Same book, Second look - Slayed by Amanda Marrone

Published: October 2010

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Pages: 240

Copy provided by: Library

Summary: Goodreads

Summary:

The Van Helsing family has been hunting vampires for over one hundred years, but sixteen-year-old Daphne wishes her parents would take up an occupation that doesn’t involve decapitating vamps for cash. All Daphne wants is to settle down in one place, attend an actual school, and finally find a BFF to go to the mall with. Instead, Daphne has resigned herself to a life of fast food, cheap motels and buying garlic in bulk.

But when the Van Helsings are called to a coastal town in Maine, Daphne’s world is turned upside down. Not only do the Van Helsings find themselves hunting a terrifying new kind of vampire (one without fangs but with a taste for kindergarten cuisine), Daphne meets her first potential BF! The hitch? Her new crush is none other than Tyler Harker, AKA, the son of the rival slayer family.

What's a teen vampire slayer to do?

Review:
OMG...I LOVED THIS BOOK. It was so refreshing and sharp. The references to the Van Helsing family vs the Harkers were brilliant! I even told my husband about it and he thought it was such an original idea!

I really felt that one of the main themes in this book was about girl bonding. I'm not sure how many of you out there have best girlfriends but I am very particular about this. I would rather have a few VERY close girlfriends than a room full of girls who are half as reliable. I was impressed with how Kiki really stood by Daphne. She was such an outrageous character too! For me, it was laugh out loud funny. I could actually imagine myself saying some of the same things to a close girlfriend (well, that is if she were an ex-Doodlebop and I were a vampire slayer....)

This was my favourite line -


Page 48
"Why would you want ot date someone who drinks blood and is short a soul? I mean really?"

Unfortunately, there was one thing that fizzled for me in the book. It was the romance. Sorry Miss Marrone. I just didn't feel like it developed enough to be believable. However, on the plus side, Kiki and Daphne made up for all of that with some kickass girl scenes (ummm...not to be confused with girl on girl romance).

Curlypow mentions in her post that 'Slayed' reads like an episode of Buffy. How right she is! Joss Whedeon would be proud! I do also want to reiterate something else that Curlypow mentioned in her post. This book would not be appropriate for a younger teen audience. There is violence, sex and also language sprinkled throughout the book. You can find the Curlypow's review here.

So if you are a fan of Drew Barrymore's Charlie's Angels, you might want check out Slayed by Amanda Marrone. It is full of sass and I highly recommend it! Yay girlpower!