|
Loading...
LibraryThing recommendationsMember recommendationsLoading...
won't like
will probably not like
will probably like
will like
will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. It was very enjoyable but I thought the initial development was a bit long then there was a lot of action near the end. Still, I look forward to the next in the series. A very good read and a ridiculously quick one, as well. Good plot, realistic characters (no caractures or type-casts), and good imagery well-balanced with normal dialogue (no freakish adult-like dialogue for the children, but not overly simplified either...aside from Annie who seems unrealistically precocious). Perfect for upper middle school or lower high school, though thoroughly enjoyable even for older audiences. I was a bit annoyed with the over-use of italics, but at least the editor did a good job (unlike many of the other books I have read recently). this book is amazing it is full of thrill. tHIS BOOK is for people who like things that are wierd things. This book got into reading all of the series. I can tell you that if you like two kids that one loves doing things wroung while the other is a wuss. you will ove it. Cirque Du Freak it a very interesting book by Darren Shan. It is about a teenage boy who goes to this freak show with his best friend. During the show his best friend notices one of the performers as an ancient vampire named Mr. Crepsley. After the show his friend tried to convince the vampire to bite him and turn him into a vampire as well. Mr. Crepsley attempts to but says that he has bad blood and can not be a vampire. Darren decides to steal Mr. Crepsley's spider from his coffin and took it home. After a couple of days Darren and his friend were playing with the spider and it bit Darren's friend and they had to take him to the hospital. There was no cure or the spiders venom becuase he was a unique spider. Darren had no other choice but to talk to mr crepsley and ask him to cure his friend. He said he would if Darren agreed to become his assistant which meant that he would become a.......half-vampire! (darren agreed) no reviews | add a review
References to this work on external resources.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Book description |
|
Darren Shan, author and narrator, sets the book up as a true story, warning readers: "Real life's nasty. It's cruel.... Evil often wins." Indeed, evil begins to win when Darren and his buddies find a flier for "Cirque Du Freak," a traveling freak show promising performances by the snake-boy, the wolf-man, and Larten Crepsley and his giant spider, Madame Octa. Darren and his friend Steve wouldn't miss it for the world.
So, Saturday night they sneak out to the old theater, tall and dark, with broken windows. "Every act you see tonight is real," croaks Mr. Tall. "Each performer is unique. And none are harmless." That's for sure. (A werewolf bites off the hand of someone in the audience, for instance.) Things grow very serious for the two boys when Steve not only recognizes Mr. Crepsley as a famous vampire, but professes his true desire to join him! To make matters worse, the spider-obsessed Darren goes back to the old theater to steal Madame Octa so he can teach her tricks in his room. (He does, with mixed results.) The plot further coagulates as Darren is faced with some terrible decisions about what to do to save his bloodthirsty friend Steve.
Readers may be too enthralled to notice some clumsy editing (the aforementioned bitten-off hand is later referred to as an arm, Darren stops dead in his tracks when he's already stopped, etc.). They may also not notice that the boys constantly use adult-sounding expressions like "his breath stank to the high heavens," though the book is clearly set in the 21st century. If this book gets under your kids' skin (and it probably will), they're in luck--we haven't heard the last of the Saga of Darren Shan. (Ages 10 and older, not for the faint of heart) --Karin Snelson
(retrieved from Amazon Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:17:41 -0500)
The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details.
Quick Links |
The story line is slow to build, with most of the action and suspense saved for the end. The writing itself felt a bit clumsy, but once again this could be a product of authorial intention (writing for a young audience). I would certainly recommend the Cirque du Freak series for young readers (age nine or so), but I don't think I'll continue the series myself. (