The Reformed Vampire Support Group (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: fresh human blood, Father Ramon, Nefley Irving, Zadia Bloodstone (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up—Nina Harrison has been 15 years old since 1973. That's because she is a vampire. She and the members of the Reformed Vampire Support Group break the mold when compared to the accepted vampire lore that has been around since the time of Count Dracula. They are not beautiful, strong, powerful, rich, or in control. Instead they are sickly, struggling just to stay alive, living on the blood of the guinea pigs they keep, and making the best of their affliction. They have vowed not to drink human blood or be responsible for the creation of another vampire. Nina hates her boring, uneventful life, which changes drastically when Casimir is staked and the group, realizing that the killer knows who and where they are, all move in with Nina and her mother, a nonvampire. With only a silver bullet as a clue to track the vampire slayer, Nina, Dave, and Father Ramon, who sponsors the group, set out on a dangerous journey. Along the way they rescue a werewolf from an illegal fight ring, deal with a villainous father/son team, and discover that their immortal lives might have more to offer than they ever thought. Support Group is truly like no other vampire story. It is witty, cunning, and humorous, with numerous plot twists and turns. Jinks has conjured up an eccentric but believable cast of characters in a story full of action and adventure.—Donna Rosenblum, Floral Park Memorial High School, NY
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From Booklist

It’s hard to get too involved in a cast of barely likable whiners and pathetic hand-wringers, but somehow that isn’t much of a problem in Jinks’ droll vampire send-up. These bloodsuckers are anything but sexy and mysterious, as here vampirism is a cross between a defining addiction and communicable disease; those infected spend most of their time being seriously ill and attending AA-style meetings with fellow sufferers. Nina, permanently arrested at 15 years old, can’t stand her fellow group members, but when one of them is found staked they all must work together to uncover the slayer before he can kill again. While readers might feel pushed rather than led through the plot, Jinks offers some wry vampire-centric twists on mystery conventions (having to repeatedly piece together what happened while literally dead to the world from sunup to sundown); and when the humor hits its mark, this can be laugh-out-loud funny. Most of the comedy, though, lies in the wide-angle skewering of support groups and fringe characters more suited to hemming and hawing than biting and sucking. Grades 8-12. --Ian Chipman

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books (April 20, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152066098
• ISBN-13: 978-0152066093
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #194,513 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Toenails and enzymes, April 20, 2009

By	D. WEGNER (United States of America) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was rewarding myself for having such a productive week when I bought this and boy oh boy is this a swell treat.

From the first page I was caught. No, not just by the clever turn of phrase and the hilarious lives these vampires lead, that's a given. I read Evil Genius and loved it too. No, it's the careful way that the characters are revealed and the absurd things they have to do to survive.

The plot is pure gold; Imagine going to a support group for thirty years. Thirty years of seeing and listening to the same small group of people talking about their problems. Now add to that someone who is permanantly in the body of a 15yr old and is the beneficiary of peptalks and advice about her situation; "you are in the denial stage of vampirism, etc."

At it's heart this is a mystery. In the grand tradition of mysteries (at least the ones I like), the heroine has several handicaps, not the least of which is that she lives at home with her mother and cant go outside during the day. She spends her time writing vampire adventure stories.

I don't want to give anything away, truly this is a book to be savored (I devoured it in two days, what can I say, I have no self control).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Feelings, July 10, 2009

By	A. Martin - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I really hate to give this book three stars, because in many ways, it was excellent. Jinks has created vampire characters with severe limitations and obstacles to overcome, and she sticks to the rules she writes. I find this admirable, because a lot of authors like to wriggle their characters out of difficulties and into happiness with a little tweaking of their world's internal logic. Not so with Catherine Jinks. Her vampires fall unconscious instantly at sunrise and stay unconcious until sundown--no matter what they're doing, and no matter how much recap is required to explain all the action they've missed. Her vampires are weak and constantly nauseated (don't read this book with a sore stomach), so that walking up three flights of stairs can wipe them out completely. This drastically limits any action that might have taken place, so the pace is pretty slow.

The vampires are so weak, miserable, and limited that RVSG would be completely depressing if not for the general snarkiness of the main character. Nina has been surrounded by insufferable people for the past thirty years, and she's nearly reached her breaking point. I liked her, but she wasn't quite snarky enough to make this book consistently funny, and the world was so fully realized that the book didn't feel much like a satire either. I ended up feeling so sorry for the vampires that I couldn't really enjoy myself at their expense.

(I realize that this is pretty subjective, actually. Others might find the decrepitude of the vampires absolutely hilarious. I can speak only for myself in this regard.)

RVSG makes a great break from tales of traditional vampires who are rich, powerful, and gorgeous, but I'd have to say that (if done well) the traditional vampires are more fun to read about. Give this book a try, because it's imaginative and original, but don't expect a rollicking good time.

1.0 out of 5 stars Really don't judge the book by its cover, November 11, 2009

By	England "honest reader" (chicago, IL, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have to say I really wanted to like this book. And that seems to be the consensus with the other reviews. The motley crew on the cover made me want to read this book instantly and the description on the inside of the jacket was very interesting.

However the plot was awful. It was very slow-moving with little to nothing happening each chapter. All the characters just moan about not wanting to do anything, and the author didn't make it seem that dire to find out who the killer was anyway, which at that point, why write this book, since that was the plot of the story.

In addition the characters themselves were very boring, and I really didn't even care how they all came to be vampires. Non-traditional vampires, not as entertaining as I had hoped. If you can help it, do not get sucked in by the great artwork done on the cover and pass on "The Reformed Vampire Support Group".