Original review (30/7/2010)

I love Darren Shan. I loved his vampire series (although I read the last page first, and when I saw the ending spoiled I didn’t dare to finish the book). Lord Loss is the first book in a new series about the Demonata. And I’m proud of Darren, because this is a completely new series. It doesn’t feel like Cirque du Freak at all. The only similarity is the first person narration.

This book follows Grubbitsch Grady, who likes to be called Grubbs. I immediately fell in love with the name Grubbs. Been thinking about calling my kids like that. Anyway, Grubbs’s family bears a secret. Grubbs notices his parents and sister acting weird. He knows there is something going on, and when he is shipped off to aunt Kate, he walks back home to find out what is going on. At home, he is the witness of something terrible. His dad, head chopped off. His mom, in a pool of blood. His sister, used as a puppet by a demon. Like a miracle, Grubbs escapes the slaughter. And that’s only the beginning.

This book has a warning on the back, and for the first time I really thing the book deserves the warning. This book is scary. It’s disturbing and gross. It’s amazing. This book is not childish at all. The writing style is short and simple in places, to pick up some speed, and descriptive and extensive in other places, to set the scene.

This is a quick, surprisingly dark read.

Looking back (18/8/2014)

Over the course of four years, I’ve read seven out of the ten books this series has. Although I’ve been slowly outgrowing the age category Shan writes for (which is a horror-loving upper middle grade), these books are still pretty great. I don’t know which series I like better – Demonata or Cirque du Freak; Cirque has more lovable characters, but the Demonata ones are a lot darker which I enjoy as well. I can’t wait to read the last three books in this series.