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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
I've read this novel a good few times, but it never fails to keep me in suspense from start to finish.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-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:
Complicated
This might be my favourite instalment of The Saga of Darren Shan out of all of them.
In this book, Darren must face five horrific trials by order of the Vampire Council to see if he is worthy enough to join them. If not, he will die - if the trials don't kill him first.
This was a brilliant book! Shan's writing flows so perfectly, it's hard not to be dragged into the story. His words kept me hooked on every single page, and I could not stop turning the pages until I had no more to read. The descriptions in this still haunt me, of the horrific trials Darren has to face, and I still remember how vivid they are, the pictures my imagine created still seered into my mind from years ago. I cannot forget anything from this book. The characters we follow are still so developed and receive even more development as the series goes on, which is so beautiful to see.
Honestly, I recommend the whole Darren Shan series to anyone, and definitely to read up to this one, at least. This is the one that made everything so much more intense for myself, and was the one that made me sell my soul to Darren Shan as an author.
In this book, Darren must face five horrific trials by order of the Vampire Council to see if he is worthy enough to join them. If not, he will die - if the trials don't kill him first.
This was a brilliant book! Shan's writing flows so perfectly, it's hard not to be dragged into the story. His words kept me hooked on every single page, and I could not stop turning the pages until I had no more to read. The descriptions in this still haunt me, of the horrific trials Darren has to face, and I still remember how vivid they are, the pictures my imagine created still seered into my mind from years ago. I cannot forget anything from this book. The characters we follow are still so developed and receive even more development as the series goes on, which is so beautiful to see.
Honestly, I recommend the whole Darren Shan series to anyone, and definitely to read up to this one, at least. This is the one that made everything so much more intense for myself, and was the one that made me sell my soul to Darren Shan as an author.
adventurous
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Much preferred this book over the previous one. It was action packed, with twists and turns at every corner and I couldn't put it down. The characters are a lot more fleshed out and their vampire lore is expanded on in a lot more detail (the trials, the princes, etc).
However, I think there are some character motives that are questionable. For example, Mr Crepsley doesn't really defend Darren or object to him partaking in the deadly trails, even though he is his guardian and mentor. Instead, Mr Crepsley appears very unconcerned with Darren, consistently putting him in the care of the other characters, such as Kurda and Gavner. I also still find it very strange that Mr Crepsley had literally no defence for blooding Darren, nor considering the consequences of this. As he himself used to be a vampire General, it strikes me as weird as he would've been very aware of the punishment for blooding a child without fully explaining the repercussions (being sterile etc) to him.
It's interesting that the publisher decided to split the books up as they did - the previous book and this book could've been one book in itself, and would've been far more successful in the pacing and flow of the plot had this been done.
Also, the author loves to use 'roar' as an adjective e.g. 'he roared'. I didn't mind this a couple of times, but it was so much that I became irksome.
However, I think there are some character motives that are questionable. For example, Mr Crepsley doesn't really defend Darren or object to him partaking in the deadly trails, even though he is his guardian and mentor. Instead, Mr Crepsley appears very unconcerned with Darren, consistently putting him in the care of the other characters, such as Kurda and Gavner. I also still find it very strange that Mr Crepsley had literally no defence for blooding Darren, nor considering the consequences of this. As he himself used to be a vampire General, it strikes me as weird as he would've been very aware of the punishment for blooding a child without fully explaining the repercussions (being sterile etc) to him.
It's interesting that the publisher decided to split the books up as they did - the previous book and this book could've been one book in itself, and would've been far more successful in the pacing and flow of the plot had this been done.
Also, the author loves to use 'roar' as an adjective e.g. 'he roared'. I didn't mind this a couple of times, but it was so much that I became irksome.
Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
World Building: ⭐️⭐️
Twists: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Enjoyment: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
An enjoyable read, one that I didn't want to stop reading.
Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
World Building: ⭐️⭐️
Twists: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Enjoyment: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
An enjoyable read, one that I didn't want to stop reading.