| Title: A Living Nightmare |
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| Author: Darren Shan | ||
| Genre: Paranormal | ||
| Publisher: Little, Brown | ||
| Elements: Circus | ||
| Series: Book 1 of the Cirque du Freak series |
Tell me: how many of you read the Cirque du Freak series before you found out that the movie was coming out this year? *looks around*Darren Shan's an ordinary schoolboy, until he and his best friend Steve get tickets to the Cirque Du Freak, a bizarre freak show featuring such arcane performers as Hans Hands, Gertha Teeth, the Wolf Man and Rhamus Twobellies. In the midst of the ghoulish excitement, true terror raises its head when Steve recognises that one of the performers -- Mr Crepsley -- is in fact a vampire!
Steve remains after the show finishes, to confront the vampire -- but his motives are anything but ordinary! In the shadows of a crumbling theatre, a horrified Darren eavesdrops on his friend and the vampire, and is witness to a monstrous, disturbing plea.
Later, in a moment of insane daring, Darren sets out to steal the vampire's magnificent performing tarantula, an act which will have severe, tragic consequences for both Darren and Steve. Their lives will never be the same again ...
...oh.
Well, that's really the only reason I started reading this. I've heard many good things about this series but since I'm a contrary person, I thought it was all hype. Luckily for me, I put my doubts to rest and actually tried this book out.
It starts off well. The protagonist calls himself Darren Shan. He's not actually Darren Shan, but he has changed all the names in the story to protect everyone's identities, should any curious soul decide to do a wee bit of Googling. Darren lives a normal life. He has a normal family and normal friends.
Then one day, he is introduced to Cirque du Freak, a travelling freak show. And that's when his life started to go all the way from MLIA to FML.
I liked Darren. He was a likeable kid, and though his choices seemed pretty dumb to me, his heart was in the right place. The plot was straightforward and easy to follow, which is a nice change from the plots that make you go "Whaaa...?" halfway and then you'll have to re-read the story and read the innuendos which you didn't notice the first time.
What I didn't like was that the story was too short! It was more of an introduction to the series. I still haven't found what makes the readers oooh and ahhh, but with eleven more books, I'm content to read and find out.
Actually, I also hadn't heard of the books before I saw a movie trailer. They look fun, though! Thanks for your review!
ReplyDeleteOo I've been reading this series since middle school, and I love it. The second book really was my favorite (though Darren said it was his least favorite!) and this book is really more of an intro to the series. I'm glad you enjoyed it enough to try the rest of the series! x) Oo and I've been excited for the movie since he announced that they might be making one, like, years ago. xDD It's weird that it actually coming out after all this waiting!
ReplyDeleteThis is one of those instances where I saw a book on the shelf when I went to get another book and thought "Huh, Cirque du Freak, sounds too creepy for my tastes" And then I went "AHH SPIDER!!!!" when I realized what the cover art was and tossed the book back on the shelf and tried to stop the goosbumps from happening.
ReplyDeleteAbout two weeks later everyone started posting about the movie news and the trailer!
This is not the first time this has happened to me. I have weird book psychicness sometimes. Odd.
The movie looked fun, though I don't know if I want to read the books. I can't possibly read the first one if there's a spider on the cover - yes, my phobia is that bad. I wouldn't even let it in the house with me!
I see this series everywhere but haven't tried it yet ^_^ Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI've heard great things about this series but I haven't read it yet. Not sure I will read it before the movie is out.
ReplyDeleteI haven't even seen the movie trailer, since I live under a rock LOL.
ReplyDeleteI definately may have to check this out. Great review :-)
LOL! I've actually thought about picking up these books because of the movie also. I'll watch your reviews to see if I really want it. Thanks for this review. :)
ReplyDeleteI read the book a LONG time ago when one of my then friends gave it to me since she wanted to get rid of it. I'm glad she chose me to give it to! It surprised me that I liked the book, given that I'm not into creepy stories. :)
ReplyDeleteThe boys in my 8th grade reading class loved this series. Like you, I read the first one and found it likable, but not OMG worthy. They've told me I need to read past the fifth book for it "to get REALLY, REALLY good"...8th grade boys can be so descriptive. ;)
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