Reviews with content warning for Death - Don't Want To Be Your Monster

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Don't Want To Be Your Monster by Deke Moulton

6 reviews

madelinelikethebook's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful informative fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I'm not usually a vampire book person, but this one pulled me in with its inclusion and diversity in the first chapter. The first line even made me laugh out loud. The last 100 pages require undivided attention due to the action and twists. My favorite part? The words from the author at the end discussing antisemitism in literature. It was enlightening and horrifying. I wanted to read more of their thoughts

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spinesinaline's review against another edition

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funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This felt a little lackluster to me. I liked the premise and the characters but I didn't find them believable as realistic children. There were some really funny and very heartfelt moments and I think it has the makings of a great story with a wonderful message about family.

Overall, though, the dialogue in particular felt uneven and disjointed. I think it could've done with another round of edits to capture some issues with the dialogue and action as the order of events was confused later in the book.

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barnesbookshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

I really enjoyed this story. The worldbuilding is such a unique and refreshing take on the vampire mythology. The only thing that thew me was I felt Adam acted more like a 12 year old than a 10 year old, but that's a minor thing. I loved how diverse the characters are and would love to spend more time with all of them in a sequel.

Thank you to Tundra Books and LibraryThing for the gifted copy!

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puttingwingsonwords's review

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Rating and review removed. I will not promote books by Zionists and/or people defending and even cheering on genocide.

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ezwolf's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This wasn’t quite what I was expecting it to be, but I still enjoyed it and I think the message is important.

I love the found family trope and vampires frequently offer such good opportunity for it to be used. Adam and Victor’s observations of their family and how they cycle through so many other immortals coming and going was something I hadn’t considered before.

And I loved that the inherent queerness and Jewishness of this book. When Shoshanah said the blessing for seeing an unusual create it made me laugh, of course we would have a blessing for something like that! Maybe not originally meant for seeing vampires, but still!

The only thing that really bothered me was that I was on edge the whole time waiting for Adam or Victor to be caught and revealed as vampires.

Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!

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starrysteph's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Don’t Want to be Your Monster spins vampire lore on its head through a playful murder mystery for young readers.

We follow Adam, a 10-year-old vampire who is desperate to learn more about the world … and figure out why his big brother Victor has been acting so weird. Adam and his siblings have been raised in isolation by their two loving, eclectic, immortal moms. When a murderer strikes in town, Adam is terrified of vampire hunters and decides to solve the case (alongside two new mortal friends).

It’s a sweet story that investigates some of the antisemitic origins of vampire legends & challenges how we frame ‘others’ as monsters. The educational elements are very direct.

I enjoyed the growing friendship between a very different trio of 10-year-olds, and the themes of compassion & standing up for your fellow humans (or … non-humans).

The writing was structurally clumsy at times, and the dialogue felt a bit stilted – the biggest stumble for me overall was Victor’s POV. He did not read like a 14-year-old & in my opinion was not given enough complexity of thought or emotional depth. His chapters were a smaller portion of the book, and I think it would have been more effective storytelling to only use Adam’s perspective – and unravel Victor’s behavior through his little brother’s eyes. In general, I would recommend this book for readers around fourth or fifth grade (I’m not sure older kids would be as engaged).

I do love a queer found family & also really appreciated the scope of casual representation & the various cultures and languages depicted on the page.

CW: murder, death & mass death, hate crime, antisemitism, blood, cancer, genocide, xenophobia, poisoning, abandonment, child abuse, kidnapping

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(I received an advance reader copy of this book; this is my honest review.)

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