Reviews

Mina and the Undead is a wonderful nostalgic trip to the 90s along with murder and vampires.

I was finally able to buy this book! Thanks again to the author for letting me know that BD was safe to get this book. I have been trying to get this book, but Amazon just thinks it is a Sudoku book and also sends that to you. But now I finally had it in my hands and then I waited for Spooktober to arrive.

In this delightful book we learn about Mina and how she is going to spend the summer with her sister in New Orleans. She thinks it is just going to be a fun time doing tours at a spooky mansion, explore New Orleans, go to Fangfest, have fun with her sister. You know, usual fun things. But oh boy, things quickly go dark in this one when people get murdered… and things get really close to Mina and her group of friends. I really liked Mina and loved that she wasn’t going to hide in a room. Oh no, this girl is going and doing everything she can to help her new friends and her sister. Visiting dark places, she is there. Doing things maybe not all the best, she is there. I was definitely rooting for Mina.

I loved that there is plenty of romance. Jared and Mina for instance were just so perfect and I was definitely shipping them from the moment that I saw sparks fly (which was pretty early in the book, haha). I loved that they took it slow, though at times I was like, just KISS already. XD And as the book progresses I love their romance more and more. Though there are some things that they have to work on… that is all I will say. Next to this couple we also have Della and Libby and I just adored it. They were so sweet together. Oh, and I am glad the author didn’t go for a love triangle. I was a bit worried with that given stuff.

The murders? The myths? I loved it. It was just so good and scary. I definitely was on the edge of my seat (or curled up in bed as I read parts of this in bed). I had fun trying to figure out the whodunnit and if that person could truly be the criminal. Then there was also of course other things that were happening, yes I am keeping it vague, that made my suspect list grow a bit further. Things get quite scary at times and the criminal went very far! I loved finding out the motive of the criminal though I definitely hadn’t expected it to be about that (though I did guess another part based on what Mina tells us about that person).

Thandie, while we don’t see a lot of her, I did love the woman and later even more. She was such a good character and I love how caring she was about those who work in the horror movie mansion. I did feel sad because of certain things, was that really necessary?

I would have loved to see at least a bit more of the horror movie mansion. Now we barely see any tours and Libby just works there one time before poop hits the fan. While I am glad that poop hits the fan quickly because it makes for an exciting read, I would have also loved a bit more mansion.

I loved the references, though I didn’t get all of them for various reasons. Like them living in the US/UK. XD

The ending was great one full of twists and turns and exciting moments that had me gasping and saying no a lot of times. I was very much invested. Very much wanted to know if our group would get out of things or not. And then there were the last few pages… oh I loved those and I love how they set the stage for the second book (which I need now btw).

All in all, this is one book I couldn’t put down. And yes, I could write even more about it. There are vampires, romance, food, myths, and so much more. The author has a great writing style that keeps you into the book. Recommended to all!

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

burntout_bookworm's review

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I loved this!! The cheesy, non-serious vampire vibes this gave off was great. I especially loved all of the pop culture referenced scattered throughout the novel, which made it a really enjoyable fast paced novel. I also really enjoyed the plot line and the characters. The only thing that meant that this was not a 5 star was that there was a few things that I think we glossed over to wrap up the novel that could of used a few more pages. However, I will definitely continue in the series and do believe that it might be one of those series that the books get better throughout.

Content Warnings