A Not So Impressive Zombie Book

Genre: Horror
Title: Zom-B
Author: Darren Shan

Rating: 1.5/3
Justification: This was far from satisfying. I know this is only the first book of an entire series, but after finishing, I'm feeling more a part of an advertising ploy than anything else.

Plotline (from Goodreads):

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. As Darren says, "It's a big, sprawling, vicious tale...a grisly piece of escapism, and a barbed look at the world in which we live. Each book in the series is short, fast-paced and bloody. A high body-count is guaranteed!"

Good. Ness. Gra. Cious. I don't even know how to begin. (So I began with that. Congratulate me on my brilliance, please.)

This book caught my eye in the library because of a few things.

They say "don't judge a book by its cover", but I always end up doing it anyways. Usually it works, but this time it definitely didn't.

Ok, I'm going to stop hating on this book for a bit - just long enough to explain why I should continue hating on it though.

At the beginning, I actually found this book pretty interesting. The storyline was nice, and Mr. Shan had a good style of storytelling. There wasn't much zombie content as of yet, but I figured, it was only a matter of time, right?

To take the words from an Internet chatroom:

The irrelevance dragged on and on for the entire book. When I finished, I felt like I had read a "Coming Soon" preview instead of an actual book. Looking at the $9.99 sticker, the book felt considerably cheaper in my hands.

Sorry if I'm not making much sense right now. It's really hard to properly complain without giving away some spoiling details. For those truly fearless (or those who have decided they will never in their life read this book), come to the SpoilerAlert section, where hopefully I become more coherent.

Before anything else, I'm going to iterate what I was talking about in the My take section.

The title of this book is Zom-B. The book jacket promises zombie action. So why. In the world. Does nothing with zombies happen until more than halfway through the book?!

Why am I so good at colouring. Someone give me a prize for this beauty right here.

Also, did anyone realize that B was a girl before her dad saved her? I couldn't tell if that was a clever ploy by the author or just me being stupid. I was contemplating going back through the book and seeing if he called her Becky or used the words "she" or "her" anywhere else, but then I realized I didn't really care enough to find out.

That basically sums up my entire feelings about the book, actually. I really don't care enough.

This picture is here for no reason. I just like drawing almost-stickmen.