Review for Middle School Bites
If you thought middle school was tough, then think again! Tom is starting his middle school adventures while being a vampire/zombie/werewolf. Yup.
I was instantly curious about the premise. I mean, we have had books with kids being one of those and starting school, but I haven’t seen a book in which a kid has the misfortune to be bitten by three creatures in one day. Haha. Yep. So I was curious how this would go on and what 1/3 of everything meant in the department of what he could do. Would he need blood? Would he change into a werewolf? Would he need brains?
Meet Tom, a boy who is about the start middle school and before that decides to visit grandma. He already has a history of being bitten by everything when he visits, but this time it gets more extreme. I laughed so much and wondered how one boy could have this much bad luck. Out of the 3 he could have avoided at least one, but hey. This is Tom. 😛 We see how he struggles with the reality of being all three and also tries to manoeuvre through middle school. Both are not easy for him. Thankfully, his best friend Zeke (who was slightly annoying at times) is there to help him out.
I had such a laugh at how hungry he was. He just kept eating. Next to eating we see he is quite strong (lifting his bed up with ease). There are also other perks, sadly, outwardly he just looks like roadkill (sorry, Tom, but that is the truth). I loved seeing him figure out what was going on and what happened to him. I loved seeing him become more comfortable in what he was, though at times you could see it was too much for him. Tom is a very likeable character, you are just rooting for him.
Unlike many books, he tells his parents after a while what is going on. Well, OK, it was kind of forced, but at least he told the truth. I had a big laugh on what he had to do to convince his parents, but when he had them convinced I was just so happy with his parents and how supportive they were and the plans they made. It was just fantastic. I am not sure how I felt about telling the whole town/school, but eh, I guess people need to know just in case and also to know why Tom looks like roadkill.
There are a ton of other characters, like Annie (Tom’s crush and future wife (according to him)) who was really sweet and I like how despite all that happened she didn’t go away from Tom. Or Abel, who was superinteresting and I have some suspicions…. I hope to get some answers on that in the next book. Zeke was OK, but annoying and should really get the hint for once.
But there are two reasons why I am rating this book 4 stars and not the 4.5 or even 5 stars I wanted to rate it when I started and when things got good. One is that bully at school who was just the most horrendous person and I wonder why the school wasn’t stepping up more. There were a few times that things seemed to look up, but then other things would happen and he would just continue with his insults, threats, and yes, violence. The second one, and that person I found even worse than the bully, is Emma. Tom’s sister and toxic as fuck. I am sorry for cursing but dang that girl was horrendous, terrible, and what the fuck is wrong with you girl? I mean, I get it brothers and sisters aren’t going be clicking at all times, but this girl? She was just terrible. Constantly lying, constantly saying things that weren’t nice to her brother, and later on when she learns what he has become she wants to stake him, kill him, and other things that just had me shocked. This is still your brother. What the hell is wrong with you? She is toxic as hell and I hope she disappears in the next book or features a way smaller role.
The cliffhanger, ARGH.
The illustrations were pretty well done, I do like the style. It fits well with the story/the book.
All in all, I laughed so hard and I just flew through this book. Really. Before I knew it the book was over. I would recommend this all to everyone who wants to see what happens when a boy has the misfortune to be bitten by not one but three creatures and laugh their butt off at the adventures that follow.