Cirque Du Freak: A Living Nightmare by Darren Shan

Cirque Du Freak: A Living Nightmare is the first book in The Saga of Darren Shan. Here is a description from Amazon:

When Cirque Du Freak comes to town, Darren and his friends are obsessed with seeing the acts, which include a performing spider; spiders are a particular fascination of Darren's. It is a marvelously creepy show that lives up to their expectations. After the show, Darren's rowdy pal, Steve, stays behind and confronts the man with the spider--who turns out to be a vampire. Hidden in the shadows, Darren listens, horrified, as Steve begs Mr. Crepsley to make him a vampire, too. Steve's request is denied, but through a series of mishaps, Darren becomes the vampire.

I decided to read this book after I saw the trailer for the Cirque Du Freak movie. I didn't know much about the book before I read it. I thought it was a bit young for being considered young adult. I would say it's geared more toward a younger audience (think The Series of Unfortunate Events and The Spiderwick Chronicles) than other young adult books I've read. It's a little odd that the author writes it like it is actually about himself. I kept trying to figure out how old Darren is supposed to be, but the book never really says. I'm guessing he's supposed to be about 12.

I already own the next two books, so I plan on reading them. I really want to see the movie when it comes out, although I may wait until it comes out on DVD. I'm using this for the "read a book by an author born in July, August or September" category for the Summer Book Challenge. Darren Shan was born on July 2nd. Overall, I thought this book was pretty good.

3 out of 5 stars

The Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony DiTerlizzi & Holly Black

I read all five books of The Spiderwick Chronicles in a row. The books are about Jared Grace; his twin brother, Simon; and their older sister Mallory. The siblings move into their great-aunt's old house with their mother. Not long after, strange things begin to happen that can't be explained. Jared finds a book that his great-great-uncle had written that contains information about faeries that we can't see although they live in our world. Jared soon discovers that there are faeries who want the book and they'll do anything to get it.

There are five very short books in this series. It could have been written as one larger book, though. They were a very short, easy read. I enjoyed these books even though they are written for a much younger audience. I would say that they are similar in appearance and have the same target audience as the A Series of Unfortunate Events books. I thought this was a cute series and it's great for younger kids. I'm interested in seeing the movie now to see how it compares to the books.

3 out of 5 stars