By Matt Halg
Genre Adult paranormal/supernatural
Pages 385
Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Synopsis
The Radleys appear like your typical suburban family. Peter is the doctor at the local clinic. His wife, Helen attends a neighborhood book club. Their son Rowan is quiet, into poetry and pining after the new girl at school and their daughter Clara has recently become a vegan. They even have the embarrassing black sheep of the family uncle they wish would stay away. But things aren't always as they seem. The Radleys have a secret. They are vampires. Not even their children know. They've been abstaining from blood for 17 years...that is until Clara is attacked by a boy and she accidentally drinks all his blood and kills him. Now with the police questioning them, and their uncle in town causing mischief, the Radleys secret might not be so secret anymore.
First Sentence
It is a quiet place, especially at night.
My Thoughts
- This book was not at all what I thought it would be, The way Goodreads described it, I thought it was going to be from Clara's point of view. And it has been so long since I added this one to my TBR list that I'd forgotten what it was about...mostly.
- It's not from Clara's perspective. It's in third person and had a bazillion narrators. Mostly the family but others too.
- I almost completely gave up on this one when about 150 pages in I wasn't connecting to any of the characters except maybe Rowan and was so disgusted with Will (the uncle) I wanted to just stop.
- I'm SOOOOOO glad I kept reading. Speaking of Will, he's one of those characters you love to hate. Possibly the author wanted you to empathize with him but I loathed him. I thought malicious thoughts about him. I wanted him DEAD!
- The last 150 pages were so gripping I was snapping at my husband when he tried to interrupt and stayed up way past my bed time because I just. Had, To. Finish!
- There was a lot of symbolism in this one that was fun to see. I especially liked the quotes from The Abstainers Handbook. They amused me when looked at in a symbolic way.
Should you read it?
To be honest, I think most of my blogging buddies might not like this one. It had too slow of a start and the dual narratives and content might bother a lot of people. However, if you like tongue in cheek humor and thrilling endings you might want to give it a read.
What do you mean the content would bother people? Do you think I would like this? It sounds intriguing.
ReplyDeleteThere are swear words and sexual references. Nothing too horrid. It's definitely and adult book. You actually might enjoy it like I did.
DeleteInteresting. Not sure it would be something I would like, but I'm glad you ended up enjoying it. It takes a lot of patience to stick with a book that long in the hopes that it picks up. Glad this one worked out for you.
ReplyDeleteYes, it does. I'm actually writing a post about sticking with books.
DeleteI think this sounds interesting, even if it's slow. I don't mind multiple narratives. I love third person POV. I wish there were more YA books from this perspective. Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteReally? I didn't know that. Well maybe you should see if this one holds your interest. There is a touch of romance too!
DeleteHaha, I love how passionately you hate Will! I haven't read this but it's been on my Goodreads to-read list for YEARS. I have a copy of Matt Haig's The Humans as well but haven't read that yet either. Not sure if I'd like the slow start of this book, but if I like The Humans when I get to reading it, I might pick this one up too! Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteYes, Will needed to DIE! I look forward to your thoughts if you read it.
DeleteI actually read and liked this several years ago (I think it was one of the very first official books I got from a publisher when I was a newbie blogger). I remember loving that it was so not what I expected it to be. It's been a long time, but I have read the Dead Father's Club by Haig, which I didn't like as much.
ReplyDeleteIt was pretty good, huh? I'm not sure if try another book by the author though.
DeleteSounds like an interesting one. And good on your for going back through your TBR. I really should do that as well instead of just picking up new books. Oh and I just saw you added a star system to your reviews!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've been trying to read some of those old ones on my tbr.
DeleteAnd you have definitely intrigued me! Perhaps my library will have a copy...
ReplyDelete