A review by lizzie04
Zom-B Family by Darren Shan

fast-paced

4.0

I liked the closure we received between B and her father this book. He’s a bigot and abuser in the most overt sense, yet also displays occasions where he cares for his family and has some tough conversations with B. I appreciate how Shan can write objectively morally depraved people that you actively root against and still make them a compelling part of the story. 

The fatal flaw with Todd Smith is that he is not only obstinate in his views of the world being the right one, he also sees the failures of humanity as inevitable. Beating his wife and daughter while saying he loves them, murdering POC because he hardly sees them as people, that’s just the product of a tough world. He claims no agency in his beliefs and actions, only chalking it up to how things must be. He’s a great contrast to B, who throughout the books has tried her best to help in even the most minuscule of circumstances after living under her father’s selfish, ignorant beliefs. 

Also, this book deserves four stars just on the basis that Dan-Dan finally died here. His death was not entirely satisfactory, since I don’t think that’s possible with a villain like him, but it was another great character moment for B with how she handled the children he abused. The irony of these zombies having more empathy towards humans than the other human characters is probably part of the point Shan is driving home.