Title: Team Human
Author: Justine Larbalestier, Sarah Rees Brennan
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: HarperTeen (Imprint of HarperCollins)
Date Published: July 3rd, 2012
Edition: Paperback
Source: ARC (Provided by Publisher)
Rating:
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!
On top of trying to help Cathy (whether she wants it or not), Mel is investigating a mysterious disappearance for another friend and discovering the attractions of a certain vampire wannabe. Combine all this with a cranky vampire cop, a number of unlikely romantic entanglements, and the occasional zombie, and soon Mel is hip-deep in an adventure that is equal parts hilarious and touching.
My Review:
When I first picked up Team Human, I think I was assuming it was a bit of a spoof book. You know, kind of lightheartedly poking fun at all the vampire books popping up everywhere. This was because of both the title of the book and because of a few reviews I read.
It’s not so much a spoof book though, although it does have humor and in some ways it’s poking fun at vampire books. The vampire and girl in love resembled a certain famous vampire/human couple who you might see sparkling around here and there. But it read as if they were meant to be like that because it was poking fun at them a little bit.
But where the main humor comes from is the main character Mel. She’s a fun and spunky chick who is very funny and easy to love. She has a lot of funny lines in this one, although I did find her snarkiness to be more towards the beginning of the book and it toned down a bit as the book moved forward. The one problem I had with her was that her determination to break up her friend (Cathy) and the vampire (Francis) got a wee bit annoying. I get why she was doing it and I really appreciated that she has a solid head on her shoulders. She’s smart and doesn’t swoon over anyone who smiles at her. But it got to be a bit much after awhile.
The story is light and there’s a bit of mystery but it’s not too crazy. I would say this is a good read if you’re looking for something not too heavy and that you don’t need to think about too much. Just something fun and fluffy. Those who are fans of vampire books (which is I’m sure most of you who read this blog are) will more than likely enjoy the parallels between some of our favorite vampire stories, only a little more…cheesy. On purpose of course though of course.
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