July Wrap-Up

It's the end of the month again, where is the time going? I managed to get most of my reading done this month which was great, except I had to switch out a couple of books with other things in order to stick to my reading time frames!
So here is July's Wrap-Up

Books Read in July

Fifty Shades of Grey - E.L.James
Let Them Eat Cake - Rachel Caine (Short Story)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Name of the Star - Maureen Johnson
Hush, Hush - Becca Fitzpatrick
Demon Thief - Darren Shan
Deja Vu of Love - Carol Cadoo

With the exception of Rachel Caine's short story and Carol Cadoo's debut novel Deja Vu of Love, all of the books have been reviewed this month.


Deja Vu of Love by Carol Cadoo will be featured on Loaded Shelves as part of her Virtual Blog Tour later this month where you can read more about the author, my review of her book and an exclusive Get-To-Know-You interview with Carol Cadoo.

Review // Demon Thief - Darren Shan

Published - 1st June 2006
Published By - HarperCollins
Format - Paperback 
Goodreads Synopsis - Kernel Fleck has always known he's weird. He sees lights. Strange, multi-colored patches of light, swirling through the air. But it's not until a window opens into a demon world, with horrific consequences, that Kernel discovers his powers. As a Disciple, his mission is to hunt vicious, powerful demons to the death...

Demon Thief is the second book in Darren Shan's 'Demonata' series. I read Lord Loss a while ago but I was looking forward to getting stuck into the next book. Some spoilers may occur as it's part of a series.


First, my personal opinions. I was disappointed to find out that the main character of Lord Loss was not featured in Demon Thief. I was expecting the series to follow successively and to follow a story told by Grubbs. It took a long time for me to get into the story because of this and so my views on the book may be skewed slightly.

I found the plot to be obvious and just by the title I could guess what was going to happen but there were parts that surprised me. Shan's writing style is still interesting to me and he immediately makes me feel like i'm part of the character's lives, even if I don't particularly want to be. The first half of the book felt a little drawn out, whereas the second half was much better and I wanted to know more about the other characters in the book. Like with Lord Loss, I found myself more interested in the 'background' characters than the one at the forefront of the book.


For me, Demon Thief really started getting interesting when Dervish appeared. Finally, I had found the link to Lord Loss that I was hoping for all along and it didn't end there. I'm glad that I learned about the changing narrators in the Demonata series early on so that I know what to expect from the rest of the books. As always with Shan, I find myself enjoying the story much more now it's finished and I have a full picture than when I was working my way through it. The next book, Slawter, is on my to-read list and I will review it as soon as i'm done!

The Saga of Darren Shan Vol.1

Art by Takahiro Arai

Darren Shan was just an ordinary schoolboy until his visit to the Cirque Du Freak. There he meets Madam Octa and her master, and after that nothing is ever the same again.

Last year, I worked my way through all of the books in the Saga of Darren Shan and loved them despite hearing that they were children’s books. So when I recently saw this copy in a local bookstore for £1.99 I just HAD to have it. This is the first section of Cirque Du Freak, but in manga. I don’t own many manga’s so that was another reason to have this book in my collection, and it’s also the first “real” one I own. Meaning that the book is flipped so you read it backwards and from right to left. I’m sure you know the deal…

Despite the obvious need to condense the story in order to fit in the spectacular art work by Takahiro Arai, the story was pretty complete. As I said, the artwork itself (which is equally, if not more important, than the text) was truly amazing. I recommend this book to any Darren Shan fan and anyone who appreciates fine drawing. The RRP for this book is £5.99 which is reasonable but if anyone plans on buying it then definitely look around as it’s MUCH cheaper than that. My copy was bought from a shop called The Works.

Birth of a Killer - Darren Shan

When terrible events force young Larten Crepsley to flee his home he finds himself alone in the world. Then he meets the mysterious Seba Nile, who introduces him to the ways of the vampire clan. But will Larten turn his back on humanity forever...?

As a fan of 'The Saga of Darren Shan', this was a must read for me.
I really enjoyed it, though I was a little disappointed that I finished the whole book in three hours. I would have liked more detail but as it's primarily for children, I understand why it doesn't. The story moves fast and kept my attention solidly.
It was great when I came across characters like Seba Nile, Vancha March, Mr Tall, and Mr Tiny from the Saga of Darren Shan.

I really liked the fact that you don't need to have read The Saga of Darren Shan to enjoy or understand the book. It's a prequel so it can be read as a stand alone book. I've read that it's a series of 4 books, and book 2 is available now in hardback.

Currently Reading: The Rainbow - D.H.Lawrence & Wintercraft - Jenna Burtenshaw
Books Read in 2011: 30