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Special thanks to NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.
The Vampire of Maple Town is by Kane McLoughlin and published by Ever After Press in 2018). It is a fairytale, coming of age, romance for young adults, though I believe some middle school readers would enjoy it as well. The story follows Charlie, a young vampire who was turned as a kid, as he slips away from his adoptive vampire father in order to explore the nearby town of Maple. There, he meets Sally, the local beauty that all the men fall for and their romance begins. But an old deal with some demon twins will force him to kill someone in Maple Town and he has no control over who or how or why. Meanwhile, his friend Scat is creating a blood blade to hunt down the world's vampires. When his romance with Sally starts to faulter and his cruel deed is done, Charlie must find a way to make amends or escape with his life.
This is a cute, original story that pulls from a lot of different fairy tales. Alice in Wonderland is the most obvious reference but there's a few sprinklings of Beauty and the Beast, some Twelfth Night, and the Prince and the Pauper mixed in. Readers will smile when they get the references but it does not hinder their enjoyment of the story.
Charlie is a fun lead. He is young and inexperienced with life and social interactions but he is likable and the other characters can't help but enjoy his company. He is respectful of Sally though he struggles to understand why she's falling out of love with him. The relationship with Skat is nice. Charlie helps him in making the blood blade, fully aware it is deadly to him, but he also understands Skat's grief and his need to find something to focus on. His relationship with his father, Victor, is also interesting.
Victor is not a great father figure. He turned Charlie when he was still a child, though it is hinted his actions were meant to save Charlie from something worse, and has given him some education. But Victor is also grieving the loss of his wife, a powerful witch who was killed by the towns people, and is trying to protect Charlie from a similar fate by keeping him in the mansion. The two often clash and it's clear Victor wants to do better but he does not know how or is afraid of getting too attached to anyone.
Our other lead character is Alice, a young witch who is kept in her house to prevent anyone in the town from knowing about her powers. She is willful but understands her father's fears. Her powers don't play a huge role other than being the reason she's kept locked away but she does demonstrate a mastery over them, especially when she alters her appearance in order to attend the Mad Hatter Festival. Alice also acts as a voice o reason for Sally and her older brother, Atticus, though neither listen to her. She also has a familiar, a cat who taught her magic and seems to be passed among the different witches.
Sally is the romantic interest. While she's nice and flirtacious, she's also known as the "queen of broken hearts." At one pooint she mentions she doesn't know why she gets bored with the men who are attracted to her and I thought she may have been under a curse. Later, however, it's hinted that she may be attracted to Alice but doesn't want to acknowledge or deal with this, so she lets her parents arrange her marriage with Alice's brother, Atticus, who is also not interested in getting married.
The plot is rather simple. Vampire meets girl and falls in love, cruel fate intervenes and forces him to be the monster that he is, he and the girl fall out of love, he's left alone to fend for himself, he tries to save the town from a worse fate but is still ostracized because of what he is. Vampire leaves to find a new life and some answers. I do like how the goals of each of the characters conflicts with each other. That was really well done. Charlie wants to have as normal of a life as possible, Vincent wants to keep Charlie safe and is willing to destroy the town to gain the boy's freedom, Skat wants to kill vampires, Alice wants to be free, the twins control the strings, everything blends together nicely.
Overall, the story and characters were entertaining and fun. I was interested in what was happening and how things were going to play out.
There are just a few negative points for me. First, the pacing is very slow. There were points I would skip whole paragraphs just to keep things moving. Maybe I'm impatient or maybe there were some things that could have been cut. Second, the narrator kept shifting on me. Sometimes is was omnipotent and zeroed in on anyone it wanted to, other times it was narrow and focused only on Alice or Charlie or Vincent, and other times it was almost invasive, interupting the story to bring attention to something or someone. I would have prefered it staying one way just for the ease of reading.
I also struggled a bit with what time period this is supposed to be. There are carriages and trains and fancy balls and festivals, yet the term "weirdo" is often used as an insult throughout the story. I did look up the origin of "weirdo" and it does have roots in middle English, but the way it's used in this book is its modern interpretation, not it's original one. I know it's a little thing, but it did pull me out of the story.
Finally, the ending was a bit lacking. I liked the way characters parted, I liked how everyone acknowledges it's the end of their friendships and how they've been living their lives, but then it quickly moves into setting up a sequal, leaving me with too many questions. For example:
- Who is Elizabeth's husband and will he play a bigger part in the next book?
- Where is Vincent?
- Why are Sally and Atticus still getting married when they don't have to? And why does the town's happiness rest on them?
- What is Charlie and Alice going to do?
- And who is the black cat?
The Vampire of Maple Town is a fun, cute story that invokes fairy tales, it follows a romance, questions the nature of humans, and offers a safe escape. I believe it's appropriate for middle school and up. If you enjoy clean, cute stories, this is a safe bet.
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