The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks


My rating: 2 of 5 stars

After hearing such great things about Evil Genius (also by Jinks), and seeing some strong ratings on GoodReads, I decided to give this book a listen. While I'm glad that others enjoyed this book, I'm afraid I'm not among them. It isn't funny enough to appeal to humor fans, not action-packed enough to appeal to horror fans, and certainly not the sexy-vampire story that dominates YA lit these days.

Nina and her "reformed" vampire friends are weak, sickly, whining and pathetic. As it turns out, vampires are nothing like legend would have us believe. In fact, as one non-vamp character points out, being a vampire is somewhat like having AIDS. It leaves sufferers in a weakened state and simply requires those around them to take a few extra precautions.

While the unlikely status of these vampires could make for hilarious comic fodder, Jinks doesn't quite pull it off. Too many descriptions of bouts of nausea, cleaning guinea pig blood off the shower tiles, and the other vagaries of being a vampire are revolting without being either scary or funny. Just gross.

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