Sucks to Be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (maybe) (Sucks to Be Me #1)

Reader reviewed by Dominique

Mina Hamilton is your average kid&sort of. Normal except for the slight fact that her parents are vampires. Despite this minor technicality, Minas lived a pretty good life so far (sure, she has to remind her parents to get food now and then, and feed herself since vampires dont have to eat), that is, until the day the tax collector came (ah, those pesky people!). Now the Vampire Council know that Mina exists and shes forced to go to vampire informational classes and decide if she wants to chance or not. The worst part is, shes got to make that choice soon, and Minas not even eighteen yet!

What should Mina do? What would her best friend Serena think? But it would be pretty cool to live forever and see the world, right? But she has to drink blood to survive! Ahh!! The pros and cons are tearing Mina in two and the big decision is just weeks away!

At least theres a bit of eye candy during the classes which are taught by creepy Grandma Wolfingtona completely hottie, Aubrey. But George is kinda nice too, and Minas been crushing on Nathan since before she even met either of the vampire candidates! Ack! Now Minas having vampire problems and guy problems! As if she doesnt have enough to worry about!

Sucks to Be Me follows Minas bumpy road on the way to her big decision that includes much more than vampire-related stuff! But no matter what happens, Mina still has to make the choice and its much harder than she thought. And what happens if you pick no in the end anyway? Will the scary Vampire Council get rid of you, since you know too much?

Sucks to Be Me is a great YA novel filled with drama, romance, and tough decisions. Nathan seemed almost a little too nice for a high-and-up-there It kid, but I liked how things turned out for the main characters! I especially loved the little myths and truths at the beginning of each chapter! I wasnt entirely satisfied with the ending, and it felt a wee bit rushed, but thats personal preference. The writing there was as good as the rest of the book, its just that I dont entirely agree with the ending.

Im sure its been said many times now, but the number of books in the YA vampire genre is shooting up, yet some seem to miss the mark, since many of us have high expectations after reading Stephanie Meyers Twilight. However, there is one book that (for me) shot above many others and all I can say is, I could not put this book down! With that said, Id definitely recommend Sucks to Be Me to all vampire genre fans, or all those out there looking for a good read!

Reader reviewed by Reader Rabbit

Minas the stereotypical teenage girl. Well, she fits the criteria...kind of. Boy troubles? Check. Crazy uncle (that her family would like to keep in the attic)? Uh, check. Oh, and did I mention that her parents are vampires? Well, they are and theyve just confronted her with a question that could change her life forever. To be a vampire or not to be: a question that relentlessly plagues Mina in the four weeks that she has to make this crucial decision. Of course, according to the Council, her decision mustnt be influenced by her parents. Which is why theyve declared her the aforementioned crazy uncle to be her sponsor while simultaneously putting her in vampire classes. And as the four weeks draws to a close Mina is forced to weigh both sides and make the Final Decision.

Kimberly Pauley doesnt isolate the novel to things only directly related to vampires or her decision but branches it out, incorporating real aspects of teenage life which makes it easier for the average teen to relate to. Mina's voice is captured perfectly.

But probably the best thing about this book was the originality factor . There were so many places that the author could have gone down the clichéd road but she didnt-keeping the book not only original but also absolutely hilarious.

Also, I know we shouldnt judge the book by its cover but I think the cover was incredibly well-designed and reflected the book very well. The cover shows how Pauleys debut novel is the sort of book that reluctant and non-reluctant readers will enjoy. Basically, if youre looking for humour or really just a good read youll find it here.

Reader reviewed by Brenda

Sucks to be Me - the All-True confessions of Mina Hamilton Teen Vampire (maybe)

There are a LOT of Teen Vampire novels on the market now and I think I've read about 3/4 of them. This one is a worthy addition to the genre. Mina's voice is so clearly just a normal teen girl with loving parents (who happen to be vampires) and a best friend (who she can't confide in regarding the whole vampire thing) and a crush on a boy or two (one of whom is totally into the vampire thing, and one of whom isn't).

Mina is a 17-year-old girl who has known since she was 10 that her parents were vampires, but it hasn't really affected her average suburban life. True, they don't exactly love sunbathing, and they don't sleep, and they forget to eat, but Mina has adjusted to all that. But the Vampire Council didn't know that Mina existed, and now that they know, she has to attend Vampire Sessions and her weird Uncle Mortimer is her sponsor.
Worst of all, she has just 4 weeks to decide if she wants to become a vampire or not. She slowly learns all the things about the vampire life that her parents never told her, in order to give her a normal upbringing. On top of all that, there's a trio of cute to gorgeous boys that seem to suddenly be interested in her. This book is Mina's journal, and Mina never met a situation that couldn't use a good pro and con list along with little chapter header stickers of vampires myths and the truth as Mina sees it.

The most difficult thing about book about alternative worlds is getting the "rules of the world" in there without having a big boring chapter about how the world works. This is a clever way of doing that, we learn what the vampire rules are right along with Mina. The chapter headers of myths and truths with little drawings of bats and other pictures that illustrate the myths are really cute. All the characters are fully drawn, but Mina's voice is what really made me love this book. She's so typically a teen, who thinks a lot of this vampire stuff is TOO GROSS FOR WORDS. I laughed out loud at several places because of Mina's observations.

Light and funny - a GREAT beach read for teens and anyone who likes vampires in any guise!