expecting fast-paced zombie-fighting action from the beginning, you're gonna have a bad time. First off, the zombies don't come until like the last forty pages, and then it's a long run/chase scene.

However, if you're interested in reading about an interesting versatile character, then read this book. If I were teaching a critical thinking class, I'd definitely put this on the syllabus. First off, B is a bully. He's also a thug. And a racist. And maybe a bigot. But...more

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Jan 23, 2013 Samantha rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, own, ya

Zom-B is really short. It's supposed to be a book about zombies attacking a school, but it takes a long time to get to that point. The synopsis makes Zom-B sound awesome, and it's pretty cool when the zombie show up. But the zombies don't show up until 100 pages into the book! For a book that's only 174 pages, that's a long time without zombies. After the Prologue, which introduces the zombies, the first half of the book is really about B and B's father being racist. Racism is a huge part of thi...more Zom-B is really short. It's supposed to be a book about zombies attacking a school, but it takes a long time to get to that point. The synopsis makes Zom-B sound awesome, and it's pretty cool when the zombie show up. But the zombies don't show up until 100 pages into the book! For a book that's only 174 pages, that's a long time without zombies. After the Prologue, which introduces the zombies, the first half of the book is really about B and B's father being racist. Racism is a huge part of this book. Once the zombies show up, Zom-B is fast-paced, filled with action and intense. But it takes too long to get there. And it's very obvious that the end is leading up to a sequel. It just left me wanting more. And, of course, I had some questions about certain characters and events that happen throughout the book, which I'm sure will be answered later in the series.

Also, this novel is set in England. It really bothers me when books don't stay true to their setting. I know sometimes language in British based books are "Americanized" for US readers. But if you're going to change some British expressions, you should probably change all of them. I don't understand why B would say things like "knackered" and "snogging" but uses US words like "fries," "chips" and "soccer." It's really confusing if you're used to the Brit practice of calling fries "chips" and chips "crisps." It's odd having B steal a bag of chips from someone because I'm thinking "they sell fries in bags?" And even more annoying when they have a soccer game at lunch, and B mentions that they usually skip "footie" matches. I'm sure I'm nitpicking, but it bothers me.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

First off, I don't like it when books purposely hide the gender of the main character and then there's a big gender reveal during an important plot point! It makes no difference to the plot whether B is a boy or girl and I see no reason to hide this fact. Big deal. Generally when a book tries to hide the gender of the main character, they're the opposite gender of what you want to think they are. Plus, you lost me when B took an hour long bath.

Second, I get the whole father's racism and why it was important to the plot that B was racist part of the time and not racist other times. It was a determining factor in the climax of the novel. But we didn't need 100 pages to establish that.(less)

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Jan 18, 2013 Eric Townsend rated it 1 of 5 stars

This is not the zombie book you are looking for. A bad Star Wars pun aside, Zom-B is just not a book I would recommend reading, even for the zombie lovers among us. The book deals with racism but not in a way that is informative or that teaches us any lessons. It’s just one slam after another on a variety of different races and with seemingly no purpose in doing so except for setting up an ending that was painfully obvious from the get go. It isn’t tackling issues, it’s putting them up on displa...more This is not the zombie book you are looking for. A bad Star Wars pun aside, Zom-B is just not a book I would recommend reading, even for the zombie lovers among us. The book deals with racism but not in a way that is informative or that teaches us any lessons. It’s just one slam after another on a variety of different races and with seemingly no purpose in doing so except for setting up an ending that was painfully obvious from the get go. It isn’t tackling issues, it’s putting them up on display. The parallels of coming together as one group, as humans, to take on a force that is trying to kill us didn’t even come through which may have redeemed Zom-B.

The main character, B, is to be honest an ass. She takes the racism of her father and uses it occasionally but always backpeddling saying she was just doing it as an act, a way to impress him or that deep down she really didn’t feel that way. If you say or do some of the things she does in the book then I’m sorry but you are just as guilty and a coward for being unable to admit it. Ugh. She’s whiny, and while she has to deal with a lot of crap in her life to be sure it doesn’t make the character any more endearing. I’m not saying you have to like all MCs to consider a book good, but this one just didn’t have redeeming qualities.

The plot was obvious and simplistic. There wasn’t really any build up either, just one minute “oh there are zombies elsewhere, probably a hoax” and the next zombies all over the freaking place. It didn’t feel like a smooth transition and regardless of whatever they reveal in the next book I can’t imagine it justifying how this one was carried out. The pacing was erratic and at times frantic as well without giving depth to much of anything.

The writing was fine I guess in and of itself, but nothing was saving this book for me. I really was disappointed as I love me a good zombie book (The Infects by Sean Beaudoin was one of my top 5 books in 2012) and sadly this fell short to say the least. It’s a pass for me.

Rating 1/5(less)

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Jan 09, 2013 02nickh rated it 5 of 5 stars

Zom-B
The author was Darren Shan
pg. 170
The Audience should be anyone over fifteen because this book is pretty brutal
The main problem is zombies are invading the earth
The setting helps the book because london is a very crowded city good for zombie invasion.
The good Guy is B he is a big kid and kind of a mean kid who likes to get into fights. The antagonist is his dad he is racist and very abusive. The story goes like this. There is this little kid and he wakes up and his mom is eating his dad so h...more Zom-B
The author was Darren Shan
pg. 170
The Audience should be anyone over fifteen because this book is pretty brutal
The main problem is zombies are invading the earth
The setting helps the book because london is a very crowded city good for zombie invasion.
The good Guy is B he is a big kid and kind of a mean kid who likes to get into fights. The antagonist is his dad he is racist and very abusive. The story goes like this. There is this little kid and he wakes up and his mom is eating his dad so he screams and his mom turns his head and he runs down the stairs and runs outside then all of these zombies try and get him but he dodges them and keeps running looking for someone to help him then he sees this tall man on a hill and he has a pot belly and when he gets up close he has eyes that no human could have then the little kid says save me and the man says get down and pray so he does then the man brakes his neck and then the story starts over and this Kid named B is a big mean kid and his dad is very racist and then he starting to become racist and all he wants is his dad to like him and then they see on the news about a zombie invaison in scotland and ireland and no one beleives it then he goes to school and he goes and gets in a fight with this girl and then the next day they go on a field trip and then he thinks his dad is as bad as the nazi's and he is on his own and turns the corner and then these two guys steal this baby from this mom so he chases them down and beats them up and they're faces are green and they're tongue is purple and they look like they have a deseize then he takes the baby back and the mom thanks him and when he gets home his mom calls him a hero and his dad beats both of them. The next day at school in the gym the kid who caused the fight came up to B and said that was amazing that you saved that babie and then B smacks him in the face and he starts crying then the zombies break through the gym door and start eating every one and long storie short B and six other people get saved by his dad and he opens the door and zombies are behind them and he says throw the black kid to the zombies and B says no and then his dad says I will beat you if you dont and so he does and then B's dad says come on lets go and be runs into the crowd of zombies and dies. the End
I liked how realistic the book was
two quotes from this book where
''and everything goes black'' page 170
''Are you becoming a monster too be pg 70
I liked those because they were climaxes in the book
The theme was always speak the truth when needed
This book is different from other books because it takes place in london
I gave this book 5 stars
It was worth 10 points(less)

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Jan 03, 2013 Gordon Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars

As most of you know, I am a massive Darren Shan fan. His number one fan, in fact. He was hugely inspirational in starting me writing, and I now consider us friends, which is so awesome. And yes, I’m trying not to sound too much like Annie Wilkes when I say that…
I bought a copy of his brand new series Zom-B last year, but have had so much on (including reading and loving his new book for adults, Lady of the Shades, which I will review very soon) that I only found time to sit down and start it las...more As most of you know, I am a massive Darren Shan fan. His number one fan, in fact. He was hugely inspirational in starting me writing, and I now consider us friends, which is so awesome. And yes, I’m trying not to sound too much like Annie Wilkes when I say that…
I bought a copy of his brand new series Zom-B last year, but have had so much on (including reading and loving his new book for adults, Lady of the Shades, which I will review very soon) that I only found time to sit down and start it last night.
Start it and finish it, I should say. I couldn’t put it down! It’s a fantastic read. Quick, gripping, thrilling, vicious, and challenging too. More challenging than his previous work, I think, in a good way. Although it starts off in a very familiar fashion: poor Brian wakes up in the middle of the night to the sounds of a zombie apocalypse, and witnesses much limb-ripping, skull-splitting, brain-devouring nastiness – as well as a mysterious man with large eyes who seems to be immune to the walking dead. It’s a gory, intriguing prologue that reminded me of the start of Lord Loss, but from the end of this chapter the book takes a different route.
The main story follows B, a teenager with anger management problems and a severe disregard for authority. Worst of all, B is a racist. It’s easy to see why, because B has just about the most despicable, fascist thug of a father you could ever imagine, a brutish bully of a man who beats up his wife and child and who would gladly leave a baby to die if it wasn’t white and English. B is locked in a constant moral war between the need to please this nightmare of a dad and the need to do the right thing – a war that B is in danger of losing.
It is such a compelling story. So compelling, in fact, that I could quite happily have read a whole series about the relationship between these two characters without the added horror of zombies. (And that’s really saying something, because I love zombies!) It was a tricky thing for Darren to do, because there’s always the risk of creating something that reads like a school RE textbook on the danger of racism. But B is such a well thought out, realistic character that this never happens. B leaps from the page, brilliantly real because at times you love this character and at times you hate them. It’s been a while since I’ve had such a complex reaction to somebody in a book. The real horror in Zom-B isn’t the living dead, it’s just the living, and they can be so much worse.
But of course this is Darren Shan, so it doesn’t take long for the genre horror to find B’s world! And wow, Darren doesn’t pull any punches. The last part of the book is a non-stop ride on the gore train, and so much fun (in a horrific way)! I won’t say much, only that I always think there’s an easy way to differentiate between the various levels of horror out there: screams and spasms. Most scary books have screams in them, but you know the author is really going for the jugular when people spasm as their lives are being ripped away. And there is lots of spasming in this book! He also does for zombies what he has already done for vampires and demons – presents us with something at once familiar and brilliantly unique. These zombies are nasty!
It’s a fantastic read, and better still it’s the first instalment in a 12-book series so there’s much more to come. And when you finish this one you’ll be desperate for the next because there is not just one but two massive plot twists that will leave you reeling. Zom-B is a must for any horror fan, but more than this it’s a challenging book with some important questions, the most important of which, I think, is how much of our nature is determined by our parents and how much do we use this as an excuse for our actions? From what I hear about the books to come, it’s the first of many moral issues that will really force readers to challenge their own perception of the world, and of themselves.
So, in short, read this book!!!(less)

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Dec 10, 2012 Cornmaven rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: high-school, middle-school, ms-hs

Darren Shan tackles zombies along with the current event issue of immigration, especially the tensions that exist in Britain. His depictions of zombies and their attacks are pretty gruesome, very graphic. These zombies are a little weirder than most, have characteristics you won't find in the usual zombie novel, with good reason. Their apocalypse has been unleashed by an unknown group.

I thought that Shan did a decent job of portraying the conflicting emotions of B, her desire for her father's ap...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Meg rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

The story begins with a prologue of sorts of a zombie outbreak that occurs in a small village in Ireland. It then abruptly switches gears and centers on a teenager in London known only as B. B’s family life consists of an abusive, racist father and an abused mother. B likes to spend most of the time with buddies, hanging out and abusing other kids. Most of the book really has nothing to do with zombie attacks, until the very end of chapter sixteen.
There are good points to be made about this stor...more

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Nov 26, 2012 Kat rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: zombies, worth-it, reccommened, not-continuing-the-series, drama, pretty-good-for-what-it-was

Quite a good book! Very quick read, finished it in a couple of hours, but it's very quickly paced which made it much easier to read. Not a lot of time for stopping and thinking, which if done too much in a novel can make it a real bitch to read.

It's a zombie story with a twist, the zombies are almost like the pets of these weird mutant people who are taking over the world. It's a little like an episode of Buffy especially with the zombies fingernails extending out of the skin and then becoming...more

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Nov 22, 2012 Katie GrazingPages rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I immediately finished reading this book I had to give 3 stars. I was shocked at the abrupt ending, one part that I now know understand to be a major plot twist, and the hundreds of questions I had that were left unanswered... but I've now had to amend my rating and raise it to 4 stars.
This decision it due to finding out that it's the first in a 12 book series. Half of me believes this to be pretty awesome and I cannot wait to read all the future books, the other half is a little overwhelm...more

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Nov 11, 2012 Jeanbooknerd rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviews

Darren Shan’s Zom-B is a new series that only Darren can deliver. Just like how his Cirque Du Freak (The Vampire’s Assistant) left me captivated, Zom-B executed the same result. Although the cover and title suggests a story solely based on zombies, it shifts to the real dismays that many us face on a daily basis. Readers are taken to London where they are introduced to a teenager, simply named B. She is the typical teenage girl who hangs out with friends but gets into the usual troubles. When a...more

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Nov 11, 2012 Jai Dadlani (Ficlov) rated it 4 of 5 stars

I know a lot of you guys are probably apprehensive about reading a book about zombies, but fear not, this one is worth reading. I was weirded out by that too, but because I'm a die-hard Darren Shan fan, I soldiered on and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Well played, shanster, well played.

Darren Shan is a freaking genius. the Demonata series and the Darren Shan saga were already so awesome, I thought he was all tapped out of talent. I was wrong. It's completely different than the other...more I know a lot of you guys are probably apprehensive about reading a book about zombies, but fear not, this one is worth reading. I was weirded out by that too, but because I'm a die-hard Darren Shan fan, I soldiered on and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Well played, shanster, well played.

Darren Shan is a freaking genius. the Demonata series and the Darren Shan saga were already so awesome, I thought he was all tapped out of talent. I was wrong. It's completely different than the other two, but in a good way.

The story is brutal, and the brutality of it is enhanced by the shortness of it. It's under 200 pages long, and it feels like even less than that. And the twists. THE TWISTS, PEOPLE. After the first one, I completely flipped. I didn't know what the hell was happening, and lots of heavy breathing ensued. this book isn't for the faint hearted, if you're easily scared or grossed-out run far, far away from this book.

The writing is incredible. Basically, this book is about people getting killed and stuff, so you don't want the author to go slow, you want him to create a constantly action-packed scenario, and that's exactly what he does. No over-description, no character development (apart from the protagonist's), which is good, because everyone keeps dying, which eliminates the need for character depth in anyone but the one the story revolves around.

Shan creates a protagonist that is incredibly hard to like. I, for one, actually despise B, and it's quite refreshing to have an anti-hero in YA fiction at last. The thing is, B's dad is a bigot and a racist, which rubs off on her, making her pick on black kids at her school. There reaches a point where B's dad actually says that he doesn't care if the zombies kill the foreigners, which disgusts me, but it's incredibly effective for the author's purposes, which is tackling these issues.

All in all, I thought this story was really good and an incredible start to what will be a 12-book series, and I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of the books.(less)

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Nov 05, 2012 Ms. Library added it · review of another edition

I know what this author was TRYING to do with this book, but it felt a bit too obvious. I wish he had been a little more subtle about his point, rather than hammered it home with obvious lines and rhetorical questions. Zom-B is a zombie book, and its gory and bloody and somewhat gross, but honestly the most graphic part of the book is B's Dad-how abusive and racist he is. That's one of the important parts of the story-how B deals with that. B-our main character-constantly struggles with loving o...more

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Oct 17, 2012 Holly Frabizio rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: death, family, friendship, suspense, young-adult, zombies, horror, racism, bullying, school

Zom-B is a new series from author Darren Shan. I have been a big fan of Shan's work since his Cirque Du Freak Series (The Vampire's Assisstant) and so far Zom-B does not disappoint. At first I though that the story was going to be all about the zombie apocalypse but it turned out that it is also about the real horrors that we face in the everyday world. The protagonist is a teenager named B who lives in London. B likes hanging out with friends, listening to music and getting into trouble. The zo...more

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Oct 10, 2012 Wise Lim rated it 5 of 5 stars

One word: Awesome.

I've been a fan since forever. I've read Cirque Du Freak in a week, and was awestruck by the ending; the same happened when I finished the whole Demonata series so it was really hard for me not to place my order at Amazon although my final exams were approaching. Furthermore, I am a zombie fan - I watch every single zombie movie and have read a lot of zombie fiction.

First of all, when I started reading, it was a tad disappointing?

To me B was too unpredictable and the way he t...more

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Oct 07, 2012 Frishawn Rasheed rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: great-zombie-read, favorites, best-of-2012-list-pick, arc-2012

This book is no trip through the daisies on a warm spring morning, and its NOT the ZOMBIES that are so mind numbingly terrifying.
The the most horrifying aspect of this gruesomely dark tale can be found in the character of B's father. An abusive moron and blatant racist; he makes no bones about the fact that he believes that his wife is his doormat and white Britain is the right Britain at any cost.

Seeing this dynamic played out in life on a daily basis shapes B into a person who must fight the...more

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Oct 02, 2012 Dan rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've seen a few negative reviews for this book and I have to make the point that I am reviewing this in context. It's the first of a 12 book series, with each book telling part of the story. As a standalone book I'll admit that it's probably not worth reading but as the beginning to an epic 12 part series it really is. Although writing it without spoilers is quite a challenge.

The books begins with a zombie attack in a small Irish town. It then continues by following the story of B, who assumes...more

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Sep 30, 2012 Barbara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: alcohol, abusive-relationships, bullies, civil-rights, community, cultural-identity, death, families, friendship, monsters, ncbla2013, school, social-justice, teachers, zombies, immigration

Londoner B lives with her abusive, racist father and her ever-patient mother. Inside her all manner of rage and shame seethe, and B often feels torn between doing what's right and politically correct and pleasing her father who seems to blame the country's problems on its many immigrants. The two laugh at news reports of zombies in a small Irish village, but both realize that the reports are true when zombies enter the B's high school, biting and eating the brains of the students. B and some of...more

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