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smoocheee's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
kendal4kendal's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.0
lizeth26's review against another edition
3.0
3.45 stars!!
Very fun! I didn't know it was going to be be about Vampires
Very fun! I didn't know it was going to be be about Vampires
brittanica_bold's review against another edition
2.0
Thank you to Random House Children’s, Delacorte Press, and Suzanne Young for this free advanced review copy of this book. The thoughts and opinions expressed below are honest and my own.
What I liked about the book:
1. I liked the sarcasm and the relationship between Theo and her brother Marco. It was genuine and believable.
2. I absolutely adored Nonna, especially after she told Theo her history in the town! She was a total badass.
What could have been better:
1. I was definitely lured by the cover and blurb on this one. Given The Lost Boys and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the Kristy Swanson and Luke Perry version) were two of my favorite movies when I was younger, I figured this would be a slam dunk.
What I didn’t figure was the book would feel like someone took The Lost Boys and made it into a Mad Lib for the author to fill out. It was especially hard to ignore in the first couple of chapters that this was a gender swapped, shot for shot remake of the film at times. Instead of the references being a “cool! I get that one!” they were very…cringy. Maybe if I hadn’t just watched the movie 2 weeks ago, I wouldn’t have caught as many of the comparisons and my thoughts on this would be a bit different?
However, I also didn’t feel there was much Buffy the Vampire Slayer-ness to it other than fighting a bunch of vampires in a prom dress. Perhaps I’m missing something because I’m over 20 years late watching the television show, but I honestly don’t think so.
2. I liked the podcast and mystery ideas within the story, but I didn’t feel they were utilized to their potential. I didn’t really understand what the point was of her even listening to the first episode of the podcast focusing on the town if she had already met the podcasters and formed a relationship with them. I also didn’t understand why they mentioned episode two would drop and then that never went anywhere.
I felt like this was a check-the-box exercise in throwing a podcast into a story, which I’ve seen a lot more of recently. Other than perhaps trying to create a vibe reminiscent of Serial for murder mystery books or trying to show characters as relatable by listening to podcasts, I’m not sure what the theory is behind including this trait now and rarely do I see it executed well.
3. Unfortunately, the book didn’t really get exciting for me until the big reveal we all knew was coming at around the 70% mark. The romance was bleh, the characters besides Nonna were bleh, and the plot was predictable. Overall, just not for me.
4. I hate being THIS PERSON, but this definitely could have used another round of editing. A couple slips are absolutely no problem for me, but constant sentences where you can tell a word was supposed to be deleted stagnate the flow and bring me out of the story altogether.
Final Thoughts: Overall, just not for me.
Final Rating: 2 stars
What I liked about the book:
1. I liked the sarcasm and the relationship between Theo and her brother Marco. It was genuine and believable.
2. I absolutely adored Nonna, especially after she told Theo her history in the town! She was a total badass.
What could have been better:
1. I was definitely lured by the cover and blurb on this one. Given The Lost Boys and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the Kristy Swanson and Luke Perry version) were two of my favorite movies when I was younger, I figured this would be a slam dunk.
What I didn’t figure was the book would feel like someone took The Lost Boys and made it into a Mad Lib for the author to fill out. It was especially hard to ignore in the first couple of chapters that this was a gender swapped, shot for shot remake of the film at times. Instead of the references being a “cool! I get that one!” they were very…cringy. Maybe if I hadn’t just watched the movie 2 weeks ago, I wouldn’t have caught as many of the comparisons and my thoughts on this would be a bit different?
However, I also didn’t feel there was much Buffy the Vampire Slayer-ness to it other than fighting a bunch of vampires in a prom dress. Perhaps I’m missing something because I’m over 20 years late watching the television show, but I honestly don’t think so.
2. I liked the podcast and mystery ideas within the story, but I didn’t feel they were utilized to their potential. I didn’t really understand what the point was of her even listening to the first episode of the podcast focusing on the town if she had already met the podcasters and formed a relationship with them. I also didn’t understand why they mentioned episode two would drop and then that never went anywhere.
I felt like this was a check-the-box exercise in throwing a podcast into a story, which I’ve seen a lot more of recently. Other than perhaps trying to create a vibe reminiscent of Serial for murder mystery books or trying to show characters as relatable by listening to podcasts, I’m not sure what the theory is behind including this trait now and rarely do I see it executed well.
3. Unfortunately, the book didn’t really get exciting for me until the big reveal we all knew was coming at around the 70% mark. The romance was bleh, the characters besides Nonna were bleh, and the plot was predictable. Overall, just not for me.
4. I hate being THIS PERSON, but this definitely could have used another round of editing. A couple slips are absolutely no problem for me, but constant sentences where you can tell a word was supposed to be deleted stagnate the flow and bring me out of the story altogether.
Final Thoughts: Overall, just not for me.
Final Rating: 2 stars
jmumm0608's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
zaineylaney's review against another edition
4.0
Are you a fan of 80s movies with a touch of fantasy and a summer beach setting? This YA Horror book has it -
Trip to Grandma - Theo and her brother are going on a summer visit to their grandma’s house with their dad, in the town of Nightfall, Oregon
Beautiful People - it’s quiet, cloudy, and filled with beautiful people their own age.
Podcast - and due to the upcoming festival, Theo even meets a podcast duo who talks about scary things.
Town Secrets - and they think they have uncovered some of the town’s secrets
This is not spoilers because it even says this on goodread, but it is compared to The Lost Boys meets Buddy the Vampire Slayer. You know going into this what is happening to this town. You will see so many similarities to The Lost Boys. You will feel like you are in an 80s movie, except the characters all have cell phones. But there are still some pretty awesome twists in this book, and it finally got me out of my reading slump this month.
Trip to Grandma - Theo and her brother are going on a summer visit to their grandma’s house with their dad, in the town of Nightfall, Oregon
Beautiful People - it’s quiet, cloudy, and filled with beautiful people their own age.
Podcast - and due to the upcoming festival, Theo even meets a podcast duo who talks about scary things.
Town Secrets - and they think they have uncovered some of the town’s secrets
This is not spoilers because it even says this on goodread, but it is compared to The Lost Boys meets Buddy the Vampire Slayer. You know going into this what is happening to this town. You will see so many similarities to The Lost Boys. You will feel like you are in an 80s movie, except the characters all have cell phones. But there are still some pretty awesome twists in this book, and it finally got me out of my reading slump this month.
shorereader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
distortthecode's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
gen_theromancenerd's review against another edition
3.5
As a reader, I hate when characters make decisions that are nonsensical. This is the reason why I don't read a whole lot of YA in general. This was a good book though. It was reminiscent of the 80s classic Lost Boys, but with different lore.
booksinthedark's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0