Friday, November 30, 2012

Josie Griffin is Not a Vampire by Heather Swain

Summary:
A hilarious take on the paranormal trend--Twilight meets The Breakfast Club!

When former good girl turned rebel Josie Griffin gets busted for what was in her mind perfectly acceptable revenge on her cheating dog of a boyfriend, she lands herself in anger management therapy. It could be worse: it could be juvie, or she could be a zombie cheerleader like the rest of her former friends. But there's something strange about therapy--these are not normal kids. There's the wannabe ladies man with a weird accent, Johann; the blindingly gorgeous Helios; Avis with his wild dreads; and Tarren, the sprite of a girl with a wicked temper. And all of them keep talking about "powers." Josie knows that has to be impossible, but strange things start happening, and nothing weird ever happens in Indiana. After all, there're no such things as vampires, werewolves, Greek gods, or fairies . . . right? (from GoodReads)


Review:
I thought that Josie Griffin is Not a Vampire was a cute read, though I'm not sure I would categorize it as "Twilight meets The Breakfast Club." In the beginning, it was actually really funny. Josie had some great one-liners and I was excited to keep reading. As the book continued there weren't as many funny moments, which was a little sad.

I did like Josie as a character. She starts out angry and upset because her boyfriend cheated on her with her best friend, while her other friend kept it a secret. How awful is that! So Josie doesn't have any friends anymore until she starts her anger management therapy. What she is surprised to find is that she is in a group for paranormal creatures! No one knows she's human so she pretends she's a vampire/werewolf hybrid (sounds like The Vampire Diaries) without powers.

In addition to group therapy, Josie has to participate in community service. She gets placed at a home for runaway girls, but she finds that something sinister is going on there. The girls are disappearing one by one, and she's sure it is paranormal in nature. It was fun seeing Josie trying to figure out what was going on and I liked that she cared so much about the girls that she decided to help them.

What I thought was hilarious is that Josie's ex-boyfriend fancies himself a demon hunter and drives around in an Impala... pretty sure the author is a fan of Supernatural.

Overall, Josie Griffin in Not a Vampire wasn't anything spectacular but it was a cute read. If you're looking for something super light and quick, this is definitely a good choice.

Rating: 7 out of 10.
FTC: sent by publisher

2012/Speak/272 pages.

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