Okay...

"El Tenebroso Cirque Du Freak", estrega primera de la saga de Darren Shan.

Este 1er libro de la saga (si no me equivoco, de 12)cuenta la historia de dos chicos (Dareen y Steve) que van a una función de circo "Freak" donde conocen a un personaje vampiro, Mr.Crepsey.

Resulta que de estos dos amigos, uno (Steve) sueña con convertirse algún dia en un verdadero vampiro y el otro (Darren) en cambio, tiene mucho miedo y esa idea jamás se le pasó por la cabeza.

Al descubrir Steve que nunca podría llegar a convertirse en vampiro por no "poseer" las cualidades necesarias para serlo, cualidades que Darren sí las tenía, su amistad se convierte en rivalidad.

Darren, que jamás pensó que llegaría a serlo, cambia sus días de humano por los de vampiro a fin de salvar la vida de su mejor amigo, enfrentándose así a sus propios miedos.

Qué decir... lectura fácil, liviana, entretenida.
Introducción a una historia interesante (espero) del género Ficción Juvenil.

I can honestly say that the film did not do this book justice. I adored the series and really would have loved to see all twelve books made into films (not necessarily as twelve individual films, but you should get my point in that more should have been done). Nonetheless, the book itself was great.

What is great about the book is that it is not your vampire love story instead we’re back to basics. The book itself is filled with a wide range of great characters that you quickly grow to love. The plot itself is also fresh, keeping you gripped from the very start. It is a must read series for any vampire lovers no matter your age.

I decided to dive into these books again after ten years, and I'm now thinking that Mr Crepsley and Darren would be one and two years older, respectively. Time has no mercy.

Honest to God, my heart aches just thinking about everything that will happen in these books, but it is worth the ride. What an amazing story

This was fun!

چه خوب بود! کاش جلدای بعدیش هم الان دم دستم بود میخوندم...

This book was so scary, but it was AWESOME! I can't wait to read the next one.

Darren (yes, the main character IS the author--or the author's pen name, I should say) and his friend Steve get tickets to a freak show. After the show, Darren can't stop thinking about what he saw, especially the performing spider, Madam Octa. He sneaks back, steals her, and starts a chain of events that will end in death.

The book is narrated by a twelve-year-old, or someone close to it. It shows. And I don't mean this in a good way. Exclamation points pop up in every paragraph, kids are constantly explaining the meanings of common words to each other (the only time this was remotely needed was when Darren was translating Cirque Du Freak as a freak show), the characters are very flat, and the plot veers into the ridiculous.

I'm not talking about the freak show itself. That took about half the book, and the acts were well-described and interesting, though a touch heavy on standard elements to convey horror. This was, unfortunately, the only highlight of the book.

The vampire's claim that he isn't evil and respects life feels made up, particularly in light of what happens afterwards. He doesn't feel like a very consistent character; I gather he's supposed to be hard to predict, but unless he's lying the entire time, what he does doesn't make much sense. Darren doesn't strike me as a particularly moral kid. He thinks it's perfectly acceptable to steal the spider to get what he wants, to attempt blackmail, and to lie. He never feels sorry for doing any of it; he's only angry when it doesn't work the way he thinks it should. I can sympathize a lot more with his friend Steve, who at least went after what he wanted more honestly.

I had been curious about this series, as it seemed to have an interesting premise, but after reading the first book I'm glad I didn't waste the time getting any more. Not Recommended.

3.5

I love this series. I found it when it was all finished as a wee little kid and read them all so fast that my parents took me to the book store every single day after school to get the next one. Eventually, they just bought the whole series and let me have at it. Which was better for me.

My partner recently got me the UK boxset because it's so cute and it was on sale! I never pay full price for anything. Not in today's world, there's no use! So when I saw it was on sale, he snapped it up for me.

So, I thought it was time for another reread! This is a middle-grade horror series about vampires! But there's a neat twist to these vampires. They are turned by fingertips, they share blood that way. They also don't live forever, just longer than a normal human. But they do have some neat powers!

This first book follows young Darren as he sneaks off with his best friend Steve and heads off to a freak show. Only Steve happens to notice that one of the freaks is a real-life vampire! He begs the vampire to turn him but he refuses! Darren steals the vampire's pet spider, thinking he can train it to work with him. Turns out the spider sinks it's fangs into Steve when they're playing with her and the only way to save him is for Darren to become the vampire's assistant, thus becoming a vampire himself!

This really sets up the world and story quickly while still telling a great story! Something I love about middle-grade books is that they get right to the meat of it. There's no filler, just the juicy parts I want. Nothing is boring in this book. It's fun, dark, and Darren is a great character!

Now, I need to jump into the next one!

I Missed This

I read this when I was in high school and almost forgot about it. I like how this book sets everything up. Maybe I'll finish the series this time.

This was brilliant! Everything about the story was unique and one of a kind, the writing wasn’t too juvenile, and the gruesome moments left me squirming in my seat, itching to read what would come next. I will most definitely be reading the next book in the series!

اولین کتاب از این مجموعه شروع خوبی داشت و برای من خیلی جذاب بود. مشتاقانه منتظر فرصتم‌ تا جلدهای بعدی رو بخونم و ببینم چه سرنوشتی در انتظار دارن شان خواهد بود.