Simple, Fast, Horrible.
Why I read it: Since this book was published I've been moaning about the linking of my name to an evil ugly monster/demon/thing. It was time I stopped 'judging a book by its cover' plus, it's got my name on the front!
Simple - I'm used to reading novels aimed at twelve year old boys, but usually the plots have a twist or a hidden message with characters that are developed rather than just killed off. 'Bec' started off well: She's a young priestess in a settlement under attack from demons. A strange boy comes along, willing the people to follow him, and so Bec and her gang embark on a journey which results in Bec being responsible for closing the tunnel between her world, and the world of the demons. There's a teeny sub-plot regarding her family, but the majority of the book sees our heroes walking - from their village, to the tunnel. Does that really need so many pages?
Fast - As I wrote in my first blog post I'm usually a very slow reader. Despite this I read 'Bec' within a couple of days - quite a record for me! The chapters are relatively short and because there's only one group of characters on one journey in one plot, each chapter directly leads into the next. With other books you jump between scenes and it's easy to think "If I've got to read another 30 pages to find out what happens, I may as well go to sleep now." 'Bec' is one of those ones where you read a few lines of the next chapter then end up reading the whole thing.
Horrible - From the pictures on the front it's obvious that Darren Shan books are meant to be SCARY! I'm a person who hates horror films so it doesn't take much to scare me but until the final page it was all a bit pathetic. Then it ends! Like that! In gruesome detail, shocking me, resulting in shouts of "This is a children's book! It's meant to have a happy ending!" Poor Bec. Maybe the last book in the series will have a nicer ending but I don't intend on reading any others to find out.
It started off at a 6... then went down to a 5 as I got bored... but the ending made it a 4/10. Call me naive and old-fashioned but I'd like at least one of my characters to survive please.
http://ofsimilesandsyntax.blogspot.com/2008/07/bec-darren-shan.html
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