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Monster High Diaries #1

Draculaura and the New Stepmomster

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Draculaura brings her ghoulfriends on a special trip to Transylvania for her dad's wedding! Dracula is getting a new wife-and Draculaura is getting a new stepmomster! Read all about her fangtastic adventure in this brand-new original Monster High chapter book series!

©2015 Mattel. All Rights Reserved.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published August 4, 2015

30 people are currently reading
473 people want to read

About the author

Nessi Monstrata

8 books13 followers
Nessi Monstrata is the author of the all new Monster
High Diaries series. When she's not writing about the Monster High
ghouls, Nessi enjoys going out to eat with ghoulfriends, shopping (shoes
are her weakness!), and watching romantic comedies on TV.

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5 stars
147 (47%)
4 stars
88 (28%)
3 stars
53 (17%)
2 stars
13 (4%)
1 star
6 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
Profile Image for Mehsi.
15.2k reviews456 followers
February 14, 2016
I was super excited when I found out there would be more Monster High Books. I loved the books by Lisi Harrison, and I was sad when there weren't any new books coming out. Of course, I was also a bit hesitant, these are written by someone called Nessi Monstrata, I can't find any information about this writer, so maybe it is still the same person, just under a different name, or maybe she still helped with the writing of the story, I don't know. I was worried that maybe the characters would be totally different, the story changed and several things different.

But now, after reading this? I can say that this person did a great job, while the setting was a bit different, instead of Monster High and the surrounding area, this one takes place mostly in Transylvania, I have to say that the Monster High feeling and the way everything is described is just perfectly done. It is like there never was a break between books, that this one is just the next one in the series. Even the characters are just written perfectly. At times they might seem a bit different, but for 99% of the time they were the characters that I loved in the previous books by Lisi Harrison.

The only reason I am not giving more than 4 stars is easy, the story was pretty dull and Draculaura's/the vampire drama got a bit too much and too silly. Yes, I can understand that your new family might seem different (they are more traditional, more the old-school vampires), and yes, not everything is so fun. I agree, but was it necessary to drag out the drama this much? Can't we just have a moment of drama, some stuff happening and then cue the awesome parties and friendship? I just got tired of all the old-school vampires and wish they would get with the times. Seriously, bashing people like that? What is wrong with you?
I had just hoped for a nice, easy book about a wedding, with maybe a tat bit of drama, because that generally seems to come with the whole getting a new mom/dad/meeting the new family.

The characters, as I said, were terrific and I was delighted to meet them again. To see them again, to hear them talk in their funny slang that is apparently normal in their world (movie = boo-vie / best = beast / stepmother = stepmomster). Cleo was still bitchy and a royal pain in the butt at times, but she also had some great and sweet moments. Frankie was electrifying fun. Clawdeen was wolftastic. Ghoulia is still a bookgirl who just loves reading, no matter where or when. :)

Ramoanah (that name, I love it!) was a wonderful character and I really love her. I know, you might find me crazy, especially when you just start to read the book, but believe me, you will grow to love her as well. She is sweet and I can imagine why Dracula would fall in love with her.

I can't wait for the other books in this series (yes, there will be more!), I will be sure to read them all and hopefully I will love them as much as I did love the other books. I am also planning on checking out the tv series of this series, as I am really curious about it.

I would recommend this book, though I would say, also read the other books, if you read this one without any knowledge of the world, you probably will be confused.

Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
Profile Image for Tiffany Spencer.
1,989 reviews19 followers
February 16, 2018
Draculaura And The New Stepmomster
PLOT: In a beautiful Chateau in a hotel in Transylvania, plans are being made for the beautiful, stunning, bride Romoanah and Dracula to wed. So Draculaura invites her ghoul-friends along as guests (Frankie, Ghoulia, Cleo, and Clawdeen). Notice I didn't say Clawd. So why isn't Clawd invited? Apparently, Roamona is from a "traditional" vampire family that's still living in the dark ages and hasn't adapted to the open policy of Dracula that embraces monsters of all types. Draculaura is a little nervous but convinces herself it will be ok and that she and her new stepmomster will be the best of friends. But things don't exactly go that way.

MY THOUGHTS: The book really touched on a personal topic that will affect me some day. It had to do with families being presented sometimes with "non-traditional" choices and them not being open to them because they hold old attitudes and values. In Draculaura And The New Stepmomster it was "non-vampires" but as I read this I couldn't help but compare this to other discriminations in people's choice. For example, what if you brought someone to your family that you were dating that was outside your race? Or what even if you brought someone that you were dating to your family that was the opposite gender of what you were? Would they react like Romoana's family? Would they have the embracing attitude of Dracula? (Who started Monster High if I'm not mistaken) Or would they be like Romoana who wasn't used to it but was willing to at least try to be accepting and adapt? (Shown in the way she invites Clawd and surprises the ghouls with their favorite foods after the staff wasn't prepared to accommodate their different food preferences). And it made me angry that there will always be "Alexanders" in the world that will turn up their nose and look down on people that aren't the same race as they are. Or don't hold the same status in life as they are. Or don't believe what they believe so they'll always have a superiority complex. And denying them of something won't do a thing to change that. (Like in the case of Romona kicking him out of the wedding as a punishment). We see it today in politics as certain groups are denied their rights as a whole and hated as individuals because of who they identify themselves as. I had to come around to Romona because, in the beginning, she struck me as cold and indifferent. And I still don't understand why she didn't personally (if it was just to come up to their room on the way to planning) take just 5 minutes to put forth the effort to introduce herself to Draculaura. I'm sorry but NOONE is *that* busy. Or introduce herself to her before all the planning would have been nice. If she would have gotten to know her the mistake would never have been made about what to serve her. A lot of that I don't put on Dracula. SHE should have taken some initiative. I found that a little odd that this is the first time ever she's meeting her. What else I found odd is Draculaura worries that things will now be different between her and her father and how now there will be three people in the house. Since when is Dracula ever around in this series? In all the books I've read that feature Draculaura he's always off jet-setting on a boat somewhere. So unless he's *now* planning to be home more she's never really had time with him to herself. It's just been her and that fru fru butler. But this book really made me give some long, SERIOUS, thought to which side of vampires does my family fall.


RATING: 10 The message touched me and that was to embrace change for the people you love. They might not make a choice that you would have but for their sakes try to accept it and them even if you don't understand it or agree.
Profile Image for Orkhiroz.
241 reviews1 follower
April 6, 2025
Novel ini kupilih untuk TBR prompt: pretty cover. Bukunya kubeli karena dulu kangen banget beli buku yang bisa kusukai setelah dikecewakan terus-menerus. Maka, pada tahun 2022 aku memborong buku yang mempunyai tokoh favoritku di suatu franchise.

Kover sangat bagus, tokoh-tokohnya kelihatan cantik dan fashionable dengan vibe masing-masing. Kombinasi warna kesukaanku—pink dan hitam—terasa imut, keren, indah, dan misterius. Dua sketsa besar Draculaura di dalam buku juga terlihat manis, mungil, dan menggemaskan. Itulah salah satu alasan dia jadi tokoh Monster High favoritku.

Alasan lainnya adalah sifat Draculaura. Banyak hal yang bisa kupelajari dari dia yang begitu positif, berusaha keras dalam memahami orang lain, pantang menyerah, dan dapat memanfaatkan situasi buruk menjadi lebih menyenangkan. Omong-omong, karakterisasi dia bagus. Dia bisa terasa dewasa sekaligus masih remaja dalam menghadapi konflik psikologis. Paragraf terakhir di halaman 122 membuatku terharu. Karakterisasi Ramoanah yang kompleks juga terasa bagus.

Namun sayang, menurutku, pemecahan masalah soal "justru orang-orang terdekat yang membuatnya merasa ditinggalkan dan kesepian" itu enggak terselesaikan dengan memuaskan. Rasanya terlalu damai dan mudah.

Selain itu, bagian utama yang begitu dinantikan—pernikahan—justru diceritakan langsung melalui diari Draculaura. Kurang seru karena kita cuman tahu detailnya dari POV dia. Pembaca bahkan enggak mendapatkan potensi chaos terkait ibu Ramoanah dan Alexander.

Aku suka mereka membuat cerita soal latar belakang keluarga Draculaura. Seingatku, ayahnya adalah kepsek atau pendiri Monster High—kayaknya ini yang Gen 2 deh. Oleh karena itu, aku ingin tahu lebih lanjut soal pandangan Dracula dalam permasalahan persamaan derajat di kehidupan monster. Aku bahkan baru tahu kalau klan vampir itu sombong banget, setidaknya versi dunia sini.

Alur di sini mudah sekali ditebak, tapi enggak masalah karena target utama pembacanya adalah anak-anak. Namun, sebelum mendapatkan petunjuk, di awal-awal banget aku memang sempat memikirkan kemungkinan soal penggunaan hipnotisme. Setelah ada, semuanya jadi gampang banget.

Aku mengapresiasi penggunaan font cantik sebagai pembeda POV orang ketiga dengan orang pertama, namun jenis font-nya sangat menyusahkan dan memusingkanku dalam membacanya.

Aku juga sangat suka dengan pemelesetan kata-kata sehingga bisa membuat dunia Monster High terasa ikonis, tetapi terkadang itu terasa ribet bagiku yang kadang enggak bisa mengingat diambil dari kosakata bahasa Inggris yang mana. Makin sering digunakan, jadi makin menggangguku.

Aku enggak begitu ingat soal kepribadian Elissabat sebelum baca ini. Tapi, untungnya, di akhir-akhir novel, akhirnya jiwa kepemimpinannya sebagai ratu mereka terasa juga karena di bagian-bagian sebelumnya dia kayak menurut saja.

Omong-omong, aku sangat suka pada pasangan Draculaura dan Clawd. Mereka manis banget, apalagi height difference-nya. Selain itu, seingatku Clawd sangat gentleman meskipun tampak mengintimidasi. Sayang sekali, dia enggak terasa hidup di sini.

Pas remaja dulu, aku kan sering menonton ulang TV series dan film Monster High. Aku agak geli ketika bisa mendengar suara dan logat tokoh-tokohnya ketika sedang baca. Enggak heran karena mereka ikonis sekali dan hal itu membuat novel ini terasa lebih asyik serta hidup. Namun, aku cuman cocok sama Gen 1 sih, yang Gen 2 dan Gen 3 terasa enggak spark joy lagi dan aku seperti kehilangan sesuatu dari mereka.

Ulasan versi video ada di channel YouTube-ku.
Profile Image for Astrid.
11 reviews1 follower
November 11, 2025
obsessed with Draculaura being the woke, goth (I assume all of the neon pink is the aristocratic vampire equivalent of goth) vegan daughter with a queer friend group in a conservative family she's so me core
Profile Image for Ericka annamarie.
138 reviews34 followers
May 8, 2020
super cute! any kid would absolutely love it and its all about love and respect.
Profile Image for Evelina.
4 reviews
July 8, 2022
For a 15 year old colleen hoover reader. This went very very slowly. No plot twist just a pretty boring read
5 reviews
June 25, 2023
If you like monsters and your a vamp fan,and your also a teen or a kid this is Definitely your type of book
14 reviews1 follower
Read
February 17, 2024
I like it, its a good story of friendship and It was quite short so I have no complaints the ending was really sweet as well
Profile Image for OZGE.
142 reviews
September 29, 2023
I really love Draculaura and I also like the fact I got to read more of her family cause I feel like they should have been mentioned more
Profile Image for Blythe Penland.
400 reviews31 followers
April 19, 2016
Of course, I absolutely adored this little read! I will say, I had no idea about this new Monster High series and I am a huge fan! I was just wandering around Barnes and Noble, and was very shocked to see a new series. I picked it up, found out what it was about and bought it obviously! It was such a good read, so glad that they gave this adventure a junior novel, not a webisode, tv special, or movie. I was so surprised though, to find out that Draculaura's dad, Dracula, was getting married! That's crazy! But, obviously Draculaura can handle a stepmomster. I was really scared at first, and fearful that Ramoanah's family would never be open to the possibility of diversity with non-vampires. But she really fooled me! She had all kind of monsters at the wedding and even gave all Draculaura's ghouls a basket full of food that wasn't blood. Alexander was a real party-pooper who was really snobby. I was so sad for Draculaura when she found all the vamps at the breakfast feast and she was not invited. I get that she wouldn't have liked the menu's options, but this was her FAMILY. And they even included Elissabat, which was totally unfair to D. She deserved better than that. At least everything turned out alright, and Draculaura got to be Ramoanah's maid of horror. That was pretty cool that they also invited Clawd to come. D definitely needed her boyfriend there to be her date, even if he was a werewolf. They are like the cutest couple ever. I was really grateful for all the Ghoulia translations as well. (I can't speak Zombese, obviously.) And all her ghoulfriends got to come to Transylvania with her. They even saw Viperine Gorgon! Ramoanah even asked for the ghoul's input on the menu for the wedding. And the hotel they were at, the Chateau, sounded so amazing. (Don't you wish it were real?) And again, LOVE the happy ending. Gives me hope and makes me feel like I'm still a child. I can't wait to read the next diary with Frankie. Of course, I also took advantage of the Write Your Own Diary in the last couple pages. (No, I'm not going to tell you what I wrote about.) Love this book, fun little read, and I recommend this book for young readers and fans of Monster High.
Profile Image for Amy.
840 reviews4 followers
October 26, 2015
Once again, Monster High brings us a very cute story while tackling some issues frequently faced no matter what world you live in. As you can tell by the title, Draculaura's world is turned a bit upside down when she finds out that she's getting a new Stepmomster. Not only that, but she didn't even know her dad was dating. (A good reminder to parents who delve back into the dating scene to not get so caught up in new love that they let their kids lag behind.) We get to go on the journey with Draculaura as she deals with changes, doubts, fears, and a roller coaster of other emotions over this emotion packed weekend.

I loved how diary entries are interspersed throughout the story and most especially, I appreciated the diary pages in the back and the encouragement for young readers to stretch their minds and fingers as they test out journalling themselves.

I would definitely recommend this to Monster High fans or to any young reader looking for a good read.
Profile Image for Kyanitedragon.
7 reviews
December 26, 2023
I really wanted to like this one, but I thought it was the weakest of the diaries series. This is the first time we hear of and see Ramoanah, and yet she’s barely featured in the story, which was quite disappointing. There also seemed to be a lot of telling not showing going on the whole book. Nearly everything about Ramoanah as well as her relationship with Dracula is told to us, not shown. I also wasn’t satisfied with the ending, as we never got them properly apologizing to Draculaura. She was excluded by her own family and alienated by her own kind for days, and this is just glossed over by the end.
6,233 reviews40 followers
January 21, 2016
This is another in the diaries series. In this one Draculaura finds out her father is going to get remarried. She's worried about whether or not her new stepmomster will like her or not. Things are complicated by the fact that her stepmomster's side of the family is very conservative while Draculaura definitely is not.

She has a lot of trouble getting adjusted but then again so does her stepmomster. As with all things Monster High matters work out in the end. There's also some pages that the reader can use as a diary.
315 reviews1 follower
March 18, 2016
This is a fun book. My daughter loved how it goes from text to right from Draculaura herself. It was fun and I was able to point out about jumping to what you think is happening instead of what actually is happening. This is a good book and I recommend it to any monster high lover. I can't wait to check her out more of these from the library.
Profile Image for Jeff.
513 reviews
April 30, 2016
Draculaura is my favorite character so it was nice to see a story featuring her at the center. But there continues to be a "fangtastic" amount of monster puns that would be fine in very small doses. But the powers at be feel compelled to let not a line of dialog go by without some kind of play on words.
Profile Image for Marcey Supergirl.
7 reviews1 follower
October 8, 2015
This was a cute little read and I like how it had her diary entries along with the story. It is a bit predictable but it's pretty fun.
Profile Image for Yuiko.
1,715 reviews21 followers
December 9, 2015
Loved it :) any monster high fan will adore this book!!!
Profile Image for Jess M.
23 reviews
February 16, 2016
I absolutely love love LOVE this!! Draculaura is my favorite character, this book met all my expectations and more!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews

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