The Thin Executioner by Darren Shan

Summary (via the author's website): "Jebel Rum is a thin, scrawny boy. His father is the famed executioner in the city where they live. When Jebel is humiliated in public, he sets off on a quest to gain great strength and invincibility. If successful, he will be able to compete in a gruelling contest to prove himself and replace his father as the wielder of the axe. Failure, on the other hands, means certain death."

Review: So... not so much. I mean, it was fine. But I wasn't really INTO it. Like, ever.

It took me like a week to get through the first two thirds. And then, because I was on a deadline, I started scanning. And the story was interesting, but I don't know if it was interesting because the story was finally interesting or because I was fast-forwarding it, as it were.

Pros:
-Epic adventure story.
-Super-creepy villain.
-Morality tale.
-The pacing was what is often referred to as "deliberate."

Cons:
-The main character spent most of the book as a whiny brat.
-I was kind of bored.
-Deliberate pacing can often feel slow.
-It's a fine line between foreshadowing and the main character being dense. I think this book crossed it.

Goodreads Shelves: fluffy, is-or-would-be-a-good-movie, pretentious

Rating: