Book Review: Zom-B Underground by Darren Shan

Title: Zom-B Underground 

Author: Darren Shan
Series: Zom-B, #2
Pages: 203
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's
Date of Publication: 3rd January 2012
Source: Publisher*
Synopsis from Goodreads: Waking up in a military complex, months after zombies attacked school, B has no memory of the last few months. Life in the UK has turned tough since the outbreak, and B is woven into life- and battle- in the new military regime quickly. But as B learns more about the zombies held in the complex and the scientists keeping them captive, unease settles in. Why exactly was B saved? And is there anyone left in the world to trust?

DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW IF YOU'VE NOT READ THE FIRST BOOK, Zom-B, AND DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED.

My Thoughts:
Having read Zom-B and found it to just be okay, I wasn't sure what I was going to think of the sequel, Zom-B Underground. To be honest, I picked it up to read because it was the shortest book in my TBR pile and I wanted to cram in as many books as I could before the end of 2012... But anyway, I wasn't that excited for it after the just okay first book, but it surprised me how much I enjoyed it! Really, really good.

The plot of this book was much better. There wasn't really a single point in the book where I knew what was coming, which made it more exciting and meant that I powered on reading through in order to find out, which was different to the first book where we all knew a zombie attack was approaching but we didn't know when it would be. Again, as in the first book, there were a couple of twists that were very surprising, and of course, it ends of a nice, juicy cliffhanger that's left me waiting very eagerly for the next book.

I liked B in this one, a whole lot more than I did in the last. She stood up for herself and began to make her own decisions about things, instead of following everyone else like she previously had. She realised that what she was being made to do was wrong, and she tried to change that, which was pretty admirable seeing as trying to stop it meant that she was literally putting her life at risk. I wouldn't have done that, I'm sure!

I also think that the zombies were really well written. I liked how they have two different kinds of zombies - regular, brain-eating ones, and then the zom-heads, who can still think and act rationally. I liked the zom-heads in particular because they're not your typical zombies who only ever have brains on their minds. It was good that we got to find out about what they do, though it is a little gruesome... Or rather, a lot gruesome. That hasn't changed from the last book, and unfortunately was my one down-point to the book - there's a lot of gore and I just can't take it seriously! I don't know why, but I am just not good with gore. At all. That's just my personal preference though, it's still good writing!

Overall I was really glad that I chose to read Zom-B Underground when I did, because I'm not sure when else I would have got round to it and I'm really glad I've read it! I'm really looking forward to the next and one of the great things about this series is that I don't have too long to wait because they come out so regularly! I'd definitely recommend you start this series if you haven't already and are looking for something silly and gruesome and quite fun to lose yourself in for a few hours at a time. They're great!

*Thanks to Simon and Schuster for sending me this in exchange for an honest review! In no way has this affected my opinion of the book.