Reviews - Trials of Death | The StoryGraph

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272 reviews for:

Trials of Death

Darren Shan

4.01 AVERAGE

rebecca_wiseman's review

4.5

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

bookswithlauren's review against another edition

4.0

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: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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!

Content Warnings

heyjarrod's review

5.0

The action really picks up here in Book 5! We see Darren with a thirst to prove himself, and then have to hold his own in the Trials. I enjoyed the background and traditions during the festival, and how Harkat becomes a more well-rounded character. The ending leaves me hungry for more, and to see how Darren will fare beaten, betrayed, and on his own.

ch1oseph's review

4.0

Totally thought Daren would pass all the trails and become and vampire so it had a real nice twist at the end.

tramuntana's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark fast-paced

The suspense, the successes, the hardships... I would've loved to read this as a child, now my inner child will have to do. Probably the best in the series.