Darren Shan
Mass Market Paperback | Pages: 272 pages Rating: 4.07 | 49114 Users | 3353 Reviews
Present Books During A Living Nightmare (Cirque du Freak #1)
| Original Title: | Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare |
| ISBN: | 0316905712 (ISBN13: 9780316905718) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Cirque du Freak #1 |
| Characters: | Darren Shan |
| Setting: | United States of America |
| Literary Awards: | Soaring Eagle Book Award (2004) |
Description As Books A Living Nightmare (Cirque du Freak #1)
This is an older series and many of you may have read it years ago or already decided it wasn't for you, but maybe my review will sway you into giving it a chance (or just make you remember how much you loved it.) Here's my take on things: Be prepared for a male author with all male main characters. There's a younger sister character with a small part and I enjoyed the siblings' relationship, but aside from her and a few mothers, this is mostly a series about boys. Did that bother me? Not at all. Just pointing it out. Lots of gore, which I enjoyed immensely. Also, some deadpan humor thrown in so it wasn't completely gross and disgusting all the time. It was a nice way to break things up so it didn't feel dark and bleak every step of the way. The story is short and intense and doesn't contain a lot of filler. I can see how this might get compared to the Goosebumps series because those were quick reads too, though I'd say this series is for a slightly older audience, but if these had been around when I was 10 or so, I would've gobbled them up. Not a whole lot of surprises, you can kind of see where things are heading early on, but the few surprises that are included are pretty big ones. There's also a scene in the beginning that doesn't get explained and I'm curious to see where things go with that. I love that Shan obviously planned this as a series but still wrote a full book. Things are left open-ended, but there's not really a cliffhanger and I appreciated that. This is a short gory book with a slightly new twist on the vampire mythos geared heavily towards male readers (though I think girls won't feel alienated at all) and the inclusion of a "freak show" is something fascinating and I welcomed reading about a topic done to death (heh) that ended up still feeling unique. I really liked it and already have the next book loaded up on my Kindle (though I'm trying really hard not to start it tonight ... must ... wake up ... early ...) I can see how this series is so popular now and hope the quality continues with each subsequent book. Also, if you liked this book and this series, definitely check out his other unrelated series, The Demonata; I really loved the first book and I can tell you that reading A Living Nightmare after Lord Loss that his writing only gets better. It's really neat to watch an author progress and continue to improve and also clearly enjoy his work. There are not a lot of authors writing stories like Shan's and I think it fills a nice pocket that fans of the Goosebumps series can stick their hand into once they start getting older. I definitely would've been one of them and I can't wait to dive deeper into the rest of his series.Define Containing Books A Living Nightmare (Cirque du Freak #1)
| Title | : | A Living Nightmare (Cirque du Freak #1) |
| Author | : | Darren Shan |
| Book Format | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 272 pages |
| Published | : | June 1st 2002 by Little, Brown Young Readers (first published 2000) |
| Categories | : | Fantasy. Young Adult. Horror. Paranormal. Vampires. Fiction. Supernatural |
Rating Containing Books A Living Nightmare (Cirque du Freak #1)
Ratings: 4.07 From 49114 Users | 3353 ReviewsWrite Up Containing Books A Living Nightmare (Cirque du Freak #1)
review by Megsly*Warning: possible spoilers ahead.*A few weeks ago, this charming little movie called The Vampire's Assistant came on my television and I, being obsessed with vampires as everyone knows, just had to watch and I was extremely impressed by the originality of the movie so when I unearthed the series, The Saga of Darren Shan, I dove right in.A Living Nightmare is book one of the The Saga of Darren Shan, otherwise known as Cirque du Freak. It introduces us to Darren Shan, a young boyThis book was sinister, dark, evil and at times quite funny. I admit I wasn't expecting the funny aspect of it more of the darkness and cruelness. The description of some of the scenes especially the circus scenes were so descriptive and well full of imagination that it was really hard not to see what the reader was trying to show you. Even when he had taken the potion to fake death that was described well his fear, his sensations well everything. I enjoy the characters in this book the boys
Upon rereading in 2018, I give the first one 4 stars.It reads as more middle grade and is slow paced at first, but after the second half, oh boy! The pace really picks up and my excitement to continue the series grew. That ending really hit hard as an "adult" now much more than it did as a kid when death meant little to me. Way to keep the reader hooked!
This is an older series and many of you may have read it years ago or already decided it wasn't for you, but maybe my review will sway you into giving it a chance (or just make you remember how much you loved it.)Here's my take on things:Be prepared for a male author with all male main characters. There's a younger sister character with a small part and I enjoyed the siblings' relationship, but aside from her and a few mothers, this is mostly a series about boys. Did that bother me? Not at all.
This is NOT a fluffy-happy-cloud middle school book Darren Shan and his three best friends manage to score two tickets to the Cirque du Freak - a one-night-only freak circus that promises hair-raising terror and blood-curdling sights. Through a bit of luck ( or was it fate? ) both Darren and Steve are chosen to attend. The circus certainly lives up to its name - Hans Hands, Remus Two-Bellies and the Snakeboy were all absolutely magnificent. And then...there was the trained spider. The most
Easy to read and engrossing.
So good! This is exactly what horror/fantasy book/series for kid should be. It have good characters, it's fast pace, have some dark enough stuff and a really intriguing storyline! I can wait to read the next one! Well done!
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