Zom-B Underground by Darren Shan

Zom-B Underground by Darren Shan
Zom-B #2
Release Date: January 17, 2013
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Children's Books
Source: Bought
Goodreads Stars: 4
Rating: Essential
Buy the Book: Amazon UK

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? - Goodreads

There will be spoilers from the first book, Zom-B, so please DO NOT read this review if you haven't read the first book. There are two twists in Zom-B that you honestly would never want spoiled, so shoo!

To compare the two books, I have to say that I loved them both the same. But it's difficult to compare them in the first place, because they're rather different. Whereas Zom-B focused more on B's family, and her bloody father, and introduced B to us, Zom-B Underground is set in a government facility and is about B settling into this new military regime. There are WAY more zombies in this instalment, as well as more action, and more reveals in general. 

We learnt a bit about the zombies. For example, there are two different types: the mindless drones that are ever present in zombie novels and movies, and then the dead that come back to life and manage to keep their heads, so to speak. This book goes into quite a lot of detail on the latter type of zombie, which I won't go into myself because it's more fun to discover these things yourself.

Becky is a lot more likeable in this book. I mean, in Zom-B I liked her as a character because she had some major flaws that she needed to work on, but in this one we see her reflect on the way she was raised, and how she acted before she was killed. There's character development afoot here! B is trying not to be such a racist scumbag bully, and it is fabulous because she's still not completely there. This is how you develop a character, so take note. We also see how far she's willing to go with certain things (that I of course cannot talk about) and what her own personal limit is. Overall, I freakin' love B and I think she's a great character. She is probably my second favourite main protagonist out of all of Darren's works, with Darren Shan taking first place.

Reading this book allowed me to come up with a few theories, which is something I really enjoy doing, so that was awesome. I have a few theories on B, and on the zombies in general. I have no clue what is going on with the mutants or the owl man, though! 

As is always the case with Darren's books, the ending of Zom-B Underground is amazing. It's full of blood and guts and death... What more could you ask for? 

Also, THERE IS A MOTHERFORKING CRAZY CLOWN!!!!!11! As someone who is scared to death of clowns (after being forced to watch IT at seven years of age), I dropped my bloody Kindle when the clown turned up. Luckily I was in bed, so it had a soft landing, but STILL. I think we're gonna see more of the clown in the next book, so... WAHHHH.

So yes, overall, it was great. As you should know by now, my reviews of Darren Shan's books are hardly ever coherent, so don't mind that. Just know that this book is GREAT, and I think I may have liked it more than Zom-B, but in a different way. The only thing I dislike about this book is how short it is. At 160 pages, it is more of a novella than an actual book, and is over before you know it. That said, I think Darren excels at writing shorter novels, but more frequently, so I won't complain too much.