Guest Book Review Team Human

1) Team Human:
I said a little about this before, but basically it's a obvious Take That at the entire Twilight/Anne Rice/True Blood/Laurell Hamilton genre of sexy vampires that are worth giving up mortality for. I liked some of the background details involved in the everybody-knows-about-vampires universe (vampires have constitutional rights! there are legal procedures that must be followed when turning minors!), and the background mystery involving the principal (hint: not everyone successfully transitions into vampirism - those who fail either die outright or become zombies).
The main character was fun, although she was absurdly bad at solving mysteries when she claimed to be skilled at doing so, and I liked her love interest (a human boy raised by vampires - his "mom" is also great as one of the examples of a well-done secondary character who defies her species stereotypes). I didn't care for her friend who wants to turn the moment she meets the Edward-alike at school. Technically, that was the point of the book; people who want to become vampires tend to be weird, because anyone who would want to give up the ability to eat chocolate, go out in the sun, and have a sense of humor, among other drawbacks, has to be off the rails. Her friend was not a terrible person, but both her and her vampire squeeze were simply dull, self-involved dramatic types. Again, a Take That at Twilight. Also, her mother was clearly depicted as being a terrible parent for allowing her daughter to turn at age 17, given the high risk of death (technically, it's certain death, and possible resurrection with a sober and distant personality - like being a mere shadow of your past human self), so at least there's that antidote to other fictional parents.
Unfortunately, I don't think that most of the target audience will understand or like this book - perhaps one or the other, but not both. Kids that already don't like vampire stories will not pick it up, and those who loved Twilight may be hurt by the implication that they are stupid for liking it. The handful that get past that, and end up realizing that committing suicide for love is crazy, will make the book worth writing, though.

By Rebecca Hoyt