LCE 6th grade Electronic Book Review Form

1. Student Reviewer’s Name: Lance B.
2. Date of review of book: March 2006
3. Complete Book Title: Cirque Du Freak: A Living Nightmare
4. Author of Book: Darren Shan
5. Year the book was published: 2001
6. Genre: Fantasy
7. Student rating of the book (1 the highest, 5 the lowest): I rate this book a 2.5 because the book is very hard to follow at some parts.

8. Main conflict in the book: Steve, Darren’s friend, is bitten by the poisonous spider Madam Octa when Darren loses control of Madam Octa. In order to save Steve, Darren must go to Mr. Crepsley, Madam Octa’s handler. Steve is saved by Mr. Crepsley, but Darren must agree to become a vampire.

9. Setting of the book: (place and time) Cirque Du Freak: A Living Nightmare takes place in the present time in a small city in the U.S.A.

10. Main Characters and part they play in the book:
(1) Darren Shan- Darren Shan is a teenager who goes to the Cirque Du Freak with his friend Steve Leonard. Darren feels so guilty when his friend Steve is bitten by Madam Octa that he agrees to become a vampire to save Steve’s life.
(2) Steve Leonard- Steve Leonard is a troublesome teenager whose best friend is Darren Shan. After seeing the Freak Show, Steve talks to the vampire Mr. Crepsley about becoming a vampire. After Mr. Crepsley rejects him, Steve vows to become a vampire hunter and kill Mr. Crepsley.
(3)Mr. Crepsley (Vur Horston) - Mr. Crepsley is a 200 year old vampire that has mastered just about every trick in the book. Mr. Crepsley works at the Freak Show and handles Madam Octa as his act. He later takes on an apprentice (Darren Shan) as a debt to the serum he parted with to save Steve.

11. Are the characters believable and interesting? The realistic characters in the book are the teenagers, their parents, and their siblings. Most of the Freak Show characters are not believable such as Rhamus Twobellies, Gertha Teeth, and The Twisting Twins. The characters were interesting because they were like people in real life. Each character had their own personality.

12. One excellent direct quotation from the book: “`Ladies and gentlemen,’ he said, and even though his voice was low and croaky, everybody could hear what he was saying, ‘welcome to the Cirque Du Freak, home of the world’s most remarkable human beings.’”[p.58] This amazing quote was said by Mr. Tall, the leader of the Freak Show, as he introduced the Freak Show.

13. Good reasons to read the book: I would recommend reading the book because it is very imaginative, intriguing, and all of the chapters transition smoothly throughout the book.

14. Any reasons not to read the book? This book has many crazy and strange characters and events. Also, the book is hard to follow in parts. During most of the book, the author will be writing about one character and abruptly switch to another.

Did you like this book or not? And why…. I personally liked this book because it was strange and left me hanging at the end of each chapter.