Fat Vampire

by Adam Rex

[Angie]

Fat Vampire sounded really fun! And it was for the most part! There was just one major issue, and one more minor one, that I could not get passed. It started off great though. Doug is newly undead, but he doesn't know how he got that way. He's kind of on his own figuring out how to be a vampire, with his best friend offering not so helpful suggestions. Then, a late night feeding at the zoo goes wrong, and the Vampire Hunters show is after him. Of course, they've never found a real vampire until now.

I super enjoyed the Vampire Hunters angle of Fat Vampire, but it kind of disappears near the end. The creator of the show is getting desperate, because they're getting cancelled. He dumps all of his resources into tracking down Doug so the show can go out with a bang! I liked how scenes from the show were included, since Doug and his friends watch it. The vampire community also isn't too happy that Doug has been caught on tape, so he needs to be really careful. This was all great fun, and wish it had been the main focus of the story.

As for my major problem with Fat Vampire, that was Senjal. She's a foreign exchange student from India, which is all well and good, except she adds nothing to the story. At all. She's just there. Her parents sent her to America because she has an internet addiction. Really. Well, there's more to it which comes out at the end, and it was really interesting. Like, that could have been it's own really great book. But what it has to do with Doug being a vampire? Absolutely nothing. Her chapters took away from the fun stuff and didn't offer anything exciting in its place.

My less major issue was a few comments made by characters that are scattered throughout. Sadly, they're all homophobic in nature, although I don't think the author meant them to be. One girl is constantly talked about behind her back, and it all has to do with her possibly being a lesbian. She doesn't date anyone from their school and generally doesn't seem interested in any guys, so therefore she must be gay and they must discuss this behind her back. Why? Then Doug tells another character that he looks like a child molester because he's a gay man hanging around a school. He started out by saying that he's just a single man, but then corrects himself to add in the gay. Not all child molesters are gay men! Why did he need to say that? Being a weird dude hanging out in the shadows is creepy enough.

Fat Vampire had a good base, but failed to build on it. It just wasn't focused, and was bogged down by unnecessary extras. Senjal had an interesting backstory, but beyond that, she had no personality and really no involvement in Doug's tale. She was just a waste of pages that could have been fleshing out Doug hiding from the TV show crew and figuring out who changed him and why!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.