Nenávidím tenhle díl! :(

Dopo aver terminato la lettura dell'ennesimo episodio della saga, mi viene in mente solo una parola: ridicolo. Anzi due: ridicolo e offensivo.
Forse sbaglio a scrivere subito dopo aver terminato la lettura, perchè sono veramente arrabbiato.
Ma lo faccio lo stesso, perchè la letteratura per ragazzi è una cosa seria, qui invece è affrontata con superficialità e incompetenza, in favore di azione fine a sè stessa e colpi di scena telefonati.
A parte il plot twist finale che l'avevo capito due libri fa, la cosa peggiore è che l'autore cerca così tanto di sfruttare i colpi di scena e la tensione che infila i protagonisti in situazioni sempre più rischiose e poi non ha idea di come uscirne. Quindi via a regole inventate lì per lì, mai discusse prima nella trama, contraddizioni continue, decisioni assurde da parte dei personaggi che si comportano come dei decerebrati e colpi di scena con pochissima credibilità che stridono con quanto detto prima.
Scongliato!

اشباح ابله

not cool

No recordaba por completo esta parte de la historia, por eso me divertí mucho con todas las aventuras de los cazadores del Lord Vampanez.

Los siguientes libros traen revelaciones inesperadas y por eso amo esta saga, todo se vuelve más caótico.

Minus one star for making me cry and also the end is still very raw for me it could really be a 5.

I thought for some reason I had finished the entire series when I read it through the first time, but this is the last book I remember events from. For first time readers the ending might be shocking, but I remembered it so it didn't have the same effect. I will say Shan is not scared of killing off characters, though perhaps not as ruthlessly as Game of Thrones. This book also felt the most detached from the previous books in that the tone felt a little different and some characters (the women mainly, Debbie especially) had different personalities before, generally to their detriment and leaning heavily into stereotype.

After the betrayal at the hands of his once best friend, Darren Shan finds himself in boiling water. He, along with Mr. Crepsley, Harkat, and Vancha, are framed for the murders the vampaneze were committing. Now they’ve got the humans and vampaneze wanting to spill their blood. This might be the end for Darren and his allies.

Plot

I was pleasantly surprised with Killers of the Dawn. The past couple of books have been a real snooze fest. That’s all changed in this book. The plot is fast paced and there’s plenty of action. And instead of nothing plot wise happening, the story is finally moving forward again. And not a moment too soon! There’s only three books left and so I had hoped the plot would chug along soon. It did, with Darren and company running from the police and battling the vampaneze. There aren’t a lot of dull moments in Killers of the Dawn. It’s like I’m being rewarded for mucking through three slow action-less books.

Writing

Since this book was mostly action and fast paced things, Shan’s writing really had a chance to shine. He’s very good at writing tense scenes. There were a few scenes where nothing happened, but since they were sandwiched between actions they weren’t that hard to get through. I also have to applaud Shan on the little hints he drops throughout Allies of the Night and Killers of the Dawn that are important to the plot twist at the end of the book. And observant reader could have probably caught then. I didn’t when I first read through the series. Either way, the plot twist at the end of the book was great and I was completely blindsided the first time I read the book. This time I was prepared but I also noticed more things. Kudos, Darren Shan.

Characters

Darren continues to act like a child in some cases. For example, when they are running from the police and they break into Richard’s house, he develops a sudden conscious and states that they can’t stay, despite being chased by police and an angry mob, because Richard didn’t give them permission to stay. This was utterly silly and a goof like that could have cost them big time.

There is an important character death, though I won’t mention who. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel much when they died. Though they had a good relationship with Darren, the development of the relationship didn’t make me feel sad that Darren was without them now. I was sad that Darren lost them and quite shocked that the character had died, but their death didn’t mean all that much to me emotionally because as the reader I didn’t feel as connected to them.

Things I Didn't Like

I was actually quite pleased with Killers of the Dawn. I suppose the only thing I didn’t like was how things went down with the police. For example, the police said they got an anonymous tip from a person from a telephone booth and then proceeded to post nearly two hundred officers around the building Darren and company were hiding out in. This doesn’t make sense. Anonymous tips aren’t taken that seriously. I found that part hard to accept. That was pretty much it, though.

Diversity

Debbie, our only character of color, was held hostage for nearly the entire book, only to be seen again near the end. On the bright side, we get to see a little of a new female character, Police Chief Inspector Alice Burgess. She’s a strong woman and I liked her for the little role she played in the book. I hope to see more of her in action.

Overall

I loved Killers of the Dawn. It was fast-paced, full of action, and full of twists and turns. Readers might guess what they are, but I think they can still appreciate them. I know I did. The end of the series is in sight and if the last three books are like this one, it’ll be great.

Here is a link to my notes.

خب باید بگم کتاب پایان ناراحت کننده ای رو داشت . مرگ استاد مو نارنجی دارن ، آقای کرپسلی ، سر هیچ و پوچ بی شک برای خواننده دردناک بود .

the fake out on everyone surviving reminded me of the fake out in Breaking Dawn.

i knew steve was the Lord, but it was still an insane way of revealing the information.

idk how i feel about another 3 books without Crepsley. he’s definitely my favorite character.

(also, a dad-like character dying was simply not what i needed to read today lol)

The first half of this book is just a long boring police chase, but finding out that my prediction about the vampaneze lord was correct made it all worth it! Overall this book should definitely have been absorbed into one of the other books but the twist at the end made it worth it.

4.5 Stars

This one was quite the ride. Things take a turn into the "real world" when the police get involved and Darren is outed as a fugitive. But then things get even more intense. Darren throws a fake out on us that really was dirty pool, although I have to admit he got me. Then the ending revealed something that I suspected from the start, thought I was wrong, and now it looks like I was right about all along! Or was I?? Who can tell anymore in this series!

I realize this review is a bit cryptic but I don't want to reveal any spoilers but there are a ton of them to be revealed in this volume, such as the death of...well, that would be telling.

Overall a very strong read, especially since anyone who's made it all the way to book 9 has to be at least somewhat emotionally invested in the characters.