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uhhlexiconic's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A step up from Vampire Mountain, Trials of Death still feels like an incomplete piece. Trading the horror of the first three volumes for culture shock and adventure, Trials of Death still sells appealing characters in brutal scenarios.
Graphic: Murder and Fire/Fire injury
lidiaaa222's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Ableism, Suicide, Cannibalism, and Alcohol
bookswithlauren's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
There are twelve books in the Cirque du Freak series by Darren Shan and I read my way through all of them in about three weeks as a child! I absolutely loved them and was totally immersed in the world created by Darren Shan from the get go. October is just the perfect time to re-read them all! Especially when I have access to all the audio books.
This series is everything I remember. Creepy, full of gore and suspense, leaving you wanting more! All the characters are incredibly unique and developed. The story as a whole is different from comparison novels and you can tell with each book that there is much more of a story to come. Shan has written the books whilst planning ahead. Small details that suggest further meaning crop up later in the series and it is sheer genius and talent.
There is gore, which I enjoyed immensely. Also, some humour 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. I was lucky enough to meet the author at Edinburgh Book Festival in 2019 and every sentence on every page of these books oozes his personality, humour and fantastic mind! You are completely immersed into the world of Darren Shan, Mr Crepsley and the Cirque Du Freak with just a few sentences.
I think this series will forever be a favourite of mine! Especially during the spooky season! This book in particular is like the vampire version of the Hunger Games and I love it!
This series is everything I remember. Creepy, full of gore and suspense, leaving you wanting more! All the characters are incredibly unique and developed. The story as a whole is different from comparison novels and you can tell with each book that there is much more of a story to come. Shan has written the books whilst planning ahead. Small details that suggest further meaning crop up later in the series and it is sheer genius and talent.
There is gore, which I enjoyed immensely. Also, some humour 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. I was lucky enough to meet the author at Edinburgh Book Festival in 2019 and every sentence on every page of these books oozes his personality, humour and fantastic mind! You are completely immersed into the world of Darren Shan, Mr Crepsley and the Cirque Du Freak with just a few sentences.
I think this series will forever be a favourite of mine! Especially during the spooky season! This book in particular is like the vampire version of the Hunger Games and I love it!
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
At the end of VAMPIRE MOUNTAIN, Darren was told he'd be in a series of trials which would determine whether he'd live or die. The trials are here and they're a torturous gauntlet which test him to the utmost.
This puts a strain on Darren's relationships with the vampires he knows and cares for. Some of them are helping him in the trials, some are judging his efforts, and all of them are complicit in a deeply ableist system which demands he fight for his life just because he was turned into a vampire too young. I'm surprised it doesn't strain his relationship with Mr. Crepsley more than it does, but I guess he needs him right now and is grateful for the help. Harkat Mulds continues to be an excellent character, even though he doesn't get a lot of time in this one, when he does show up it's as spectacular as it is ill-advised.
All the relevant plot backstory is tidily conveyed in the prologue, which was short and sweet. Additional info for specific characters is briefly put the first time each character appears, making it easy to remember who everyone is in case it’s been a while since reading the other books. The vampire society has some pretty ingrained ableism and sexism which Darren notices and comments negatively on. VAMPIRE MOUNTAIN stated an excuse for why there are almost no female vampires, so I’m hoping something happens with that as the series continues.
This is an pretty immediate continuation of events in VAMPIRE MOUNTAIN, and it tell the story of Darren in the trials which were set up previously. It doesn’t really have a new storyline that didn’t exist before and it’s not trying to. It also ends on its own cliffhanger to be picked up in the next book, so it functions more like the middle section of a larger volume than as its own story. As the middle section of a larger story set at one location, it wouldn’t make sense to start here in terms of the emotional arc. Technically the backstory is explained well enough for it to be easy to follow the plot, but some of the emotional impact and tension would be lost. If you want to jump in mid-series, VAMPIRE MOUNTAIN is a much better entry point. I’m not sure if anything major is both introduced and resolved unless the individual trials count. Darren’s narrative voice sounds basically the same as in the last book, which makes sense since it’s been maybe a day between books, if even that long.
The plot revolves around the actual trials, with a break in the middle for the council meeting which was the whole purpose of their journey to the mountain in the first place. I like the narrative and the pacing, it's well-placed to be immediately after VAMPIRE MOUNTAIN. By fitting all the trials in one volume it leaves the next book open for the immediate aftermath of this book's ending. I'm excited for the next one, this ending was very tense!
This puts a strain on Darren's relationships with the vampires he knows and cares for. Some of them are helping him in the trials, some are judging his efforts, and all of them are complicit in a deeply ableist system which demands he fight for his life just because he was turned into a vampire too young. I'm surprised it doesn't strain his relationship with Mr. Crepsley more than it does, but I guess he needs him right now and is grateful for the help. Harkat Mulds continues to be an excellent character, even though he doesn't get a lot of time in this one, when he does show up it's as spectacular as it is ill-advised.
All the relevant plot backstory is tidily conveyed in the prologue, which was short and sweet. Additional info for specific characters is briefly put the first time each character appears, making it easy to remember who everyone is in case it’s been a while since reading the other books. The vampire society has some pretty ingrained ableism and sexism which Darren notices and comments negatively on. VAMPIRE MOUNTAIN stated an excuse for why there are almost no female vampires, so I’m hoping something happens with that as the series continues.
This is an pretty immediate continuation of events in VAMPIRE MOUNTAIN, and it tell the story of Darren in the trials which were set up previously. It doesn’t really have a new storyline that didn’t exist before and it’s not trying to. It also ends on its own cliffhanger to be picked up in the next book, so it functions more like the middle section of a larger volume than as its own story. As the middle section of a larger story set at one location, it wouldn’t make sense to start here in terms of the emotional arc. Technically the backstory is explained well enough for it to be easy to follow the plot, but some of the emotional impact and tension would be lost. If you want to jump in mid-series, VAMPIRE MOUNTAIN is a much better entry point. I’m not sure if anything major is both introduced and resolved unless the individual trials count. Darren’s narrative voice sounds basically the same as in the last book, which makes sense since it’s been maybe a day between books, if even that long.
The plot revolves around the actual trials, with a break in the middle for the council meeting which was the whole purpose of their journey to the mountain in the first place. I like the narrative and the pacing, it's well-placed to be immediately after VAMPIRE MOUNTAIN. By fitting all the trials in one volume it leaves the next book open for the immediate aftermath of this book's ending. I'm excited for the next one, this ending was very tense!
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Ableism, Death, Medical content, Cannibalism, and Medical trauma
Minor: Alcohol
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