Ten konec byl nervy drásající. Uf.

This is definitely my favorite one in the series so far. The trials definitely had Goblet of Fire feel and it was neat to see how much all the characters have evolved from the first book. I also liked how this book had all the necessary intense and suspenseful scenes yet it didn't have the scariness and sadness of the previous books. Listening to this series as audiobooks has been really enjoyable so far and I highly recommend this series to everyone.

I went back and forth with being disgusted by the storyline and riveted at the same time. Yes, it was a weird experience.

‘Trials of Death’ wasn’t filler-ish, better than the fourth because the pacing and almost non-stop action made it hard to put down. Action scenes were excellent, nail-grinding, detailed, spaced right. Some disturbing stuff happened during the trails, especially the weird flame stuff.

Characters are more fleshed out, seeming livelier and not imitations of their former selves (the fourth suffered from that a little, especially for Crepsley.) Arra is still irritating, as are a lot of the princes and other vampires following their rigid systems without the bend of common-sense exceptions.

There is something that soured it for me – I still think Darren shouldn’t do the trails because of his age and half-vampire status. Letting a child go through all that, especially for some ancient and limited system, was a form of child abuse and that sickened me. Yes, it’s fiction, but still wrong in this fiction world. There were a lot of torturous trials – burning, almost drowning, cutting, fighting to the death with wild boars – shudders.

The burning was the hardest to take because of the detail. His hair will likely never grow back because of the permanent damage. I mean, geez. All this for that silly code?

Crepsley’s outlook and rigid adherence was disappointing. Apparently I’m more protective of the protagonist than his mentor. It’s shown that these bizarre mindsets are how these strange creatures think. I agreed with the one outcast of the group that there is no honor in losing your life so willingly. If I were in Darren’s shoes I would have started getting raged.

The ending holds a nice surprising or so, and although I did see a betrayal brewing, it worked well for ending this book. Even if I guessed a little of it, it leaves it open with no predictable start of how the next book will begin.

Despite my annoyances with the plot’s direction, it stayed exciting and earned a four star label.

I need to read the next book. Immediately. As in, I should be reading the next one right now instead of reviewing this. This book had me on edge the entire time; I had to know what happened next so I couldn’t put it down. Darren Shan’s writing is so easy for me to read that I’m almost always able to finish a book in one sitting. Trials of Death was filled with plenty of action, comedy, and characters that I absolutely adore. There’s also a major twist involved (that I called, just saying) that has me dying to read the next book in the series. I have hunches of what will happen as I continue to read, and am ready to learn if I’m correct. Just like the other Cirque Du Freak novels that I have read, this book has left me extremely satisfied and hungry for more.

از جذّاب‌ترین و پراتفاق‌ترین‌های این مجموعه تا به الآن بود.
پایانی متفاوت و شوک‌دهنده نسبت به کتاب‌های قبل.
و آدم رو بیشتر مشتاق خوندن کتاب بعدی می‌کنه.

What a great series! Always fun, always a good mixed between action, storyline and characters evolution and some good twists to make it hard to predict where it goes. I like every book of this series so far and this book deserve to be more notice/read (even if I discover it years late...)!!

Personally, this is my favourite book of the twelve (although I am sure not everyone will agree with me on this one, yet nobody can deny that it is an important book in the series for developments). This is a fast paced book filled with Darren completing tasks to prove himself a worthy vampire. The tasks he takes part in are all well thought out and highly entertaining to read, keeping you on the edge of your seat as you wait to find out what happens next.

The book also comes with a great twist towards the end, leaving you wanting more.

تا نیمه‌ی اول کتاب همچنان شاهد روندی کند بودم اما تو نیمه‌ی دوم بالاخره ریتم کتاب تند شد و چندین اتفاق جالب افتاد. حالا بیشتر مشتاقم ادامه‌ی مجموعه رو بخونم.
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یادگاری از کتاب:
گاهی ما باید باورهای قدیمی خودمان را به نفع باورهای جدید کنار بگذاریم.

The book was amazing and it left me at a huge cliffhanger. In this story Darren has to prove himself to the vampires by doing three trials to show that he is a vampire as well. He must fight underwater mazes, caves filled with spikes and a room full of fire.

The book overall was amazing. It included so much action that I could barely stop myself from reading it. Each chapter just made the reader wonder more and more if Darren would be able to survive the trials. As the reader continues the book he finds that a close friend to Darren has betrayed the vampire clan and Darren has a hard time accepting that. He comes close to death multiple times in this book that it was surprising that he survived, if he were not a half-vampire after all. Overall, the book has so many twists and turns that its hard to trust someone. In the end Darren must escape once again from the grasps of evil-doers by nearly killing himself.

9.00 on CAWPILE

So this is now my favorite book of this series!!! The trials were all so very exciting!!! I loved reading about all the close calls and the drama. Apparently vampires tend to be dramatic. Hahahaha!!! Which makes me laugh for whatever reason.

Mr. Crepsley is even interesting to me now. Along with a lot of the other vampires. Vampire mountain is still super awesome, but seriously, these trials were soooo entertaining.

I highly recommend this to vampire lovers!! I’m thoroughly enjoying the series!!! In fact, I’ve gotta go listen to the next one now.

My poor poor emotions...
No seriously.. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK???