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Team Human
Today's post is a review of Team Human by and I would call it a parody, except that it isn't, really--while it is poking a bit of gentle fun at Twilight, there is a real story there and the characters and plot have more depth than a simple parody. (And probably more depth than Twilight itself, although I'm judging mostly by the movie since I haven't gotten around to reading the books yet. Someone gave me a copy of the first book, so I figure I'll read it someday just to be fair, since I shouldn't judge a book without at least attempting to read it.)
The official summary: Just because Mel lives in New Whitby, a city founded by vampires, doesn't mean she knows any of the blood-drinking undead personally. They stay in their part of town; she says in hers. Until the day a vampire shows up at her high school. Worse yet, her best friend, Cathy, seems to be falling in love with him. It's up to Mel to save Cathy from a mistake she might regret for all eternity!
Needless to say, the vampire that Cathy falls in love with is a handsome Edward-like vampire with the kind of mournful and poetic personality that certain teenage girls find irresistible. Before long, Cathy wants to become a vampire so that she can be with him through eternity. Mel is certain that Edward, er, I mean Francis, is up to no good, because why would a vampire (well past his teens in years if not outward appearance) want to go to high school? He does seem to be hiding some kind of secret, but is it possible that he might really be in love with Cathy?
Mel has an strong bias against vampires, not entirely without reason. Her friend Anna's father, a vampire therapist (yes, vampires have therapists!), abruptly abandoned his wife and daughter to run off with a female patient, and Anna and her mother, the school principal, were naturally traumatized by this. But Dr. Saunders had been a loving and devoted father and husband, so his behavior seems out of character. Was it just a mid-life crisis or are things not what they seem? And Mrs. Saunders has been acting strangely, even considering the circumstances. Is Francis involved somehow?
Mel finds an unexpected potential ally and friend in Kit, a human boy her age who was raised by the household of vampires that Francis lives in. (He was abandoned on their doorstep as a baby.) He's sympathetic to her predicament, but he also loves his vampire family. Kit's adoptive mom is a kick-ass vampire cop (I kid you not!), who is awesome and one of my favorite characters!
All this sounds like pure crack, and the book is hilariously funny, but it's also suspenseful and I really loved Mel and Kit. (Cathy and Francis are less well-developed, no doubt on purpose, given that they're Edward and Bella surrogates, but Cathy does show a stronger personality towards the end of the book.) And I loved how the authors obviously put a lot of thought into developing the vampire society, and how the existence of vampires has affected our human society. For example, there are laws and regulations about turning a human into a vampire.Edward Francis can't just bite Bella Cathy on the neck even if she's willing--she has to be a legal adult (or receive parental permission) and go through counseling in order to understand all the risks involved with the transformation--I thought that was a really great touch.
There's also a bit of seriousness amid the crack--Mel is genuinely concerned about Cathy, but what she truly fears is losing Cathy's friendship, fearing that it won't survive Cathy's transformation. That was a nice poignant touch without being too heavy-handed.
Oh, and one more awesome thing about the book: Mel is Chinese-American, and while it's mentioned a few times in passing, her race doesn't play any role in the story. I love seeing an Asian-American protagonist where she happens to be Asian and it's not a big deal--we need more stories (and TV shows and movies) like that!
To be honest, from the summary, I thought the book sounded kind of silly and I didn't really think I'd like it that much, but I loved the Demon's Lexicon series, so I gave it a try. And it turned out that I loved it and thought it was awesome! The story is pretty well wrapped up by the end, but if the authors ever decide to write a sequel I would definitely buy it.
The official summary: Just because Mel lives in New Whitby, a city founded by vampires, doesn't mean she knows any of the blood-drinking undead personally. They stay in their part of town; she says in hers. Until the day a vampire shows up at her high school. Worse yet, her best friend, Cathy, seems to be falling in love with him. It's up to Mel to save Cathy from a mistake she might regret for all eternity!
Needless to say, the vampire that Cathy falls in love with is a handsome Edward-like vampire with the kind of mournful and poetic personality that certain teenage girls find irresistible. Before long, Cathy wants to become a vampire so that she can be with him through eternity. Mel is certain that Edward, er, I mean Francis, is up to no good, because why would a vampire (well past his teens in years if not outward appearance) want to go to high school? He does seem to be hiding some kind of secret, but is it possible that he might really be in love with Cathy?
Mel has an strong bias against vampires, not entirely without reason. Her friend Anna's father, a vampire therapist (yes, vampires have therapists!), abruptly abandoned his wife and daughter to run off with a female patient, and Anna and her mother, the school principal, were naturally traumatized by this. But Dr. Saunders had been a loving and devoted father and husband, so his behavior seems out of character. Was it just a mid-life crisis or are things not what they seem? And Mrs. Saunders has been acting strangely, even considering the circumstances. Is Francis involved somehow?
Mel finds an unexpected potential ally and friend in Kit, a human boy her age who was raised by the household of vampires that Francis lives in. (He was abandoned on their doorstep as a baby.) He's sympathetic to her predicament, but he also loves his vampire family. Kit's adoptive mom is a kick-ass vampire cop (I kid you not!), who is awesome and one of my favorite characters!
All this sounds like pure crack, and the book is hilariously funny, but it's also suspenseful and I really loved Mel and Kit. (Cathy and Francis are less well-developed, no doubt on purpose, given that they're Edward and Bella surrogates, but Cathy does show a stronger personality towards the end of the book.) And I loved how the authors obviously put a lot of thought into developing the vampire society, and how the existence of vampires has affected our human society. For example, there are laws and regulations about turning a human into a vampire.
There's also a bit of seriousness amid the crack--Mel is genuinely concerned about Cathy, but what she truly fears is losing Cathy's friendship, fearing that it won't survive Cathy's transformation. That was a nice poignant touch without being too heavy-handed.
Oh, and one more awesome thing about the book: Mel is Chinese-American, and while it's mentioned a few times in passing, her race doesn't play any role in the story. I love seeing an Asian-American protagonist where she happens to be Asian and it's not a big deal--we need more stories (and TV shows and movies) like that!
To be honest, from the summary, I thought the book sounded kind of silly and I didn't really think I'd like it that much, but I loved the Demon's Lexicon series, so I gave it a try. And it turned out that I loved it and thought it was awesome! The story is pretty well wrapped up by the end, but if the authors ever decide to write a sequel I would definitely buy it.