Book Review: Trollhunters by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus

---

Trollhunters
Author: Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Released: July 7 2015
Review Source: Hyperion

In San Bernardino, California, children are going missing.

The townspeople don't believe the rumours of trolls, but fifteen-year-old Jim Jnr knows that they're a very real threat. At night, is anyone safe?

TROLLHUNTERS is a funny, gruesome and undeniably del Toro-esque adventure perfect for teen readers and fans of Pan's Labyrinth.

Trolls are real, and they are hungry. In San Bernardino children are going missing, and no one is sure why. Until Jim's brother goes missing and he sees something that scares him into an over cautious living for the rest of his life.

I am an avid film go-er. I am a cinephile. Guillermo is one of my favorite directors. He directs a film, I'll be there opening day. And I am usually never disappointed. So I figured it'd be the same thing with this book. But that did not happen...I was disappointed. It had the essence of a story that could have been great, but it really didn't grab me. I wasn't ever really hooked on the story, I was just reading along because I had already invested so much time reading this story that I felt like I had to continue.

I feel like there might be others who argue with me, and I appreciate that. I can see how this book could be interesting for others. The story was interesting, it's fantasy based, it has the makings of something that could be addicting to read. But for me, it was short of that.

Book Review: Vampires of Manhattan by Melissa de la Cruz

Vampires of Manhattan
The New Blue Bloods Coven #1
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Reading Level: New Adult | Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Released: September 9th 2014
Review Source: Hyperion Books | Goldberg McDuffie

The Vampires of Manhattan is "hipster horror"--the memorable characters from her Blue Bloods series are older and cooler than before, trying to build "Millennial" lives in the bustle of Manhattan while battling forces of evil and, of course, each other.

Hero of this sexy, paranormal action tale is Oliver Hazard-Perry, former human conduit, and Manhattan's only human-turned-vampire, now the head of the Blue Bloods Coven. When his all-too-human lover is found murdered on the eve of the coven's annual Four Hundred Ball--a celebration meant to usher in a new era in vampire society, and to mark the re-unification of the Coven after decades of unrest and decay--Oliver is devastated.

Now, not only is he trying to create a new world order for the immortal elite, he's the prime suspect and is stalked by the newly installed head of the vampire secret police. Because according to the new rules, vampires who take human life can now be executed. Burned.

How can an immortal sentenced to die fight back? He has to find the killer--and the answers lie deep in vampire lore.

It was strange starting Vampires of Manhattan. Reading Blue Bloods where all main characters were teenagers to now where they’re all grown up sophisticated urban elite in Vampires of Manhattan. Usually once the series ends that’s it, it’s finished and you don’t get re-visits. So that was a nice change to get a new series of them 10 years down the line. Though if you plan on reading the Blue Blood’s series I wouldn’t recommend reading this book first. It will spoil a lot of things (unless you don’t mind that), but saying that, I think this book will be liked by both sides. I think those who enjoyed Blue Bloods will enjoy reading this series but also those who didn’t. I think enough information was included that new readers can enjoy this book without getting horribly lost in the plot. The plot wasn’t complex but easy to follow.

After ten years of peace, something went wrong. Strange things are happening, a body is found and pentagrams are appearing mysteriously. An artist is missing, the young girl is dead and a sinister drug is popping up. Something is clearly wrong with all these odd things happening.

The thing I loved about this book: some of the things which were briefly mentioned in Blue Bloods—and never got a real explanation to—were fleshed out in Vampires of Manhattan. I’d say this book is more of de la Cruz’s “adult” work (think Witches of East End) and you can tell this was intended to be more grown up, like her writing grew with the characters. Though this book was a good edition to the Blue Bloods world, you don’t have to read it. If you’d rather leave Schuyler (and company) where Gates of Paradise ended, it’s all good!