Reviewed by Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen for TeensReadToo.com

After four thrilling novels featuring Grubbs Grady and his adventures with his crazy but caring uncle, his half-brother, Bill-E, and all the demons and monsters he's had to face (especially the one who took his parents away from him), Grubbs is back.

And this time he discovers that the only monster he has to face is himself.

Grubbs begins to have nightmares, ones with him covered in blood and being attacked by his late sister. But whenever he wakes up, he shrugs them aside, not thinking twice about them, most likely because he just doesn't want to know what they mean.

Aside from his sudden attraction to the moon and the need to howl, Grubbs has other problems on his mind. Like the differences between his new best friend, Loch, and his old good friend, now turned brother, Bill-E. Once Loch entered the picture, Grubbs just doesn't seem to have time for his first true friend and it's killing him inside, ironically. And the horrifying issues that attending school brings just don't make it any better.

Grubbs needs to get his priorities straight, especially the one dealing with him turning into a vicious monster, before it takes over and makes everything much worse.

With this fifth installment of THE DEMONATA series, fans will not be disappointed in this very thrilling, freaky, and funny novel about everyone's favorite character, Grubbs. With an ending that will drive you crazy, we can all say that Darren Shan has done it again! ( )

There is really a lot of blood in this book. The main character,Grubbs Grady, is a teenager who tries to fight the family curse of turning into a werewolf after losing his parents and sister to it. In his nightmares, and everywhere he turns he sees blood. Terrible things happen. Kids seem to like that a lot. At the same time, Grubbs has an astonishingly strong sense of morality and what's right. His close bonds to his uncle Dervish and to his half-brother Bill-E are also a testament to an undelying theme of there being solid ground on which one can stand and the importance of family. The novel also points to the necessity of learning who to turst and then trusting them completely. ( )

Grubs Grady is turning. He is turning into the very beast that got his parents and sister killed. With the help of his brother and his uncle Grubbs must fight off demons and the urge to change into a beast. This book was a little choppy but it was still good. ( )

Blood Beast is the fifth brutal instalment in Darren Shan’s latest children’s horror series The Demonata, and it drips with the same grisly chills, the same unrelenting pace and the same merciless dispatching of characters as its prequels. Fans of the series will be pleased to find that Shan has brought back familiar faces from Slawter, as well as managing to tie in locations from Bec. Once again, his latest novel manages to equal the excitement of the rest of the series, but not quite surpass it. I am still waiting for the one book that will blow all the others away – hopefully the upcoming Demon Apocalypse will be it.

It is interesting to see that Shan has made increasing forays into the world of regular teenage problems. As well as demons and werewolves, Grubbs now has to deal with peer pressure, the opposite sex and choices between social groups at school. This is a difficult task for any adult author to manage, but Shan pulls it off very well. His work isn’t the best out there – young readers won’t be blown away by how well he understands them – but he does a good enough job to support the novel.

For Demonata-wise readers, the ending of Blood Beast will unfortunately be slightly predictable – but that doesn’t make it any less fun! Shan throws everything he has at readers, and then leaves them hanging by ending the novel right in the middle of all the excitement. Some critics may view this as a cheap trick to increase the sales of the next book, but I think it works extremely well. It’s yet another way for Shan to build cohesion between novels, and make sure that the pace of the series never slows down for too long. I would definitely buy the next book even if Blood Beast had not ended the way it did – I am a huge fan of all of Shan’s writing.

All in all, another triumph from the acclaimed ‘Number One Master of Horror’. I couldn’t put Blood Beast down! It easily lives up to my expectations, and I’ll be counting the days to the release of the next instalment. ( )

Darren Shan delivers another gore filled installment in this latest volume of the Demonata series. Grubbs, his protagonist, is facing puberty, dating, and fitting in at school. He is also battling internally with the realization that he is becoming a werewolf—the family curse. Shan continues developing the character, Grubbs, as he struggles with loyalty, family bonds, trust issues, and betrayal. The gore Shan delivers could not be more horrific. The evil could not be more palpable. In Blood Beast, Shan portrays the strength of Grubbs’ human spirit alongside the frailties of his physical, human self against all that is supernatural. ( )