Title: Eighth Grade Bites
Author: Heather Brewer
Series: Book #1 in The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod series
Publisher: Puffin Books
Publication date: 13/03/08
My Rating: 5/10
Summary:
Vlad has to keep his vampire urges under control while dealing with the pressures of middle school.
Thirteen-year-old Vladimir Tod really hates junior high. Bullies harass him, the principal is dogging him, and the girl he likes prefers his best friend. Oh, and Vlad has a secret: His mother was human, but his father was a vampire. With no idea of the extent of his powers, Vlad struggles daily with his blood cravings and his enlarged fangs. When a substitute teacher begins to question him a little too closely, Vlad worries that his cover is about to be blown. But then he faces a much bigger problem: He’s being hunted by a vampire killer.
My thoughts:
I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I hoped I would. Originally it sounded like it would be a really good read with vampires, humour and real-life drama.
I found it to be quite a dull, predictable read which was really disappointing. Normally it takes me a day at most to get through a book this length but with this one it took me six days. It felt like it took ages to read and it was kind of hard not to just give up. I did keep reading though mostly because of the odd bits of humour throughout the book which kept me going.
For the first few chapters of the book I started to really like the characters but it kind of went downhill from there. They just didn’t develop enough if at all. Vlad was supposed to be young but that doesn’t mean he had to be totally incapable of figuring anything out. It was really frustrating to read at times.
None of the characters had depth. None. It made me hate reading about them and so when something happened to them I just didn’t care. It lead to the book being anticlimactic.
I don’t really know what else to say. It was just one of those books to me where I can just shrug my shoulders and say…meh,it was okay, but then forget about it by the morning.
Great quotes:
"Nothing could convince Aunt Nelly to let Vlad stay home for the duration of the school year, which just goes to prove that parents and guardians don't care if they're sending you to face bloodthirsty monsters, so long as you get a B in English."
About the author:
Heather Brewer was not your typical teen growing up. She wore black, danced under full moons and devoured every book in sight.
She hasn’t changed much.
Today, Heather can be found writing in her funky, black Happy Bunny jammie pants, dancing under the full moon, devouring every book in sight, and attending Renaissance Festivals in costume (and in character).
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