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Shannon's Reviews > A Living Nightmare
A Living Nightmare (Cirque Du Freak, #1)
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Shannon's review
bookshelves: vampires, horror, young-adult, paranormal, male-author, circus, male-protagonist, 2013, novels
Nov 17, 2009
bookshelves: vampires, horror, young-adult, paranormal, male-author, circus, male-protagonist, 2013, novels
This is an older series and many of you may have read it years ago or already decided it wasn't for you, but maybe my review will sway you into giving it a chance (or just make you remember how much you loved it.)
Here's my take on things:
Be prepared for a male author with all male main characters. There's a younger sister character with a small part and I enjoyed the siblings' relationship, but aside from her and a few mothers, this is mostly a series about boys. Did that bother me? Not at all. Just pointing it out.
Lots of gore, which I enjoyed immensely. Also, some deadpan humor thrown in so it wasn't completely gross and disgusting all the time. It was a nice way to break things up so it didn't feel dark and bleak every step of the way.
The story is short and intense and doesn't contain a lot of filler. I can see how this might get compared to the Goosebumps series because those were quick reads too, though I'd say this series is for a slightly older audience, but if these had been around when I was 10 or so, I would've gobbled them up.
Not a whole lot of surprises, you can kind of see where things are heading early on, but the few surprises that are included are pretty big ones. There's also a scene in the beginning that doesn't get explained and I'm curious to see where things go with that. I love that Shan obviously planned this as a series but still wrote a full book. Things are left open-ended, but there's not really a cliffhanger and I appreciated that.
This is a short gory book with a slightly new twist on the vampire mythos geared heavily towards male readers (though I think girls won't feel alienated at all) and the inclusion of a "freak show" is something fascinating and I welcomed reading about a topic done to death (heh) that ended up still feeling unique. I really liked it and already have the next book loaded up on my Kindle (though I'm trying really hard not to start it tonight ... must ... wake up ... early ...)
I can see how this series is so popular now and hope the quality continues with each subsequent book. Also, if you liked this book and this series, definitely check out his other unrelated series, The Demonata; I really loved the first book and I can tell you that reading A Living Nightmare after Lord Loss that his writing only gets better.
It's really neat to watch an author progress and continue to improve and also clearly enjoy his work. There are not a lot of authors writing stories like Shan's and I think it fills a nice pocket that fans of the Goosebumps series can stick their hand into once they start getting older. I definitely would've been one of them and I can't wait to dive deeper into the rest of his series.
Here's my take on things:
Be prepared for a male author with all male main characters. There's a younger sister character with a small part and I enjoyed the siblings' relationship, but aside from her and a few mothers, this is mostly a series about boys. Did that bother me? Not at all. Just pointing it out.
Lots of gore, which I enjoyed immensely. Also, some deadpan humor thrown in so it wasn't completely gross and disgusting all the time. It was a nice way to break things up so it didn't feel dark and bleak every step of the way.
The story is short and intense and doesn't contain a lot of filler. I can see how this might get compared to the Goosebumps series because those were quick reads too, though I'd say this series is for a slightly older audience, but if these had been around when I was 10 or so, I would've gobbled them up.
Not a whole lot of surprises, you can kind of see where things are heading early on, but the few surprises that are included are pretty big ones. There's also a scene in the beginning that doesn't get explained and I'm curious to see where things go with that. I love that Shan obviously planned this as a series but still wrote a full book. Things are left open-ended, but there's not really a cliffhanger and I appreciated that.
This is a short gory book with a slightly new twist on the vampire mythos geared heavily towards male readers (though I think girls won't feel alienated at all) and the inclusion of a "freak show" is something fascinating and I welcomed reading about a topic done to death (heh) that ended up still feeling unique. I really liked it and already have the next book loaded up on my Kindle (though I'm trying really hard not to start it tonight ... must ... wake up ... early ...)
I can see how this series is so popular now and hope the quality continues with each subsequent book. Also, if you liked this book and this series, definitely check out his other unrelated series, The Demonata; I really loved the first book and I can tell you that reading A Living Nightmare after Lord Loss that his writing only gets better.
It's really neat to watch an author progress and continue to improve and also clearly enjoy his work. There are not a lot of authors writing stories like Shan's and I think it fills a nice pocket that fans of the Goosebumps series can stick their hand into once they start getting older. I definitely would've been one of them and I can't wait to dive deeper into the rest of his series.
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Reading Progress
November 17, 2009
– Shelved
July 13, 2013
–
Started Reading
July 16, 2013
–
1.0%
"I've always been fascinated by spiders. I had one who made a cobweb above my bed and stood guard for almost a month. Going to sleep, I used to imagine the spider creeping down, crawling into my mouth, sliding down my throat, and laying loads of eggs in my belly. The baby spiders would hatch after a while and eat me alive, from the inside out.
Thought I'd post this in case, you know, you didn't feel like sleeping."
Thought I'd post this in case, you know, you didn't feel like sleeping."
July 16, 2013
–
2.0%
"In real life, vacuum cleaners kill spiders. If you cross a busy road without looking, you get whacked by a car. If you fall out of a tree, you break some bones.
Real life's nasty. It's cruel. It doesn't care about heroes and happy endings and the way things should be.
In real life, bad things happen. People die. Fights are lost. Evil often wins.
I just wanted to make that clear before I began."
Real life's nasty. It's cruel. It doesn't care about heroes and happy endings and the way things should be.
In real life, bad things happen. People die. Fights are lost. Evil often wins.
I just wanted to make that clear before I began."
July 16, 2013
–
5.0%
"I'm not sure how I feel about all of the exclamation points being used! Normally I want excitement to be conveyed, not pointed out to me with obvious punctuation marks! But I liked the first book in one of his other series, Lord Loss (and even commented on his writing style back then, too, apparently,) so I'm willing to overlook it. For now!"
July 16, 2013
–
22.0%
"The people in the theater were a mixed bunch.
What everyone shared was a look of excitement.
I could see it in their eyes, the same light that was shining in Steve's and mine. We all somehow knew that we were in for something special, the likes of which we'd never seen before.
(And here's hoping that this same excitement holds up over the course of this 12 book series [and also its 5 prequels].)"
What everyone shared was a look of excitement.
I could see it in their eyes, the same light that was shining in Steve's and mine. We all somehow knew that we were in for something special, the likes of which we'd never seen before.
(And here's hoping that this same excitement holds up over the course of this 12 book series [and also its 5 prequels].)"
July 16, 2013
–
24.0%
""You will be okay," Mr. Tall told her. "The stitches will fall out after a couple of days. It will be fine after that."
"Maybe that's not good enough!" someone shouted, and a big red-faced man stepped forward. "I'm her husband," he said, "and I say we should go to a doctor and then the police! What if he'd bitten her head off?"
"Then she would be dead," Mr. Tall said calmly.
I love deadpan humor in horror."
"Maybe that's not good enough!" someone shouted, and a big red-faced man stepped forward. "I'm her husband," he said, "and I say we should go to a doctor and then the police! What if he'd bitten her head off?"
"Then she would be dead," Mr. Tall said calmly.
I love deadpan humor in horror."
July 16, 2013
–
32.0%
"I didn't know what she was doing at first, so I craned my neck to see. When I saw the bits of white on Mr. Crepsley's lips I understood: she was spinning a web! When she was finished, she lowered herself from his chin, like she had before. There was a large web spun across Mr. Crepsley's mouth. He began chewing and licking the web! He ate the whole thing and said, "Delicious. Nothing tastier than fresh spiderwebs.""
July 16, 2013
–
82.0%
"I'm going to regret being awake still but I can't stop reading. If you want something quick to read that will keep you glued to your seat (or in this case, glued to my bed reading in the dark) then definitely give this story a chance. It's not the greatest literature ever written but it's different and interesting and I don't hate the characters: sometimes that's all I ask for."
July 16, 2013
–
Finished Reading
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rated it 5 stars
Jul 17, 2013 06:06AM
Your reviews and the quotes definitely made me feel nostalgic! I remember borrowing them from the library every few months when I was about 12. :)
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The demonata series is one of the best series i have ever read.
Bah, I spend more time in the kid's and ya sections than I ever do in the adult. Plus, um, you look about 12. I don't think anyone will give you any weird looks :p
I read these with my boys some years ago. I still remember enjoying the series.
Yeah it's hard to believe they're 13 years old already. They hold up really well. Like I said, if these were around when I was a kid I would've eaten them up (and I'm kind of doing so now, think I'm halfway through the second book already, heh.)
Nidah (SleepDreamWrite) wrote: "Good review btw, makes me a little nostalgic.His other series the demonata is good but more bloody and sad."
Thanks!
And I agree, The Demonata is more bloody and sad, although I've only read the first book it was definitely a surprise. It kind of made me think of what Clive Barker would write if he wrote for teens. I actually got most of that series from my library for $1 a piece in absolute mint condition, so I'll definitely get to read them ... one of these days.
I've read the whole series its one that u can't put down
I've read the entire series already but it was years ago so I'm rereading them. I almost cried at the end of this book (a first for this book) but I still love them as I did when I was younger. I have to admit though, at the time I read them, I wasn't a massive fan of the Demonata books, but that may habe changed.
I've read the entire series already but it was years ago so I'm rereading them. I almost cried at the end of this book (a first for this book) but I still love them as I did when I was younger. I have to admit though, at the time I read them, I wasn't a massive fan of the Demonata books, but that may habe changed.
I don't know if I read it because I write Vampire Books or because it said freak in the title. It was one of the best I've read.
I read these books when I was 11 and I loved them. I didn't even notice that there were almost no female characters, and it definitely didn't bother me. Although Bec from the Demonata series (basically the only female character there too) was my favourite. Demonata was so much creepier and freaked me out, but it also had a better story in my mind.
I read them when I was 10 and strangely so I didn't find them disgusting at all, I loved them, I think these were the books that got me into reading(alongside Harry Potter of course). I really want to read them again as soon as I can
