Book – Fang-tastic Friends (Vlad the World's Worst Vampire #2)
Author – Anna Wilson, Kathryn Durst
Star rating - ★★★★☆
No. of Pages – 160
Cover – Perfect!
Would I read it again – Yes
Genre – Children's, Vampire, Comic, Illustrated
** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **
While this was a great adventure for Vlad, and I love that it picked right up from the previous story, I did have some issues with it. The good stuff first – the storytelling and the illustrations are still completely on point. I love that we get to see Vlad learning his vampire abilities because he's behaving like a human. I love that we can see that all the pressure his mother is putting on him is the main reason why he can't do his vampire tasks to the level she wants. I think it's a great thing to show that sometimes putting too much pressure on someone can be detrimental to them. Also, that having fun and enjoying yourself is the best way to learn. I thought it was really nice how Vlad and Mixie's friendship continued, even though she knew he was a vampire.
But...the bad news.
First off, I totally understand that Boz is a bully, but I don't think it's a great message to be giving kids that it's okay to bully a bully. That's basically what Vlad and Mixie do here, by constantly pulling tricks on him (however unintentionally, at times) and getting him into trouble. It's almost sending the message that it's okay to do these things to Boz because it wasn't on purpose and because he's a bully, which just perpetuates the cycle and gives off the wrong message. I was also disappointed that we never saw any rehearsal for the school play, the audition or anything about Vlad preparing for it. I hope it will be in the next one, but I have a feeling the next one will be all about his evil cousin visiting.