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The Vampire Slayer's Survival Guide
A fang-tastically funny story of unlikely friendship. Perfect for readers 9+. Maggie Helsby may be descended from a long line of vampire slayers, but that won't stop her being friends with vegetarian vampire Sharptooth Shadow. While she's introducing Sharptooth to the delights of school, she gets to hang out at wonderfully creepy Skeleton Castle on the weekend. Until the enchantments that keep the castle hidden start to mysteriously weaken - and a whole host of other, far less friendly, magical creatures arrive in town to cause trouble, along with a monster hunter determined to put a stop to *anything* supernatural...
- GenresVampiresMiddle Grade
345 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 1, 2022
6 people are currently reading
72 people want to read
About the author
Katy Birchall
51 books717 followersKaty is the author of several young adult novels including The It Girl series, the Hotel Royale series and Morgan Charmley: Teen Witch. She is the co-author of the middle grade Lightning Girl series and Star Switch with Alesha Dixon, and the Find the Girl teen series with YouTube stars Lucy and Lydia Connell. Katy was proud to be the author of a retelling of Jane Austen's Emma for the Awesomely Austen series, a collection of Austen's novels retold for younger readers. She has also written a non-fiction book, How to be a Princess: Real-Life Fairy Tales for Modern Heroines.
Katy lives in London with her partner, Ben, and her rescue dog, Bono.
The Secret Bridesmaid is her adult fiction debut.
Katy lives in London with her partner, Ben, and her rescue dog, Bono.
The Secret Bridesmaid is her adult fiction debut.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 30, 2023
When I discovered there was a sequel to "How not to be a vampire slayer" I got very excited. I loved the first book and how the book promoted friendship and finding the things you have in common instead of focussing on the things making you different. Last week I all of a sudden saw that this sequel was heavily discounted and it was the right moment to order and once the book came in I just had to find a moment to start reading right away.
This book is just as lovely as the first book in this series. It's clearly a children's book, which means that the pace is quite hight and things are happening fast. The message however is loud and clear for both the children and the adults reading the book to or with them. You can't decide someone is a monster or worth hating if you don't take the time to get to know someone and to find common interests. If you give people a chance you might gather some new friends.
Since this book is targeted at a young audience the heroine of the story is not growing as a person but she is the kind of person making a lot of other people in the book grow. Adults, classmates, vampires, werewolves and monster hunters. I love how this book shows that kindness can get you somewhere, that it can get other people somewhere and that it's worth trying to be kind and understand first, even when times are hard.
Of course the book is mainly one big adventure. There is a football game between humans and vampires. There is a schooltrip to Transylvania. We enter some scary and forbidden area's in Bran's Castle and we're making a lot of new friends along the way. There's also a lot of ketchup, a lot of magic and there are a lot of not so scary monsters causing trouble. There is most of all not one boring moment in the entire book.
I'm fairly sure we're not done with these characters yet. I can't wait for the next adventure.
This book is just as lovely as the first book in this series. It's clearly a children's book, which means that the pace is quite hight and things are happening fast. The message however is loud and clear for both the children and the adults reading the book to or with them. You can't decide someone is a monster or worth hating if you don't take the time to get to know someone and to find common interests. If you give people a chance you might gather some new friends.
Since this book is targeted at a young audience the heroine of the story is not growing as a person but she is the kind of person making a lot of other people in the book grow. Adults, classmates, vampires, werewolves and monster hunters. I love how this book shows that kindness can get you somewhere, that it can get other people somewhere and that it's worth trying to be kind and understand first, even when times are hard.
Of course the book is mainly one big adventure. There is a football game between humans and vampires. There is a schooltrip to Transylvania. We enter some scary and forbidden area's in Bran's Castle and we're making a lot of new friends along the way. There's also a lot of ketchup, a lot of magic and there are a lot of not so scary monsters causing trouble. There is most of all not one boring moment in the entire book.
I'm fairly sure we're not done with these characters yet. I can't wait for the next adventure.
November 9, 2024
Admittedly, this book is meant for a younger demographic but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t completely fall in love with it 😍 this was by far the cutest horror I’ve ever read ♥️ if you’re after something heart warming (and a little bit spooky), this is the book for you!
Maggie, a Helsby vampire slayer, and best friends with a vampire called Sharptooth, lives in the town of Goreway. The vampire of Skeleton Wood have recently become vegetarian with a hankering for tomato ketchup and have formed a truce with the locals. However, far less friendly monsters are turning up left, right and centre with a certain monster hunter determined to catch them all. Can Maggie and her friends save the town of Goreway and show all supernatural can co-exist?
Also, I need a pet bat 🦇 called Bat-Head 🧛🏻♀️
🧡🫶🏻📚
Maggie, a Helsby vampire slayer, and best friends with a vampire called Sharptooth, lives in the town of Goreway. The vampire of Skeleton Wood have recently become vegetarian with a hankering for tomato ketchup and have formed a truce with the locals. However, far less friendly monsters are turning up left, right and centre with a certain monster hunter determined to catch them all. Can Maggie and her friends save the town of Goreway and show all supernatural can co-exist?
Also, I need a pet bat 🦇 called Bat-Head 🧛🏻♀️
🧡🫶🏻📚
November 26, 2024
A story of found family trying to make the world a better place.
This book is so adorable. I saw it on an end cap at Half Priced Books and thought the blurb sounded cute. I did not realize this is a sequel, so I did not read the first one. This book has spoilers of what happens in the first, FYI.
This seems to be a mid-grade book, but it's still written very well. It's a super quick read. There's action, mystery, friendship, morality, and fun!
I highly recommend giving this a go.
This book is so adorable. I saw it on an end cap at Half Priced Books and thought the blurb sounded cute. I did not realize this is a sequel, so I did not read the first one. This book has spoilers of what happens in the first, FYI.
This seems to be a mid-grade book, but it's still written very well. It's a super quick read. There's action, mystery, friendship, morality, and fun!
I highly recommend giving this a go.
August 31, 2025
Rating: 3.75 of 5.0
A good book overall with great descriptions by the author for not only the characters but also many of the locations. It is very apparent by the writing style the age group it was meant for and while I would have rated this much higher if I were a younger reader, I just felt I needed a bit more to take it to the next level. This is a very easy read with a light hearted touch throughout the book.
A good book overall with great descriptions by the author for not only the characters but also many of the locations. It is very apparent by the writing style the age group it was meant for and while I would have rated this much higher if I were a younger reader, I just felt I needed a bit more to take it to the next level. This is a very easy read with a light hearted touch throughout the book.
September 10, 2024
This is a cute story about a human and vampire friendship and trying to save their little slice on this planet! It was really sweet and charming and super fast to read!
February 1, 2025
This is a really awesome book about vampires which is werewolves and humans all working together is a really good book
December 13, 2023
Tbh i got really confused and the first book is def better
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews