Team Human

[telophase]

We poked around the bookstore earlier today, for lack of anything better to do :), and I came across a new book I haven't seen on any of your LJ/DW posts. I didn't get it here, but have sent the sample to my Kindle.

It's titled Team Human and is clearly a response to Twilight. It,s by Justine Larbelestier and Sarah Rees Brennan, which makes me hopeful, and gets points for the POV character being Asian, pictured on the front cover, and facing front and center without her head being cut off.

Anyone read it yet?

Comments

[qem_chibati]

I preordered it as a bday gift for the baby sib, which came through. She loves it, I'm looking forward to stealing it from her in the future.

[telophase]

Good! :D

[jinian]

I read the first few chapters at the bookstore and wasn't into it, but if you like Sarah's stuff you'll probably like it better. Her original characters never do much for me somehow. Many points for the cover, though, definitely.

[telophase]

The subject matter in general I'm not really into, but thought it might work as a riff on Twilight. I read The Demon's Lexicon and enjoyed it, but haven't got round to reading the sequels.

[movingfinger.livejournal.com]

Justine Larbalestier (http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/) isn't an idiot (don't know anything about the other), so it's likely to be OK at least.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I haven't read any of Larbalestier's work but have seen her popping up here and there on the intartubes and she seems to be well-regarded by people whose opinions I trust, so yay for that. The other (I'm not sure if her last name is Brennan or Rees Brennan), I've read and enjoyed.

[helen-keeble.livejournal.com]

Yes! I love Sarah Rees Brennan's writing (The Demon's Lexicon, her first book, is absolutely superb) so I got this one on day of release. It's a very funny, quite light read, and very enjoyable. It's a sort of loving exploration of the vampire romance genre -- it's not a parody, but it does enjoy pointing out some of the ridiculousness of the tropes. I wish it had gone a tiny bit further (I didn't think it quite managed to justify the central vampire-falls-for-human trope use, or a few slightly artificial time contraints on the plot), but all in all it's a great read.

I don't think it's quite up to Brennan's Demon trilogy -- I found the plot twists rather obvious, but a lot of reviewers have said they were surprised by them, so it's by no means a cliched plot (I just thought what was going to happen was clearly telegraphed from about half way through). And the characters are adorable and funny. Read it!

(and, um, if you enjoy funny vampire books, may I suggest Fang Girl (www.helenkeeble.com), which is out in two weeks and, er, is my debut novel. *grin* It's very much in the same sort of vein as Team Human... pun intended)

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I read The Demon's Lexicon and enjoyed it, but haven't got around to reading the sequels yet. (I read it right before I made the switch to ebooks, so I think it fell into the "well I have the first in hardcover, should I buy the sequels digitally or in book format to match?" category and I keep not buying them. XD Maybe I'll check if the library has them, to solve my dilemma.)

Thanks! (And I'll be keeping an eye out for FG! :D)

[estara.livejournal.com]

Really REAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLY fun! JL and SRB take the sparkly vampire trope to its logical conclusion and set the story from the viewpoint of the best friend (and meddler) of the girl who falls for the sparkly vampire. It's short, it has fun and drama, there's a really sweet second love story and the heroine is American-born Chinese (and has a hysterical first name which is why it is always shortened).

Highly recommended! Especially if you've read SRB LJ posts before, because some of the humor comes across like those entries

Scenes actually in the book:
http://street-angel.deviantart.com/art/The-Great-Rat-Disaster-311144410
http://street-angel.deviantart.com/gallery/37986363#/d4xs7rf

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Hee! Thanks! :D