When online shopping, this cover certainly caught my eye, mostly because it was adorable. Then the price caught my eye, mostly because it was $.79. Without even knowing the synopsis, I planned on getting it. Then I read the synopsis. It sounded so cute! The main character is a socially awkward boy with the unfortunate name of Finbar, who is allergic to the sun. When he notices that all the girls at his new school seem to be obsessed with these vampire books, he decides he'll use his unusual paleness to his advantage: and become a vampire. This book is an adorable little story with relatable characters that you won't want to put down. The one reason that I had to take away a star was the fact that Finbar- though supposedly extremely smart- was so oblivious to everything. I figured out who he was going to end up with and how the book would end about 75 pages in, yet Finbar, when the time came, just kept saying, "I can't believe I missed that" or "I should've put that together". Were we supposed to know how the entire book would end 200 pages before the main character figured anything out? I thought the premise of the book had a lot of potential, but the execution fell short of what it could have been. I can't fault the book just for being different than I expected it to be, though.There were two things in particular that bugged me, though. The first is that a lot of the jokes or witticisms didn't come across as that funny, but rather seemed "tryhard." Finn has a witty remark for EVERYTHING that happens, and while some of these insights are funny, a lot of them weren't for me.The second issue I have with the book is that the only insults ever used in the book from the male characters were gay slurs, and from the female characters, size shaming (whether body mass or cup size). To me, this is a sign that the author isn't quite as in tune with the peoples her characters represent as is expected. I have never come across this many uses of the word "gay" as an epithet in my life (and trust me, I'm listening for it), nor have I heard so many insults merely be "faggot" or a portmanteau of the word and someone's name. In and of themselves, these epithets don't negatively affect the quality of a book. or my enjoyment of one, but the author here didn't address the use of the words at all. The protagonist just shook them off and went about his business, as if those words were commonplace and socially accepted (as much as can be) as insults. If Meaney just needed insults, I'm sure she could have found something that's not masquerading as an insult for drawing attention to a different aspect of a person. And though the slurs insinuating Finn was gay seemed a small motivation for him to find someone to go out with, absent the epithets, I wouldn't have found his motivation any less convincing.In spite of these issues, I did still enjoy the book, just not as much as I would've liked when reading for pleasure.
What do You think about Bloeddorst (2011)?
I love this book...simply because it's a light read and completely adorable.
—Aditi
