Review of "Cirque du Freak"

The “Cirque du Freak” series by Darren Shan, also known as the “Saga of Darren Shan,” is a series that has some hype surrounding it but not as much as it deserves. In my opinion, it’s better than both the “Hunger Games” and “Twilight,” and my favourite vampire series ever written (though in single volumes “Dracula” is pretty high up there). It is absolutely amazing with a breathtaking end that you will never see coming! Seriously. Formal review:

If you’re looking for the next “Twilight” filled with lovely romance, happy endings, and predictable plots, then you’re in the wrong place. But if you’re looking for the next great vampire series, the next great plot twisty series, or the next great funny, action-filled series then this is perfect for you!

This series is one of the best long series’ I’ve ever read, spanning over twelve (albeit short but still—twelve is a fair amount) novels that never let you catch a breath or take a break from their epicness. They will make you laugh out loud at some points, sob at some points, and gasp in shock as the pieces of everything fall into place.

Darren Shan takes you on a journey through small towns, large mountains, circus campgrounds, crazy minds, and even at one point something like the afterlife. Clustered in arcs of three books each which end up connecting brilliantly in the final volume, this is one series you don’t want to miss. The writing style is wonderful; there’s description there but not so much that you get tired and want to give up reading because of it.

The characters themselves could make the series even if it didn’t have one of the most intelligently played plots ever. Darren is interesting enough so that you don’t mind being in his head, and Steve is absolutely wonderful as the morally grey character. Mr. Tiny really isn’t your typical mean, serious antagonist; in fact, he’s a rather hilarious little fat man. Mr. Crepsley is also hilarious; instead of being the wise, kind mentor, he’s the grumpy and often cynical teacher. You can’t forget about the amazing Harkat Mulds; mysterious little person who befriends Darren and joins him on his adventure. All of these characters will make you laugh, groan in exasperation, cry or grin stupidly. And there’s more besides these that are absolutely amazing; these are simply the main characters. There are other characters that play large parts in small ways, that you really won’t understand until it’s all connected, but you’ll love them nonetheless. I could go on and on simply about characterization and how all of these people grow and mature while still managing to simultaneously make you laugh and cry, but that would spoil things so you should go on and read it yourself to meet all of these wonderful people.

The next thing that could make this series wonderful even if the characters weren’t there (though it might be difficult to carry it out without the characters) is the plot. It is absolutely, 100% unpredictable and will shock you at almost every single twist and turn. The ending is phenomenal and you will never, ever see it coming but when it occurs you’ll look back and realize that there were hints all along the way leading up to it, maybe in small sentences and maybe in small descriptions, but there were hints so it doesn’t smack you upside the head out of nowhere and make you think it was a ridiculous stretch. The traits of the vampires are also quite different; wonderfully fresh and refreshingly original. The plot never leaves you with an unsatisfied feeling or an unanswered question and there is never a dull moment throughout the whole series. Despite its fast pace and action filled sequences you never feel overwhelmed and there is never any times when there’s too much information to process at once. While it’s true that this series gets progressively darker as it goes on, the progression is slow enough so that it doesn’t feel like a different series from one book to another, though it may if you read book one and then read book twelve, you’ll definitely notice the difference.

In all, I’m sure that you’ll love this series whether you’re ten or forty, and anywhere in between and over. I could talk/write for hours and hours about this series but I won’t because that’ll take up time you could take reading it. So that’s all I’m going to say. And GO READ IT NOW!

As for recommendations, I’d recommend this to anyone over the age of ten who loves a good humorous, vampire, or action novel. I love this series and will be passing it on to my siblings and then my children when I have some.

Final Verdict: 8.1/10

Happy Reading!

~Amber

Review of "Hunger Games"

So another book review about a series with tons of hype. I liked this one better than "Twilight" but the books still didn't live up to my expectations. I really wish I could find out about these books before the hype starts because I'm generally disappointed. So, formal review:

Though many people describe the “Hunger Games” trilogy as being like a repeat of “Battle Royale,” I’ve read both and I think that the “Hunger Games,” while it has its similarities, is very different. In my mind, the “Hunger Games” is a pretty original piece of work set in a rather non-original sci-fi setting.

I loved the “Hunger Games.” It was action-filled, suspense-packed, and had a lovely love story that was played out well. I found myself able to relate to the main characters because they weren’t perfect (though Katniss was a badass) and they had obvious flaws which they had to work to overcome. I thought the plot was fantastic; I mean, who doesn’t love a bunch of kids and adults thrown into a dome and forced to kill each other until the last one survives? The first two books were amazing—if a little predictable—and I devoured them in a matter of one day each.

The problem in my opinion was the last book. I could see where the author wanted to get to and what she wanted to achieve and it was a great idea, but I think the execution of it was done a little poorly. If she had written maybe one more book before her last book, it probably would’ve made the series infinitely better, but because she went from a relatively action-based plot to a completely dark and morbid plot (yes I know that the kids killing each other was morbid but I found that the whole fight against the government was even more morbid because it wasn’t as much based on action as an almost psychological warfare) the gap was just a little too big.

I don’t really want to compare this to “Harry Potter” (two different genres and two very different series’) but I can’t help it—this trilogy could’ve been a much better series than trilogy. The “Harry Potter” series had beautiful execution of the transition from the action to the dark and sinister because it spanned over seven (relatively long near the end) books. I think the “Hunger Games” has loads and loads of potential, and the build-up in the first two books were amazing, but if it wanted to reach the heights of truly amazing the whole way through—if it wanted to reach its true potential—I think it should’ve been longer.  

Besides this though, I really enjoyed it. It’s a surprisingly quick read, and while the writing style is nowhere near as good as, say, Frank Herbert’s (I think I’m justified comparing the two considering they both have loads of hype and are both sci-fi) it’s good enough for me to recommend to my friends without hesitation. I love Katniss’ voice in this story and this author does a great job of “showing” the reader rather than “telling” the reader.

If you’ve seen the movies and enjoy them, then definitely read the books because they are (as in most cases) much better than the movies (though I did enjoy the movies—they’re a hundred times better than the “Twilight” movies in any case). Here’s a little thought to ponder if you’re thinking of reading this trilogy—my younger brother has to be the worst reader ever and hardly ever reads books (and when he does he never finishes them) but he picked up the first book of the “Hunger Games” and read the whole thing in a little less than a month (that’s saying a lot because he’s a slow reader). Afterwards he came up to me and told me he enjoyed it and asked for the next book.  So if you’re someone looking for a book to read to get into books or even if you’re an experienced reader, I would recommend reading this trilogy because, while it has its flaws (really, what series doesn’t?), it is a fun read.

And that's what I think about the "Hunger Games." Actually, it's a nice read but it's average. Maybe a tiny bit above. Truthfully, I don't think it deserves as much hype as it got; I've read books way better than these ones that don't have half the fan base. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that the readers who read it are inexperienced because they haven't read many good books with fantastic writing style? Wow I sound arrogant and I totally don't mean to, I'm actually just curious as to why so many books that are good but not amazing have such a huge fan base. Oh well, I suppose huge fan bases aren't always misleading; Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings are expectation-surpassing even with the hype surrounding them. Anyway. I would recommend this trilogy for sci-fi fans, "Battle Royale" fans, fans of strong female protagonists and people who are looking for something fun to read because they're bored. Although it definitely isn't for the faint hearted.

Final Verdict: 7.1/10

Happy Reading!

~Amber

Review of "Twilight Saga"

Hm… the “Twilight Saga,” eh? Well, I’m sure you’ve all heard of it by now. And if you haven’t then you may be very fortunate… or unfortunate depending on whom you talk to. The “Twilight Saga” by author Stephanie Meyer is a franchise of books and films that are the topics of some very controversial conversations. It seems that everyone who’s seen or read “Twilight” either loves it or loves to hate it. As for me, though the films make me shudder, I’m here to review the books using my own judgement. And I think… “Twilight” is okay. Just okay. It’s not the worst series I’ve ever read, though it certainly isn’t the best by a long shot. Formal review:

Edward Cullen. A name screamed by many fangirls around the world as they obsess over his “vampiric hotness” and a name reviled by many non-fangirls around the world as they mutter under their breath about his “non-vampiric sparkliness.” And here I am, stuck in the middle with you. No really, I am stuck in the middle of these wars between my friends and my opinion is in the middle. Yes, he’s a hunky vampire in the books (no comment about the movies) and I think he has a cute (though somewhat two-dimensional) personality. But he’s kind of the typical tortured character who fights with themself and thinks they don’t deserve the girl. And yes, he’s a sparkling vampire. I expected more when he stepped into the sun (my first reaction was “What the hell? I thought he was a vampire!”), but I must say kudos to Stephanie Meyer for surprising me at that moment, because she sure didn’t surprise me any other moments. Edward Cullen, the main character’s love interest is, in my opinion, the usual hunk in any romance novel. The only exception is that he’s a vampire. But he’s pretty typical. Which is something I can say about the whole series.

This series, despite its paranormal characters, is much like your stereotypical romance novel. A clumsy girl falls for an amazing guy and he falls for her. They face trials such as love triangles, hesitation about sex, and family issues and in the end they come out okay and end up together. The “Twilight Saga” kind of reminds me of a soap opera. In fact, it really reminds me of a soap opera. It was predictable, the characters were kind of whiny, the writing style really wasn’t the greatest, and sometimes I found Edward to be a little too perfect. To be honest, I consider the whole series fluff and mindless drivel. You can turn your brain off while reading this one, people, because you really don’t need it.

That being said, I must admit that I enjoyed the series. Sometimes I like to turn my brain off and read something simple. A nice love story where you’re pretty much guaranteed a happy ending for everyone after all is said and done. It was nice to not have to think about anything, to have a story thrown at me and for me to happily say, “Okay. I’ll read it.” An extra bit of urban vampire and werewolf lore doesn’t hurt either. And where certain characters were concerned, I actually found myself pleased when reading scenes with them because I enjoyed their personalities. The main antagonists and protagonists had simple, easy motives and bored me at times, but characters like Alice and Jasper made it worthwhile.

Overall, the “Twilight Saga” is a nice read for someone looking for a generic romance novel. Something you can pick up and read in a couple days and put down feeling satisfied. Something you can enjoy while reading it and then forget about it when you move on to the next book/series/whatever you’re reading. I probably wouldn’t recommend it to someone who’s a very experienced reader. I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who’s into books that make you think or search for symbolism. I definitely wouldn’t recommend it to someone who loves a good writer and many plot twists. But if you were sort of into books and wanted mindless fluff, then I might just recommend this novel to you. Maybe. 

And there you have it. You say "Twilight" I say... "You mean the time of day?" because by the time I'm asked about this again, I'll have already forgotten about this series that isn't very good and isn't very bad.

Final Verdict: 6.4/10

Happy Reading!

~Amber

Review of "Iscariot"

Awesome, awesome, awesome book by Tosca Lee that gives an account of the life of Judas Iscariot, the man who betrayed Jesus. Full summary can be found here. Formal review:

Judas Iscariot, also known as the man who betrayed Jesus, has been vilified for a very long time. Because he was a traitor and did such a horrible deed, few people have dared to look past the deed to the man himself and try to see the humanity in him. Few people have dared to wonder if perhaps he was, in many ways, like us ourselves. There may be a passing remark about having pitied him a little, a murmured word of sympathy, but in the end people find it hard to see him as human because of how evil the thing he did was.

What if he made a huge mistake? What if he wasn't some traitorous man who wanted Jesus dead the whole time, but a man who loved Jesus and followed him? What if he what he did was simply because he was scared? These questions are just some of those that Tosca Lee causes us to ask ourselves as we embark on a journey through the life of the man who betrayed Jesus. As we follow someone who was flawed, frightened, and desperately trying to do the right thing--someone that we can find in all of us if we search our hearts a little.

If you have any preconceived notions of Judas and the kind of man he was, I suggest that you let them go as you take this achingly beautiful plunge through his tragic, hard life as he struggles with hopes, dreams and fears just as so many of us do today. You will find yourself able to relate to him in many instances--his insecurities, his needs, the way he desperately tries to be loyal... how completely and truly human he is.

This novel not only changes the views we've had for centuries on Judas, but also those we've had for Jesus Christ. We see the way He tries to make us understand, and the way He loves us unconditionally, and wants so desperately to show us the truth in an age when people refuse to see it.

Reading this will cause you to rethink everything you know, not only about religious icons but about yourself as well. Tosca Lee crafts everything perfectly, from the stunning commencement to the striking conclusion. Rich, detailed prose gives us the feeling of actually being there, of being beside Jesus Himself and hearing His loving parables that He tries so desperately to make us understand.

This is not a tale of betrayal and horror as one may expect when thinking of the life of Judas Iscariot, but a tale of love and the tragic beauty of life. You will not leave this tale unscathed; it will surely remain in your heart and just as it will remain in mine for years to come, and it will change the way you look at things forever. 

I'm very glad to have won this book in Goodreads First Reads giveaway. For any fans of historical fiction and/or biographies, I'd recommend this book. I found it especially beautiful perhaps because I'm Catholic, but I believe that anyone can enjoy it, religious or not. It has some wonderful messages and morals.

Final Verdict: 8.8/10

Happy Reading!
~Amber