Wow what a busy week! I hope everyone had a nice Easter break. I didn't do much, went back to work yesterday and on Tuesday I decided to launch a sister blog to this one. Loz Does Disney is now underway with it's own Instagram account, purely a place for me to blog about my ongoing Disney challenge where I have made it my mission to watch *almost* every single Disney film before my Paris holiday in 2022/23 (dependent on covid). This gives me a little over a year to devote myself to this cause, and I'm taking you with me!
Before I get to the review, I just want to share a little of myself with you guys, especially as I'm getting a tiny bit of traction now. Not to selfishly plug myself, but more so to verify my habits so you can guess my reviews in advance. I'm down as Lauren (Lauren Hawman) on goodreads, no doubt you'll find me if you look at the reviews on any of the recent book reviews mentioned in this blog. Feel free to give us a follow or even friend me, and stay up to date with my current reading challenge of 150 books.
Moving on...
It is safe to say Darren Shan has done it again. Absolute banger. Aside from Derek Landy, Shan has to be my favourite author, his books are witty, imaginative, and downright fun. I had to have a long hard think after finishing book 12 of the Zom-B series, it had thrown so much at me that it took me a little while to process it all. It breaks my heart to say it but I think I prefer Zom-B to the Larten Crepsley Saga. It almost topped the Saga of Darren Shan as well, but not quite, I have to be loyal to the books that started this journey, they have a special place in my heart.
Now I had initially planned to review The Zom-B Chronicles months ago, but in the end I was enjoying myself so much I decided to space the books out rather than devouring them (as it is easy to do) in one sitting. Despite this fool proof plan I still found myself stealing away to bed just to read ONE chapter and before I knew it I had finished the book. Mr. Shan has that special talent which is so rare among authors these days, where their writing is addictive. You get whisked away from the pages and into this specially crafted world and before you know it your body has shut the book and your dragged back kicking and screaming to the real world. I read a lot of books, not as many as I should, but I'm making up for that, and I've found that while I enjoy the tale being spun I don't get as absorbed into it as I do with those very special writers. I'm not sure if it is a good or bad thing, but what I've found is those special few are actually those who market to children and young adults, both of which I am not. Yet I tag along anyway and I love it.
To name but a few, Darren Shan (obviously), Joseph Delaney, Derek Landy, and Sarah J Maas. I think the only adult themed books which recreate the same experience is the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters. Nothing comes close to these great authors, and if I think too much on it I get sad because I'd love to apply that rose coloured tint to everything I read, but alas it is not to be. Some stories just aren't suited to our own.
Characters like B Smith and Valkyrie Cain are what helped shape me as a functioning human being. I almost wish I had discovered Zom-B back in my childhood because I think a lot of things would have gone differently. That sounds like such an odd thing to say but seriously Valkyrie Cain and Skulduggery Pleasant have a lot to answer for, they gave me confidence and witty remarks, and as Val grew so did I and she taught me it was okay not to be okay. These characters are my friends from the fictional world, they are always there if no one in the real world is. That is kind of a sad reflection actually. But I think that is a strong point in children's literature, it gives children a place to go to escape the mundane or the unhappy. It is also a crucial point when growing up to have these types of influences so we can find ourselves. To verify this I actually conducted a small experiment. I got my ex boyfriend (when I was with him) to read the first couple of Skulduggery books without mentioning why. Instantly he commented on the influence, knowing me as he did he could see how much these characters had intertwined with my own personality, I suppose that will ruin the enjoyment of those books now we've broken up but it's a win win for me!
Let's bring this round to the story shall we? B Smith is my kinda gal. That's right, SPOILERS, our main man is a young lady with one hell of an attitude and I think this is why I liked her so. I know we had our fair share of ladies with our previous sagas such as Lady Evanna who gave me serious Madam Mim vibes (Sword in the Stone, Disney version), as well as Arra and Debbie, but all of them seem quite dull compared to B, they aren't as 3-dimensional. B's personality is basically the underlying theme in these books, we see how she is forced to grow up and adapt as well as challenging her own upbringing and thoughts to become a better person, all while battling the Zombie Apocalypse and subsequently the end of the world. Oh, I forgot to mention. B is actually a zombie.
I remember sitting at my desk in January and finishing that book. Obviously it was inevitable, somewhere deep inside me knew I wasn't going to be reading 12 books about surviving the zombie apocalypse. But what rendered me speechless on that cold day wasn't the fact her ex-friend Tyler has just ripped her heart clean from her body. It was the fact it was HER body. Darren, of course, threw a little curveball at us here and give him credit he does mention why at the end of his book when he does his mini interview, he let us (wrongly) assume that B was a boy for that whole book. The signs were there if you looked hard enough to know there was more to it then first thought, but I'm still kinda angry that I fell for it. Such a deliberate trick, I was played a fool. After sulking for about an hour, I started chuckling to myself, 'well played Mr Shan' I thought, and this was the start of my love affair with these books.
Trying to juggle reading these on top of my already quite extensive TBR pile was difficult. I'm not trying to play the saint by saying I was reading near on 3 books at the same time. My only saving grace was the fact all 3 books were wildly different. If I encroached even a little bit on a common genre then I'd be screwed. The last thing I wanted was to find Hamish Macbeth solving the murder of a zombie.
Becky Smith certainly deserved to outlive everyone. That is all I want to say on the matter or else we are going to go into a whole deeper level of spoilers and I myself have not quite come to terms with that ending. At the point this review will be published I will have finished the book 4 weeks ago tomorrow. At the point of writing this review it has actually only been 4 days and I am still not okay. Holy Moly is the sweetest little thing and if I wanted to have children it is possible I would name them Holy Moly in its honour. What I would like to mention plot wise is the fact I sort of shipped Rage and B. That is such a terrible thing to say and I know it is wrong on so many levels, but seriously if they had stayed on the same team for long enough I'm telling you a different kind of sparks to those existing would have flown.
I also felt really bad during the end of Zom-B Bride, mainly for Mr Dowling. We established he was going to try and become a good guy, sort of, and to be quite honest he wasn't all that much of a bad guy, excluding the murdering. I'm glad he got to understand that it wasn't B's fault when she betrayed him. My only issue is surely he would have guessed that her mind had been tampered with? Or at the very least surely the babies could see there was something wrong with B's mind during the mental link. She could still think her own thoughts but the commands that came from her mouth were influenced. When Owl Man told her to make Holy Moly find the vial full of deadly stuff and she was trying to hold back wouldn't the mental link have sufficed to warn the babe? It hurts my brain thinking about it.
I would also just like to apologise for the fact none of my books match. I doesn't make for a very aesthetically pleasing picture does it? There is a story behind that which I don't mind telling you. I have a fear of Zombies. I am sure I have mentioned this before. My fear is quite irrational but it is safe to say in the event of an actual living dead scenario I have a doomsday plan all to myself. How does this play into the fact the books don't match you ask? Well quite simply I was aiming for those brightly coloured books you can see in my photo. I like second hand books, probably not the best thing in Covid times, but there is something comforting about saving/rehoming a book. Knowing someone else has loved and lived the story before you is a wonderful feeling, and so I always try to source a second hand copy of a book I want to read unless of course it is new out and a signed edition. Anyway, I had found the first 6 books in the series and they were in the bright, slightly less zombie related covers. I also just want to say, second hand books are also quite cheap, so when I saw this bargain, 6 books for £12 I was sold. The downside was I was misled. Quite obviously. What turned up in the box my cat quickly occupied was the gruesome versions which I presume are the original paperback covers. They do seem very early 2000s. I swallowed this fact and placed the book upside down when not in use so I could avoid nightmares, when it came to buying books 7-12 I couldn't find them in bulk so it was an individual job. The aim of course being to get them all to match. This didn't go too well when receiving Mission, it was the same cover but a hardback. I don't get along with hardbacks, the covers slip off and it makes me sad but once again I pulled my socks up and got on with it. Then the bright covers started coming in and I thought 'oh to hell with it, my collection is now unique rather than regimented' and here we are. While I would love a Darren Shan signed book I think I'm pushing the boat out when looking at the older series, I'll try again when I catch up and have to buy the books new!!
I also noticed 3 days before I was due to publish this review, that I had missed book 6.5! Zom-B Circus somehow flew under my radar and I think due to the cover mishap my brain confused itself and now we've had to make amends.
We've become distracted again. I just want to mention the fact that Shan doesn't let his characters be happy. Look back to The Saga of Darren Shan and Larten Crepsley. Two series within the same universe, both with very sad and death filled outcomes. I was expecting to end book 12 with B's death but was surprised. Instead everyone else died. That isn't my issue. The termination of Barnes is my grievance. You've given her a father figure she can be proud of for literally 12 hours. Then you bloody kill him. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD MAN WHERE IS YOUR HUMANITY? You could at least have given them a week...
Aside from my broken heart, I experienced a lack of Zombie related dreams so I am pleased to say this series has my full approval. I am also quite happy with the fact I picked up the series and overcame my fears. I actually thought these were related to a Zombie book I read in a library back when that was a thing. It had zombies, and they were on a huge cruise liner and in shipping crates and that's about all I can remember. It is safe to say the Zom-B books did not solve that mystery and Google can't seem to help me either. I am still looking.
Overall I enjoyed myself a lot. Darren incorporated quite a few serious issues into this kids book such as racism and the KKK as well as your standard serial killers and money corruption. Oh and the Nazis, don't forget the Nazis. But it was done in an educational sense. All of these evil people got their comeuppance. There is a special place reserved in hell for Dan-Dan and people who are like him. That was a dark storyline, necessary but dark for sure.
Anyway, I'd like to award the Zom-B Chronicles a 9/10. Yes I'm aware that is a higher score than TSODS, but it is deserving. Anyway I said I was loyal to those books not that I am blind to their flaws. I enjoyed myself, a lot, and I won't forget this story in a hurry that's for damn sure.
Special mention by the way, I was absolutely thrilled to find that Darren had actually mentioned me in his very own blog!! Honestly it made up for the negativity of 2020, that one page of awesomeness really was the highlight of my year. I am actually a little bit emotional as I write this, I can't quite put into words how honoured I am and of course through that it boosted the viewings for my first attempt at a blog! Wow. Having your favourite authors doing a great thing like that really brings home the fact they are your favourite for a reason. Brilliant man.
Well that just about wraps up my third Darren Shan review. I look forward to the Demonata series as well as the Archibald Lox books. I seriously can't wait!!
On that note my loyal creatures, thank you again for joining me and stay safe! Things are looking up here in the UK and I'm excited for things to come. Take care and see you next week!
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