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frizzlecat 's review for:
Vampiric Vacation
by Kiersten White
This one picks up right where the first book left off, and it is a little longer. It continues to narrate with a 3rd person POV the thoughts and actions of Theo and Alexander. The tone is humorous and puny, delivering wordplay and witty remarks in a way that mostly lands, but sometimes doesn't.
Although I enjoyed the setting of this one more (vampiric spa castles > gothic waterparks), I think the pacing is so slow. It took a long time for the kids to catch on to the suspicious happenings right before their eyes.
I do like the overarching story element though, which extends across volumes and keeps me curious to pick up the next book. I'm very interested to see how it eventually pays off in the fifth book.
Content warnings and scare level: This one is a little scarier to me than the first book. The gore and horror is still pretty tame and mild, but there are allusions to sucking blood, human experimentation, and lurking creatures, which makes it a little more ominous than Wretched Waterpark-- in my opinion. Content warnings for parental abandonment, analogies to blood, creatures lurking in shadows, unconscious bodies in a medical facility, and bats.
Representation: Most of the characters, including Theo and Alexander, are white, except for Wil who is previously described as having darker skin and braids. One character has mothers, which is passingly mentioned twice throughout the whole book. Theo has trouble feeling her emotions and is described as having "bees" inside her when she feels big things, preferring "doing things" over "feeling things." Alexander has a strong compulsion to follow rules and be cautious.
Messaging: Support others in the way they need to be supported. It's okay to lie to people who hurt others in order to protect yourself and your loved ones.
Although I enjoyed the setting of this one more (vampiric spa castles > gothic waterparks), I think the pacing is so slow. It took a long time for the kids to catch on to the suspicious happenings right before their eyes.
Spoiler
And then, once they discovered all the neat passages (such as the catacombs and the tunnel system), as readers we didn't get much time to explore these places. The reveals were rushed after a long set-up, and the long-awaited tunnels only made up a small portion of the story, sadly.I do like the overarching story element though, which extends across volumes and keeps me curious to pick up the next book. I'm very interested to see how it eventually pays off in the fifth book.
Content warnings and scare level: This one is a little scarier to me than the first book. The gore and horror is still pretty tame and mild, but there are allusions to sucking blood, human experimentation, and lurking creatures, which makes it a little more ominous than Wretched Waterpark-- in my opinion. Content warnings for parental abandonment, analogies to blood, creatures lurking in shadows, unconscious bodies in a medical facility, and bats.
Representation: Most of the characters, including Theo and Alexander, are white, except for Wil who is previously described as having darker skin and braids. One character has mothers, which is passingly mentioned twice throughout the whole book. Theo has trouble feeling her emotions and is described as having "bees" inside her when she feels big things, preferring "doing things" over "feeling things." Alexander has a strong compulsion to follow rules and be cautious.
Messaging: Support others in the way they need to be supported. It's okay to lie to people who hurt others in order to protect yourself and your loved ones.