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emreadslotsofbooks's review
4.0
Short and sinister with a message about karma reinforced with all the gristle and gruesomeness I've come to expect of Darren Shan. I prefer B to Cat as a protagonist, but the latter was a refreshingly ruthless character to read about. We all like to think we'd be heroes in any given apocalypse, but I think Cat is a scarily accurate representation of the coldest reaction of humanity in a crisis and that is more terrifying to me than even the creeptastic Mr Dowling (or at least on an even keel).
emmymel89's review
5.0
Cat Ward likes to think that she is the 'cool' teacher. The one that can make a difference in her students lives by her teaching. But having to teach the likes of B Smith, day in and day out, makes her think that she has just wasted her life away and is now stuck in a constant, draining loop.
As she catches some students hanging around the chem lab and is instructing them to leave, all hell breaks loose. Zombies attack and invade the school.
Cat doesn't think, she just instantly thinks of her motto, 'no one gets a second chance in life' and she throws the students to the zombies as she runs to escape. It was from that day on that she changed, and possibly not for the best.
She suddenly finds a new lease of life in being a lone survivor, that she is the best there is around. She is not part of a group, any stragglers she finds, she doesn't spare a thought to throwing them to a horde of zombies to save herself. She brings no personal items or have an human attachments. Those, she believes, are the things that could kill her.
As she is exploring around, she begins to hear a whistling sound. Suddenly she is caught in a rampage of nothing but zombies and are leading her towards one of the main stadiums. She makes it in by the skin of her teeth only to encounter the most unusual and frightening thing ever. Erected in the middle of the stadium is a circus tent but the tent isn't what brings fear to her, it's the thousands of zombies sitting in the stands, staring at her.
When she enters the tent, she meets the mutants and everyone's favorite clown, Mr. Dowling. The satanic clown makes Cat his new play thing as he introduces her to the zombie circus. Cat watches as trained zombies and mutants perform normal circus acts.
When it comes to the final act, Cat is handed a whistle and told to tame the zombies. She panics. The mutant who handed her the whistle, gives her a choice, that he will help her if she tells him what she thinks of B Smith. Naturally Cat spews her detest and hatred towards the girl but suddenly finds herself on her own, to try and tame the beasts, the thousands in the stadium.
This was an interesting one for me because even though it isn't a direct connect to the main series, it leaves more questions towards the main series.
Like what does the clown and the mutants want with B? Why do they, almost, worship her?
And plus we sort of a see a sad side to this, that if only B had found her strength and courage to stand up against her father's worldly view like she has in the main series, then maybe Cat Ward wouldn't have been as bitter towards the world as she was when the world became ruins.
Also I have a theory about Mr. Dowling, about who he could be and stuff but I'm just not sure if I should say it because I could be COMPLETELY wrong but then again, I could be so right. The conspiracy struggle is real
As she catches some students hanging around the chem lab and is instructing them to leave, all hell breaks loose. Zombies attack and invade the school.
Cat doesn't think, she just instantly thinks of her motto, 'no one gets a second chance in life' and she throws the students to the zombies as she runs to escape. It was from that day on that she changed, and possibly not for the best.
She suddenly finds a new lease of life in being a lone survivor, that she is the best there is around. She is not part of a group, any stragglers she finds, she doesn't spare a thought to throwing them to a horde of zombies to save herself. She brings no personal items or have an human attachments. Those, she believes, are the things that could kill her.
As she is exploring around, she begins to hear a whistling sound. Suddenly she is caught in a rampage of nothing but zombies and are leading her towards one of the main stadiums. She makes it in by the skin of her teeth only to encounter the most unusual and frightening thing ever. Erected in the middle of the stadium is a circus tent but the tent isn't what brings fear to her, it's the thousands of zombies sitting in the stands, staring at her.
When she enters the tent, she meets the mutants and everyone's favorite clown, Mr. Dowling. The satanic clown makes Cat his new play thing as he introduces her to the zombie circus. Cat watches as trained zombies and mutants perform normal circus acts.
When it comes to the final act, Cat is handed a whistle and told to tame the zombies. She panics. The mutant who handed her the whistle, gives her a choice, that he will help her if she tells him what she thinks of B Smith. Naturally Cat spews her detest and hatred towards the girl but suddenly finds herself on her own, to try and tame the beasts, the thousands in the stadium.
This was an interesting one for me because even though it isn't a direct connect to the main series, it leaves more questions towards the main series.
Like what does the clown and the mutants want with B? Why do they, almost, worship her?
And plus we sort of a see a sad side to this, that if only B had found her strength and courage to stand up against her father's worldly view like she has in the main series, then maybe Cat Ward wouldn't have been as bitter towards the world as she was when the world became ruins.
Also I have a theory about Mr. Dowling, about who he could be and stuff but I'm just not sure if I should say it because I could be COMPLETELY wrong but then again, I could be so right. The conspiracy struggle is real
scarla's review
4.0
Zom-B Circus is a novella about the Zom-B series by Darren Shan and focusses on Mr Dowling.
As a fan of Shan, I have read most of his Zom-B books, even if they're not his best series.
When this novella was published I wanted to get a paperback copy, but this was kind of impossible, so I ended up getting the book, which was not that bad, but I'd have liked to put the book on my shelf.
The book doesn't focus on B, but a teacher from her former school, Cat.
I don't like Cat. She is really unpleasant and I think she got what she deserved.
Ever since Mr Dowling appeared in the series, I wanted to know more about him. He's such an interesting character and I was glad when he played a big role in Zom-B Circus.
The Circus is crazy, it is weird and I love that. Shan is always good for plot twists and unexpected happenings and this story has proven this once more.
If you like the series, you will like this short story, even if B doesn't appears.
As a fan of Shan, I have read most of his Zom-B books, even if they're not his best series.
When this novella was published I wanted to get a paperback copy, but this was kind of impossible, so I ended up getting the book, which was not that bad, but I'd have liked to put the book on my shelf.
The book doesn't focus on B, but a teacher from her former school, Cat.
I don't like Cat. She is really unpleasant and I think she got what she deserved.
Ever since Mr Dowling appeared in the series, I wanted to know more about him. He's such an interesting character and I was glad when he played a big role in Zom-B Circus.
The Circus is crazy, it is weird and I love that. Shan is always good for plot twists and unexpected happenings and this story has proven this once more.
If you like the series, you will like this short story, even if B doesn't appears.
thatreadhead's review
3.0
Too short for anything of importance to happen. And it's not even about B.
jennc's review
2.0
“But those who can’t find pity within themselves for the lost can hardly expect to be granted any when their own time of judgement comes.”
Pretty gruesome and brutal. My least fave of the Zom-b book so far.
Pretty gruesome and brutal. My least fave of the Zom-b book so far.
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