THIS IS A RFEVIEW THAT APPEARED ON FACEBOOK, FROM A FAN/REVIEWER CALLED BERNARD CATAM.

I could still remember the ending of the last book. And reading this reminds me that Darren Shan has changed a lot since the first book when it comes to perspective yet he still has A LOT to learn about vampires such as politics and heirarchy introduced in this book. As always, trivial matters like cat's blood bad for vampires are what amazed me with details for this Saga.

Book 3 is both "Vampires in the City" and "Christmas Special" sort of. We're far from our Cirque Du Freak setting. Darren encountered another human friend and potential love interest which make his life more complicated. I was intrigued with Vampire-Generals and I thought he was the man in the cover but actually it's not, and that someone is miles more sinister. What I like is the easy-reading, middle grade level dialogue. I'm not exhausted by too much exposition and world building. Just enough to know more about Darren's vampire-world. Darren and Evra's friendship is heartwarming. I'm just constantly worried everytime Darren made another mistake again, although seems normal for a teen, and for a human himself haha.

It had introduced another character tied with the mystery. Even though I also thought Darren is stupid with his plans to solve the mystery himself, I can't help but say that it's because he's a teen. There's also a discussion of a moral dilemma as who would be considered as evil or not. Darren is brave bit stupidly brave. I really love the dialogues between Darren and Mr. Crepsley, of how they argue about sacrifice and things they should have done, even about love. How mature Darren is now and how understanding Mr. Crepsley is. If I was him, I've already lost my mind on every stupid decisions Darren make along the way but since he's a half vampire and half teen, that's part of the package.I was actually apprehensive as I read the climax because one wrong move, I know the saga could turn into multiple options and some of those options are horrible.

As expected naturally from middle grade books, the ending was cleverly put even though I can smell it from far away. Overall, this is a great addition to the saga. I enjoyed it a lot, with all the tensions I feel for every idiotic decisions the main character made however, I'm not sure where he draws the braveness he had against these menacing villains. Also, I'm pretty sure the ending would take impact for future installations and I hope I could read them and witness it unfolds.

P.S. Sorry for the smudge in my copy in the photo, as it is preloved (secondhand). It's so hard to see copies of old series here in the Philippines.