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Mere Mortals: A Fresh, Funny Young Adult Vampire Story About High School and Friendship

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"Two teenage vampires are turned mortal and must face the greatest nightmare of all--high school"--

This hilarious, fresh take on a classic vampire tale follows a pair of hundred-year-old teenage vampires who are turned mortal and must face the greatest nightmare of all—high school.

Charlie and her brother, Reg, have been vampires for…a very long time. For a century, they enjoyed the glitz and glamour of life as members of the wealthiest vampire clan. But now, after one careless mistake, they’ve been expelled from the vampire community and dumped in the middle of Nowhere, Iowa, to live as mortals.

Suddenly Charlie has to deal with zits, tears, and—worst of all—high school. But things start to change when she and Reg find a group of friends, including the deliciously good-looking Dexter. And though Charlie would give anything to be vampire again, she begins to appreciate some of the new experiences that humanity brings too.

But nothing could make them forget the life they’ve left behind. When they’re offered a second shot at immortality, Charlie is desperate to seize it. It’ll just mean a total betrayal of all her new friends, who will have their minds wiped of their memories of her. She can handle that if it means she can live forever…right?

368 pages, Hardcover

First published September 27, 2022

70 people are currently reading
5035 people want to read

About the author

Erin Jade Lange

5 books310 followers
ERIN JADE LANGE is the author of 5 novels for young adults, including the upcoming, Mere Mortals. Erin is the winner of the Friedolin Youth Book Prize in Germany and the Sakura Medal in Japan. She has also been nominated for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize (twice), the German Children’s Literature Award and multiple state book awards. Her debut novel, Butter, was a 2013 Teens’ Top Ten Pick, and her books have appeared on several state reading lists. Erin is a recovering journalist and a lover of books. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona.
www.erinjadelange.com
@erinjadelange


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5 stars
168 (11%)
4 stars
514 (35%)
3 stars
559 (38%)
2 stars
169 (11%)
1 star
49 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 433 reviews
Profile Image for give me books.
499 reviews6,090 followers
February 26, 2023
Nie wiem czy jestem fanką tego zakończenia, ale sama historia i sam pomysł na historię MEGA
Profile Image for Shannara.
556 reviews111 followers
November 19, 2022
I did enjoy this, but it’s missing that special quality that makes me love a book. Everything was either funny, sweet, or enjoyable, but only just. Nothing to exceed expectations or really draw me into the book. Charlie and her brother Reg are fine, I just didn’t love them as main characters. I would have probably rather have read about Lina and the vampire hunter. That would have been super entertaining. Their love story was quite intriguing, but we didn’t get a whole lot of that.

The plot was interesting enough to keep me reading and enjoying what I was reading. So that’s good and all, this just wasn’t hitting the spot for me. The writing flowed and was smooth. There was nothing that kept me from loving this book in particular, it just didn’t hit the spot for me. So on to the next one!!

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Harper Audio, and Erin Jade Lange for the opportunity to read this book for my honest and unbiased opinion.
Profile Image for podczytany.
315 reviews5,992 followers
April 29, 2024
Zwykli śmiertelnicy to historia o rodzeństwie, które w ramach kary zostaje pozbawione swojej nieśmiertelności. Nasza dwójka zostaje zesłana do małego miasteczka, ich opiekunem zostaje…. tajemniczy Pan🫣

Zabawnie opisany był fakt, jak Charlie punktowała najgorsze rzeczy w byciu człowiekiem: łzy, pocenie się i co najgorsze SZKOŁA.

Jest to historia o odkrywaniu kwintesencji człowieczeństwa, o nawiązywaniu „zwykłych, śmiertelnych” relacji, o kompletnej zmianie swojego systemu wartości, o wierności i miłości.

Zakończenie zbiera różne opinie, jednakże mi się ono podobało.

Ocena: 3,5.
Profile Image for Muffinsandbooks.
1,726 reviews1,335 followers
September 7, 2023
Eh bah écoutez, j’ai adoré ! C’était hyper addictif, le parfait mélange entre drôle et original, avec ce qu’il fallait de profondeur et des personnages qu’on voit évoluer au fil des pages… une très bonne lecture et une chouette surprise pour ce roman de vampire qui change de ce qu’on a lu dans le genre jusqu’à présent ! Mention spéciale aussi à l’univers que j’ai trouvé très sympa et, encore une fois, original : même s’il n’est pas non plus exploité à foooond, il apporte un vrai truc à l’histoire selon moi !
Profile Image for Natalia.
102 reviews86 followers
March 14, 2024
3,5*
Całkiem przyjemna i luźna, ale raczej nie zostanie w mojej pamięci na długo
Profile Image for Victoria ✮⋆˙.
1,112 reviews125 followers
October 17, 2022
This was just okay, not amazing not bad just…okay. The premise is what drew me to it but honestly the MC’s were so whiny and entitled and they just annoyed the hell outa me for the majority of the book. It was nice to see a flip on the usual human turned vampire story as it’s the other way round but it just fell flat in a way I can’t explain. I’m giving it 3 because honestly it’s just middle ground.
Profile Image for Aly.
3,181 reviews
August 15, 2022
Usually teen vampire books are about characters who want to become a vampire to be with their crush, but this flips that and centers around two vampire siblings who are changed back to mortals. It was a fun change and made me laugh when the main characters thought they were so above "mortals" and their ways, but then they slowly fell into the same thoughts as time went on.

I enjoyed watching Charlie and Reg learn how to be modern teenagers and navigate high school. Charlie is a bit mean, but she feels adrift and has a hard time when Reg seems to fit in so easily. I liked the sibling's romances and thought they were cute without being too much or overwhelming the story. I also thought Sal, the vampire hunter who takes them in, was pretty funny and had some good life lessons to impart.

The ending did not go the way I thought and I was a little disappointed. It wasn't a bad ending, just seemed a bit strange based on the character's previous actions and thoughts. It works well as a standalone, but I would definitely read a sequel with more of Charlie and Reg.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. Thank you to Harper Audio and NetGalley for the copy.
Profile Image for natka_bookish_life.
311 reviews162 followers
April 7, 2023
„-nie będę przepraszać za Pradę!”

fajna, zabawna i lekka! kocham połączenie wampirów ze światem realnym, gdzie to tym razem wampiry musza się do niego dostosować!

uśmiałam się jak nigdy! jeśli szukacie lekkiej fantastyki na wiosnę~ TO PRZECZYTAJCIE TO! 🩷
Profile Image for fryta.
403 reviews69 followers
February 27, 2023
Jejku, nie spodziewałam się, że końcówka zostawi we mnie taką pustkę 3
Profile Image for Bookish ✨.
381 reviews29 followers
February 21, 2023
jeju kompletnie nie spodziewałam się takiego zakonczenia 🥺 z chęcią przeczytalabym następny tom gdyby takowy powstał 💖
Profile Image for Starr ❇✌❇.
1,749 reviews162 followers
September 18, 2022
I received an ARC from Edelweiss
TW:
3

This was a cute & light hearted take on vampires that I could definitely see younger teens and fans of light fantasy/paranormal fiction enjoying! This definitely isn't a story I've seen done before, and the uniqueness of the concept meshed well with the well worn YA and teen movie tropes to make something familiar yet new.
This book was a quick and easy read, the Halloween equivalent of a beach read. If you're looking for something a little spooky rounded out with the kind of fluff Disney Channel originals are made out of, you've found your book.

For me, as a 26 year old with a burning desire for layers and symbolism, this wasn't really the right fit for me. It was hard for me to fully get invested in these characters and the writing itself is very casual and surface level- complaints I don't expect most who gravitate to this book to have. I'm not the target audience at all, but I did still have fun!
Profile Image for Trin.
2,309 reviews680 followers
December 13, 2022
Great premise! So it's really such a shame that this annoyed me more and more as it went along. I felt that the author made a lot of cowardly worldbuilding choices -- first among them, the reveal that the two vampire siblings who now have to live as mortals and attend high school never really killed people, just nibbled and sucked a bit and gave their victims amnesia. After an an awkward first day, they easily become friends with the only other students we meet: two indistinguishable sisters (one has pink hair and that's her entire personality!), plus one straight boy (for the straight female sibling) and one gay boy (for the gay male sibling). And those are the sole characteristics the romances seem to rest upon.

Then, for the remainder of the novel, plot -- and I use this term loosely, as there's barely one -- dictates character and not the other way around. Charlie and Reg makes choices because those are clearly the decisions Lange wanted them to make, but she does not convincingly allow the reader to see what's brought them to these major life-altering decisions, so the entire exercise feels shallow.

Also, it's just not that funny.
Profile Image for jagodasbooks .
1,199 reviews411 followers
March 15, 2023
"I'll be at the party, I'm hoping some nice girl will ask me to dance?
A nice girl? That's a shame."

This book was so fun and light read. Two vampires turned mortals had to go to school in the middle of literal nowhere. But I was so convinced that Dexter will betray Charlie omggg, I don't know if it's my trust issues, but I could bet that he'll turn out to be a vampire slayer or hunter or something and then there was the ending and I was like ???? Seriously? He's normal human, but he gave me such a weird vibe idk
Profile Image for m.alause.
80 reviews6 followers
February 28, 2023
Książki o wampirach przeznaczone dla młodzieży zwykle opierają się na dwóch rzeczach: pragnieniu zostania wampirem lub zdobyciu swojej miłości, która tym wampirem okazuje się być. Praktycznie nigdy nie opowiadają one o bohaterach, którzy tymi wampirami kiedyś byli! “Zwykli śmiertelnicy” prezentuje świeżą i ciekawą wizję na książki tej kategorii.

Jako czytelnik obserwujemy podróż Rega i Charlie, dwójki, do niedawna, wampirów. “Nastolatkowie” (czy można tak powiedzieć, skoro mają ze sto lat?) próbują odnaleźć się w świecie pospolitych ludzi ale to oznacza, że będą musieli nauczyć się jak się ubrać, co mówić i robić, żeby przetrwać w amerykańskim liceum, znaleźć znajomych i (być może) miłość. I mimo, że Reg wydaje się od razu odnaleźć w nowym środowisku to Charlie, nasza główna bohaterka, radzi sobie z tym troszkę gorzej i nie rozumie, jak jej brat uznał to za takie proste.

Jest to z pewnością ksi��żka idealna na wyciszający wieczór po ciężkim dniu w szkole lub w pracy. Urzekający halloweenowy klimat sprawi, że poczujemy się jakbyśmy naprawdę należeli do świata głównych bohaterów i razem z nimi radzili sobie z każdymi przeciwnościami losu, z którymi się spotykają. Miłym dodatkiem było także to, że wątki romantyczne w tej książce nie przyćmiewały całej fabuły, jak to niekiedy w młodzieżówkach bywa.

“Zwykli śmiertelnicy” to lekka pozycja przy której można się śmiać, płakać czy też po prostu zrelaksować. Z całą pewnością sprawdzi się dla fanów “Gossip girl” i “Pamiętników wampirów”.
Profile Image for Trisha.
5,928 reviews232 followers
August 21, 2022
I don't read a lot of vampire books but this one looks funny, so I thought I'd give it a chance.

But sadly, this one just wasn't for me. I found the MC's insuferably annoying. I couldn't get over the fact that they were "so old" because they were vampires, and yet there were so many basic things in life they just didn't understand. I thought a couple of spots were cute but overall, I just couldn't connect and enjoy the story. I wish I'd loved it. Just not for me.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
Profile Image for Veronica ☽◯☾.
248 reviews128 followers
October 10, 2023
➸ 3.75 ⭐️

"Two teenage vampires are turned mortal and must face the greatest nightmare of all--high school."


this was pretty entertaining

I requested Mere Mortals after reading the first two chapters and honestly not only did it deliver the quick paced fun I was expecting but also surpassed my expectations. The vampire lore and politics and the way everything was thought out really surprised and impressed me.

The MCs - Charlotte (Charlie) and Reg - were great. They were almost complete opposites and they were both a lot of fun but especially Charlie. She had the best one-liners, I laughed out loud so many times.
I've seen some reviews where people call her insufferable and generally dislike her because she is arrogant and selfish etc but I don't think that's fair. She may be all of those things but that didn't just make her annoying it also made her interesting and fun and in the end she had the best development.
Also, both MCs may have been 100 year old vampires but they are still very much stuck in their teenage phase and that is explained in the beginning so they were acting exactly their human age, if not even a little older than what Sal pegged them to be.
"They are children," Adante replied. "It is precisely the problem. Of all the things we shed when we turn - our memories, our illnesses, our physical imperfections - we cannot lose the essence of who we are. If we are children, we are doomed to remain children.''

I loved the supporting characters as well.
Sal, in particular, cracked me up on more than one occasion, though the whole gang was awesome.
"If you're asking whether these sticks will smoke 'em or stake 'em, the answer is smoke."
"How do you know?"
He threw his hands up to the sky and did his best impression of a TV evangelist. "Because I didn't lay my healing hands on them."

(you won't get this until u read the book but i was laughing at this scene for 10 min straight 😂😂😂)
The romance between Charlie and Dex was so sweet, I loved them together.
"But you can't get into the after-party dance without a costume. And what about that nice girl you planned to dance with?"
He played along, his big smile beaming down at me. "Are you the nice girl?"
"Me?" I let out a breathy laugh. "God, no. Nice girls are so boring."

The ending really surprised me because I didn't expect Charlie and Reg to end up where they did.
A heart doesn't have to beat to be broken.

I loved it but it also made me a little sad and I wish there was an epilogue.

This is a great fall read and if you love stand-alone books with vampires, found family, sweet romance, and laugh-out-loud moments you should check this one out!

quotes are from an advance copy and may differ in the final publication. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Profile Image for Amber.
2,679 reviews365 followers
November 12, 2022
Parts of this were fun, but others were, uh, not good. I was not expecting the former vamps to be aged back so dramatically.

I received an ecopy of this book through Netgalley; however, my opinions are my own.
Profile Image for ami__books Amelia.
87 reviews25 followers
February 21, 2023
4,5/5 ⭐️
O jeju jakie to było dobre!! Najelpsza młodzieżówka dotychczas jaką czytałam, serio wywarła na mnie ogromne wrażenie, to ile wartości wyniosłam z tej książki to coś niesamowitego, fabuła bardzo ciekawa, poruszająca ważne tematy. Wątek wampirów był mega fajnie i przyjemnie wpleciony a sama końcówka TO KOŁEK W SERDUCHO ale takiej w sumie oczekiwałam, chociaż z początku miałam inne podejrzenia, i nie przewidziałam zakończenia całkowicie ale to dobrze bo byłam zdziwiona i zaskoczona!! Jeżeli lubicie wampiry i młodzieżówki oraz macie poczucie humoru to słuchajcie lepszej książki nie znajdziecie super się bawiłam czytając to, autorka ma bardzo przyjemne pióro i książkę czytało się wręcz z uśmiechem na twarzy na koniec uroniłam łezkę, przyznaje się… czytajcie polecam bardzo gorąco.
Po za tym ta książka jest wydana przepięknie, jeśli chodzi o detale to majstersztyk, a powiązanie okładki z treścią WOW WOW WOW 🖤🤍🧛🏻‍♀️🧛🏻
Profile Image for Wercia (Papierowyswiat).
255 reviews368 followers
February 22, 2023
3,75/5⭐️Pierwszy raz mam styczność z wampirami. Wybrałam ta pozycje bo słyszałam ze jest to takie delikatne wprowadzenie w ten świat i faktycznie takie było. Poznałam bardziej zwyczaje wampirów i ich humorki. Największym plusem tej książki był humor, podczas różnych ikonicznych scen bez śmiechu się nie obejdzie. Nie jest to książka najwyższych lotów wiec pewnie dla wielkich fanów wampirów ta książka nie będzie jaka niesamowita, ale dla MMIE osobiście były idealnym wprowadzeniem. Prosty język i dosyć prosta fabuła spowodowały, że przez ta książkę się dosłownie płynęło. Pierwsze 150 stron było dosyć nudne ale pózniej akcja się rozkręciła. Końcówka była dla mnie dosyć szokująca i emocjonalna dlatego moja ocena końcowo troszkę podskoczyła do góry. Książka nie zapadnie mi jakoś bardzo w pamięci, ale dzięki niej napewno zacznę swoją erę z wampirami!
Profile Image for Oliebook.
155 reviews57 followers
November 18, 2023
2.5/5
Jestem chyba jedną z nielicznych osób, którym bardzo spodobało się zakończenie. Pozytywnie mnie ono zaskoczyło. Co do całej książki, to polecam raczej młodszym czytelnikom w wieku 12/13 lat, bo wydaje mi się, że osobom w tym przedziale najbardziej się ona spodoba.
Profile Image for Paulina (zaczytana.krolewna).
267 reviews9 followers
February 16, 2023
3.75/5 ⭐ (7.5/10)

Dawno nie czytałam tak przyjemnej książki z wampirami w roli głównej. W dodatku jest tu troszkę inny schemat, niż w typowych książkach, co jest mocno na plus ❤️
Profile Image for szklaneksiazki.
94 reviews1 follower
February 19, 2023
w sumie to nie wiem co o tej książce sądzić... była spoko, ale nie zapamiętam jej na długo
Profile Image for Sarah {The Clever Reader}.
661 reviews96 followers
April 27, 2023
Do you ever wonder what would happen if a vampire had the opportunity to return to the mortal world? If so, this one is a good one for you! I wasn't sure how I felt in the beginning because it wasn't what I normally expect from a vampire book but as the story developed I ended up really enjoying it.

This is definitely more character driven. Charlie and her brother Reg are turned back to mortal beings as punishment for breaking vampire law. As they adjust to mortal life, including having to go to high school, they start to realize that what they've been told about humans may not be what it seems and the plans Charlie has of becoming immortal again may be jeopardized by the friendships she's starting to build.

The audiobook was great and narrated by one of my favorites. Overall I enjoyed this one and recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, light-hearted, vampire book!
Profile Image for WGRLS.
114 reviews78 followers
October 12, 2022
Staff Review:

Siblings Charlie and Reg have always been vampires, they have been them so long they don’t remember what it is like to be human. However, they were turned when they were teenagers and continue to keep that mentality. Finally, the elders have had enough of their shenanigans and decide to punish them in the worst way imaginable.
They are sent to Nowheresville Iowa and are sentenced to life as humans and what is worse, they must go back to high school. They must navigate through their newfound emotions while figuring out how to deal with the punishment they have been given.

I haven't read many Vampire books, this may actually be the first. The "immortal to mortal" was a nice twist on the vampire story. I really enjoyed all the characters and their development. For a lot of YA books I have heard complaints that the characters don't sound like they are teens, and this is one of the novels where the character sounding older works really well.

The plot was very interesting and I liked the worldbuilding for Vampire society politics etc. There was also a slice-of-life vibe to the story that worked really well in contrast to the paranormal elements, this book is essentially a coming-of-age story but with a twist.
Profile Image for Majkkaa17 .
45 reviews
August 31, 2025
Hmmm trochę mnie zaskoczyła, bo nie spodziewałam się, że aż tak się wciągnę. Ale w drugiej połowie książki fabuła lowkey zwolniła i zaczęła iść trochę za bardzo przewidywalnym torem, a główna bohaterka zaczęła mnie już za bardzo denerwować.

Ale all in all podobała mi się, przyjemna młodzieżówka.

(Gdybym była zmuszona, by wrócić do liceum i łazić tam przez kolejne 2 lata, to wolałabym dostać kołkiem w serce 🙂🔪)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 433 reviews

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