8 Jan 2011

Review: "The Radleys" - Yet another set of abstaining vamps...


Right. So are you also one of those people who are somewhat tired of sparkling, extremely handsome vampires with poetic tendencies who abstain human blood? Then please join the group, I think we are quite a number by now. "The Radleys" is another book about vampires - this time written by Matt Haig and in quite a different tone than say "Twilight".

The Radleys are a family of four abstaining vampires living in a quiet Yorkshire village trying to blend in. Which they do quite well thanks to Dad's work as a doctor (anyone say Carlisle?!), mum's watercolours and the two kids Rowan and Clara - who do not know that they are vamps. However, the facade begins to crumble when Clara decides to go vegan, which makes her very very ill and means that one day, she can no longer control the instinct for blood lurking beneath the surface. Cue the police, cue investigations, cue Uncle Will. The family's black sheep, wild Uncle Will gets called to the scene to help out the Radleys. However, instead of helping out, he turns out to make havoc of an already messy situation. Clara is taking to her new vamp identity, Rowan is not so sure but is more worried about his crush on girl-next-door Eve and mum and dad are fighting a crumbling marriage.

Summing it up: this is a book that fuses surburbia and vampires with a pinch of humour and lots of twists. I actually enjoyed this book. The chapters are very short which suit the plot very well and adds to the quality of the writing. It was a very quick read and very shallow - no room for thought there, no reflections - but it was a breath of fresh air in a genre that I often find repetitive. All in all a good read if you want something light and fun with vampires.

Ps. I am loving the book cover!! What do you think?

2 comments:

  1. I just got this book recently and didn't even realize it was about vamps! Glad to hear it was fun a a bit of a different take on the story. I like vampires but think I may be reaching saturation point! :)

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  2. Ooh you have a good book waiting for you :-)

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