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selfwinding's review against another edition
2.0
The book started out fairly promising with a different sort of vampire. The vampires in The Reformed Vampire Support Group are sick, weak, pitiable things, who have basically no impact on the world—being a vampire in this world really sucks. Unfortunately this characterization plagues the book, leaving most of the characters incapable of making decisions, a character-trait which is the focal point of the book turning from a quirk into an annoyance fairly quickly. As a result, most of the action of the book is prompted by coincidence, which does offer the characters an opportunity to act and make decisions, but every chain is started by a coincidence, a format which quickly wears on the reader. (I suspect this would be less troublesome if the book were shorter, but clocking in nearly 400-pages means that we're left with a lot of inaction, discussion, and aggravating behavior.)
The main characters Nina and Dave are fairly interesting outside of this inherent do-nothing vampire mindset, and I wanted to know a lot more about their back stories and about them personally. Even though I liked Nina, though, her narration left a lot to be desired. The narration frequently spoke directly to the reader, was quite aware that it was a book (the process of Nina writing the story was a gimmick throughout), and cheated the point of view as needed to tell events Nina didn't witness. The unfortunate result is that the narration was so faithful, I felt like it was written by a teenager.
I did enjoy the action sequences once they started, and the various problems the main characters faced, particularly involved Ruben (who was a fairly convincing lit firecracker) and Horace were engaging, interesting, and exciting. Also, Dave is a fantastic vampire character and I enjoyed every time he was in a scene.
I think you have to be fairly motivated to read vampire fiction to make it through this one, and even then you might get a little picky about it. This is one that you might want to sample a chapter before committing to reading it.
The main characters Nina and Dave are fairly interesting outside of this inherent do-nothing vampire mindset, and I wanted to know a lot more about their back stories and about them personally. Even though I liked Nina, though, her narration left a lot to be desired. The narration frequently spoke directly to the reader, was quite aware that it was a book (the process of Nina writing the story was a gimmick throughout), and cheated the point of view as needed to tell events Nina didn't witness. The unfortunate result is that the narration was so faithful, I felt like it was written by a teenager.
I did enjoy the action sequences once they started, and the various problems the main characters faced, particularly involved Ruben (who was a fairly convincing lit firecracker) and Horace were engaging, interesting, and exciting. Also, Dave is a fantastic vampire character and I enjoyed every time he was in a scene.
I think you have to be fairly motivated to read vampire fiction to make it through this one, and even then you might get a little picky about it. This is one that you might want to sample a chapter before committing to reading it.
akmargie's review against another edition
3.0
I don't mean to be snarky but for someone with great concepts her books are kinda dry. And by dry I mean not as funny as I'd like them to be. Enjoyed that the narrator was Aussie or pulled off a good Aussie in my estimation.
jbwoods's review against another edition
3.0
Meh. I didn't want to just stop reading it, but it just kinda dragged by. Good concept, and I think I'd read the spinoff series about the werewolves, but this one just kinda lacked a real 'bite'. Oh, wait, but they were reformed vampires, so I guess maybe that was the point?
avery_curlies's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
jmanchester0's review against another edition
3.0
This book should have had more humor. I mean, it was an interesting read and all, but it needed less drama and more funny. So much potential with a Australian reformed vampire support group.
But the writing was well done. This author uses great descriptive language. And I think some of the best descriptions I've ever heard of what it might be like to have a vampire's cravings.
But the writing was well done. This author uses great descriptive language. And I think some of the best descriptions I've ever heard of what it might be like to have a vampire's cravings.
gnomely's review against another edition
4.0
For a book that was very obviously written in response to the Twilight craze, it’s a pretty exciting story. I enjoyed it when I read it at 15, and I enjoyed it now, reading it 10 years later.
theartolater's review against another edition
2.0
Honestly, this was more than just a bit of a slog. The story got old rather quick, the direction kind of all over the place, and it just wasn't enjoyable. That's a shame, because the concept was wonderful, but the execution didn't do so much for me.