Book Review: Bloodthirsty

by Flynn Meaney

Rating: 9/10

Some vampires are good. Some are evil. Some are faking it to get girls. Fifteen-year-old Finbar Frame missed out in the gene-pool stakes to his twin brother Luke. Finbar is tall, skinny, pale and pretty much allergic to the sun - and teenage girls don't appreciate Finbar's sensitive skin or his sensitive soul. But at his new school Finbar seizes the opportunity to become a vampire! Or at least fake it... to get a date.

For all those who are sick of Team Edward and Team Jacob, this is a funny and interesting take on the vampire craze from the point of Finbar, a teenage boy.

Finbar didn’t get a great start in life, his parent named him Finbar which combined with the fact that he’s introspective and into reading, makes him a prime bully target. This would probably be okay except his twin brother not only has a normal name (Luke) he’s the star of the football team, tan, athletic, etc.

Now Luke is a pretty great brother as he makes every effort to include Fin, it’s just that he doesn’t feel all that comfortable with the idea of hanging out with the cool kids.

When Fin’s parents move him and his brother to New York he finds out he’s allergic to the sun and decides it’s high time he got a better friend than his mom. He cried watching The Notebook mostly because he realised he was watching The Notebook on a Friday night, with his mom.

On the subway Fin overhears three teenage girls espousing the virtues of vampires and he has an epiphany, all the things that make him a weird nerd make a vampire soooo hawt!!

Fin thus makes himself over to be a vampire, after researching he starts affecting the broody vampire way of life which goes surprisingly well as he has a different lunch hour to the people he meets so they don’t see him eat.

It’s a hilarious take on the vampire genre and it’s a great story, especially when he realises that his “being a vampire” has helped him to become a version of himself that he likes.

I’m hoping for a sequel after the novel ends with Luke having decided that he’s becoming a werewolf to impress a girl.

Currently listening: It's4u – Short Stack