The Vampire Blog Review

Title: The Vampire Blog

Author: Pete Johnson

Release Date: 27^th May 2012

Publisher: Corgi Yearling (Random House Children’s Books)

So you think you’re just a normal kid? So did I. There was nothing strange or special about me... until the night of my thirteenth birthday.

That’s when the bombshell hits. My parents have been hiding a huge, terrifying, life-changing secret from me my whole life. They’re half vampires - and it turns out I’m about to become one too. What. A. Nightmare.

Suddenly everything’s changing. I’m growing fangs and getting cravings for my best friend’s blood. I even smell weird... life totally sucks! But that’s not all. Vampires exist too – and there’s nothing more delicious to a vampire than half-vampire blood. Things are about to get extremely dangerous... 

Marcus’ parents have just told him he is a half-vampire. Which is if course a joke... isn’t it? Marcus has to deal with his annoying cousin Karl as well as all the new cravings he experiences. His parents have even given him a new half-vampire name! This tale follows Marcus on his journey to become a half-vampire - will he make the change or is he determined to fight his natural instincts and remain a mere mortal?

After reading the blurb I thought this book would be similar to The Radleys by Matt Haig (http://lilypadlibraryuk.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/radleys-review.html). However, I would suggest that this book is for younger teens as it was less sophisticated than The Radleys, although it was by no means less hilarious! Unlike The Radleys, which was a black comedy, this book deals with vampirism in a light hearted way with Marcus struggling to accept that he is a half vampire who has suddenly started craving blood.

At the start of the book I struggled to sympathise with Marcus’ character as he is so sarcastic! However, compared to his unsympathetic parents and cousin who don’t seem to understand why he has an issue with becoming a creature of the night, I began to like Marcus. The conclusion of this book is brilliant and it shows a different side to Marcus and his friend Tallulah which allowed me to get excited about the second book in this series.

I’m not sure that the blog format of this book was written successfully. Marcus himself says that no one can ever read it and although it allows the book to be written in first person, from Marcus’ point of view, I felt that this format wasn’t really necessary. However, the blog format did allow Marcus to interrupt his own writing and reflect on things that have happened to him previously which was an interesting approach to Marcus’ emotional development as a character.

I am looking forward to the second book in this series as I want to know more about Pete Johnson’s thoughts on the characteristics of vampires and how Marcus manages to deal with this. Johnson reveals a twist at the end of the story which was really unexpected and means the book is definitely worth reading to the end.  This tale offers humour, sarcasm and a touch of romance as well as an interesting take on what it means to be a vampire!

3.5/5 Deals with the difficulties of being a teenage vampire.

The demon notebook review

Title: The demon notebook

Author: Erika McGann

Release Date:  3^rd September 2012

Publisher: O’Brien Press

Grace and her four best friends, Jenny, Rachel, Adie and Una, are failed witches – and they have a notebook full of useless spells to prove it.

But one night, they stumble upon real magical powers – and their notebook takes on a diabolical life of its own.

The girls watch, helpless, as, one by one, their spells start to work, moving relentlessly towards the worst one of all ...

Can Grace and her friends stem the wave of powerful magic ... before tragedy strikes?

When Grace and her friends decide to perform a Ouija board at school during a full moon, they are convinced that nothing will come of it as all of their previous attempts at casting spells have been a waste of time. However, when the spells the girls have cast begin to work, the friends realise that they may have finally unleashed power... but at what cost? Una is behaving strangely and it is only a matter of time before the spells get out of hand and what started as a joke could be potentially life threatening.

I really enjoyed this book, with its mix of strong characters and pure friendships. The girls cast spells for many silly things and when they begin to work it causes many difficulties for them as well as lots of fun. However, the fear they feel about the last spell working was brilliantly captured in the urgency of the writing (read the book to find out what the spell was for!). The four friends repeatedly attempt to save Una from whatever has possessed her as well as trying to save their fellow class mates from the spells. What made the book so compelling was the girls’ love for one another and their ‘in it together’ attitude. Starting out as a laugh, the girls still manage to stick together through their battle to save the town, with the addition of Mrs Quinlan and Ms Lemon.

My favourite character has to be Mrs Quinlan. With her house full of cats and her no-nonsense attitude towards the girls, I felt she was a really strong character and was introduced in such a way as to make her loveable, despite her aggressive and at times, scary behaviour.  I liked how she was so instrumental in helping the girls and it was interesting to see how her past is revealed.

Overall, this book is a fun read and the characters are easily relatable to. The plot offers plenty of twists and there are many laughs (often at the expense of the characters).  I particularly loved the last chapter as it offered Grace a happy ending and made me smile! The illustrations on the inside of the cover pages were a lovely addition to the book and the chapter titles often made me laugh out loud!

5/5 A feel good supernatural read.

With special thanks to O’Brien Press for sending me a copy of the book.