Review: Cirque du Freak 2: The Vampire's Assistant; Darren Shan

The Vampire's Assistant (Cirque du Freak, Book 2) 
by; Darren Shan

What if you were an unwilling vampire? You needed to drink human blood to stay alive, but you weren't some horror-flick villain; you were you, born human--a nice person, even. Thus is the dilemma of the young narrator-protagonist, Darren Shan, in this tremendously suspenseful, oft-sickening sequel to Cirque Du Freak: The Saga of Darren Shan. In the first book, Darren becomes a vampire's assistant to save the life of his friend Steve. In order to do so, he has to fake his death, get buried alive, and head out--half-human, homeless, and friendless--into the world. The Vampire's Assistant chronicles his new lonely life as a half-vampire, pumped with the cursed blood of his vampire guardian, Mr. Crepsley. Darren has much to learn about his freshly supernatural state. He doesn't grow fangs, for instance, like he thought he might. And he can't change shape or fly. Garlic just gives vampires bad breath... And they eat bagels. Some of the hardest lessons of all come when he joins the traveling freak show Cirque Du Freak, the show that got him and Steve in trouble in the first place. Readers won't be disappointed by this fast-paced, gory, but strangely amiable sequel. In fact, the plot is much better paced than the first and the dialogue far more natural. Deadly pythons, a snake boy, Cormac Limbs (bite off his finger and it grows back!), and an entire cast of dreadfully creepy characters offer excitement beyond expectation. Along the way, we come to really like Darren, who will do absolutely anything for a friend. British author Darren Shan promises more adventures in 2002. (Ages 10 and older) --Karin Snelson

Quote

My fingernails were really thick, and the only way I could cut them was with my teeth; clippers and scissors were no good on my new, tough nails. They were a pain: I kept ripping my clothes when I was putting them on or taking them off and digging holes in my pockets when I stuck my hands in.

young adult | horror { genre

All Ages { rating

October, 2002 { date released

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (256 Pages) { edition
0316606847 | 978-0316606844 { ISBN

borrowed { acquisition

Book Depository | Amazon.com { @ purchase

Why exactly I picked out this book?

The movie made me curious. Plus it has been awhile since I read any vampire genre. I was sick of the genre for a while (can you blame me? there's glittering vampires now!) until I'd picked out the first book from this series. It revive my love for the genre itself, and I tend to read this like an addiction. Hey, just look at the cover, that pulled me in right away, plus this is one of the most checked out books we have at school.

My 2 ¢ ♠♠♠♠♠

Book cover. That reminds me of that one scene from the old Dracula movie pose. Except the fact it's green...and scaly.

Darren Shan is a half vampire and he is also the assistant to Mr. Crepsley, the ever so impatient and sometimes bossy vampire. Darren is going through angst in this book. Mr. Crepsley decided to bring Darren to Cirque Du Freak so he could have companions of around his age, so he could at least have a social life. Isn't he nice... ^_^

The plots and storyline in this book, like the first one, really is a fast page turner for me. I really couldn't put it down. What i see so clearly, is the fact the movie is really different from this book. Remember the monkey girl Darren likes in the movie, she's virtually absent from this book. I'm actually disappointed by it really, because that actually one of the reason, I sometimes prefer watching the movie first rather than read, cause I've enough experiences on being disappointed due to the major differences between the two medias.

Which one do I prefer? I like the book much better, but the movie has it's own attraction. I guess it depends on what individual wants though. 

Librarian Muse

Inclusion of this series in teens library is a good way to promote your library. for any young readers. Having a movie about this book helps in promoting the book itself for the young patrons. For the library which cater DVD's, I suggest in gettign the DVD as well. This would ignite discussions about the difference of the two different medias in their class.