I smirk at the thought, and of course that's when Mum pauses for the briefest of moments and catches me. "What are you grinning at?" she roars, and then she's off again - I'm smoking myself into an early grave, the school's responsible, what sort of a freak show is Mr. Donnellan running, la-di-la-di-la-di-bloody-la!

Smoking's dumb," he says. We're in the kitchen (I haven't been out of it since Mum dragged me home from school early, except to go to the toilet). "It's disgusting, antisocial and lethal. Why do it, Grubbs? I thought you had more sense." Lord Loss does not appear in this book, except for speaking through Cadaver's mouth. It is the first book of the series he has not appeared in person. They don't talk to me at meals. The three of them act like I'm not there. Gret doesn't even glance at me spitefully and sneer, the way she usually does when I'm getting the doghouse treatment.Voluntary Shapeshifting: Grubbs, Juni/Nadia. Most recently the Old Creatures when they talked to Kernel. He also has the power to change his form freely from human to werewolf and even a mixture of both, as seen in Wolf Island. In this novel, he changes into a werewolf to save the group from being eaten but changes part of himself to human again so that he can communicate with the humans of the group. Grubbs states, however, that he prefers being part werewolf/part human to being fully human. This is because he can be with his family (Grady's who have been affected with lycanthropy) and his human friends, and communicate with both, also he admits that when he is part werewolf/part human he feels complete for the first time. Your loss." Dad clears his throat. "The ballet's out of town and finishes quite late. It will be easier for us to stay in a hotel overnight."

I Just Want to Be Normal: Grubbs has no interest in the world of magic or demon fighting. Too bad You Can't Fight Fate. I want to ask them about it, but how? "Mum, Dad - have aliens taken over your bodies? Is somebody dead and you're too afraid to tell me? Have you all converted to Miseryism?" I believe that if i start saying a little bit more about this book i will spoil all the surprises, because from the beginning it starts with some weird things happening that let you guessing what is going on, and you start discovering what it is all about, what is the truth that lies behind, and why some things happened, and it all starts from the very beginning. So for your own enjoyment if you're considering to read this, i won't say anything about the plot. Grounded, Grubbs plays chess and wastes time in as many ways as he can think of - pondering his family's strange behavior. Things only get stranger when Gret brings Grubbs a present for telling Sharon about Grubbs' smoking and informs him that Sharon and Cal have decided that Grubbs' month-long punishment is being ended early. Three days later, Grubbs notes the similarity of the current situation with his family to the time when Gran died, only to be told by Cal that he's being sent to stay with his aunt, Kate, while he, Sharon and Gret go to an out-of-town ballet. Afterwards, Grubbs eavesdrops on a conversation between Cal and Gret, where they mention a dangerous event that they covered with the fake ballet story, and how scared the two of them are. Enough!" Dad shouts, and we both jump. Dad almost never shouts. He usually gets very quiet when he's angry. Now his face is red and he's glaring - but at both of us, not just me.

Make yourself comfy in the living room," Aunt Kate simpers. "I'll fix a nice pot of tea for us. It's almost time for the news." The thing about Darren Shan that I appreciate is that the child characters are not sanitised little genius saints who are basically mouthpieces for the author's agenda. They are not mouthpieces to tell kids what the author believes is wrong with the real world now, like so many YA books are right now. These are children who can be rude and are boisterous, they can be annoying and selfish, but they are all relatable. Not out there to flatter the kids and tell them what to think. Returning to school, Grubbs discovers that the psychologist has left and a new one has come as a replacement. He is sent to meet her and finds that it is Juni Swan. She helps Grubbs, Bill-E, and their friends to cope with Loch's death, and soon everyone seems to be fine. However tensions increase as Juni and Dervish become romantically involved, and they eventually move in together. In the following days Grubbs becomes more aware of the impending doom of his curse. Not only that, but he begins to notice a tramp coincidentally appearing around Carcery Vale. The tramp implies that Dervish may have called the Lambs to kill Grubbs, and Juni confirms his suspicions. However, she also tells Grubbs that she sees him as her own son, and will do whatever it takes protect him.