I'm a sucker for young adult fantasy/horror, especially when it comes to ghosts and vampires. Those are the books I've never been able to resist. Every time I see the Cirque du Freak series in the book store, impulsive thoughts sneak into my head telling me to buy it, no matter how bad it might be (!).So this past weekend, I did. The first three books had been bundled into one big paperback, and were only a dollar more than buying just one of the individual stories. I could not pass that up.
It's a really enjoyable read, considering its target demographic. There are too (!) many (!) exclamation (!) marks (!), but since it's supposed to be written from a boy's perspective I'm really trying to let that go. The creepy characters, bugs, snakes, spiders, and blood make up for it.
The first book, Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare, had an incredibly condensable storyline (i.e. I could sum it all up in about 2 paragraphs) despite the constant momentum. It's very go-go-go, always building toward something BIG... and then the climax happens and you realize that the story isn't really going to start until Book 2. Which is fine -- did I mention I bought the triology? -- it's still an exciting read.
I'm excited to see that a movie version is in production for release next year, based off the first three books. More excited still to see that John C Reilly, Ken Wattanabe, Willem Dafoe, and Selma Hayek will be in it.
If you want an intensely developed world and characters who are knowable, stick with Harry Potter. If you just like to induldge in popcorn-creepshow antics, Book 1 is absolutely worth taking out of your local library.
And that's what I'm doing in my free time since Sunday.
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