Slayed by Amanda Marrone

SLAYED
Author: Amanda Marrone

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse; Original edition (October 5, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416994874
• ISBN-13: 978-1416994879

SUMMARY:

The Van Helsing family has been hunting vampires for over one hundred years, but sixteen-year-old Daphne wishes her parents would take up an occupation that doesn’t involve decapitating vamps for cash. All Daphne wants is to settle down in one place, attend an actual school, and finally find a BFF to go to the mall with. Instead, Daphne has resigned herself to a life of fast food, cheap motels and buying garlic in bulk. 

But when the Van Helsings are called to a coastal town in Maine, Daphne’s world is turned upside down. Not only do the Van Helsings find themselves hunting a terrifying new kind of vampire (one without fangs but with a taste for kindergarten cuisine), Daphne meets her first potential BF! The hitch? Her new crush is none other than Tyler Harker, AKA, the son of the rival slayer family. 

What’s a teen vampire slayer to do? 

MY THOUGHTS:

First of all, I love the cover!  I love the upshot angle of the camera focusing on our heroine with the stake in her hand. Unfortunately, that was about all that I loved about this book.

Daphne dreams of being a normal teenage girl with normal friends and school.  Unfortunately, she comes from a long line of vampire slayers and is forced by her parents to stay true to the family business.  While I wasn’t a big fan of Daphne, I did enjoy Kiki in the story.  She was a laugh out loud riot throughout the whole story. 

The writing wasn’t amazing, but it was bearable.  It came across childish even though Daphne is suppose to be seventeen in the story.  I felt she acted more like a fifteen year old than a near adult.  The plot of the story also left me feeling like the story would never end.  Sometimes this can be a good thing, but in this instance, it was tiresome and I found myself hoping each chapter was the last. The story could have been great, yet I felt it only to be so-so.  The characters never really captured my interest enough to really care what happened.

An okay book, but not one I would reread anytime soon, if ever.

MY RATING: