Tuesday 12 October 2010

The Radleys - Matt Haig - Review

Book: The Radleys
Author: Matt Haig
Publisher: Walker Books
ISBN: 9781406330281
Rating: A+

Meet the Radleys: Peter, Helen and their teenage kids Clara and Rowan. An everyday family who live in a pretty English village and juggle dysfunctional lives. So far, so normal. Except, as Peter and Helen know (but the kids have yet to find out), the Radleys happen to be a family of abstaining vampires. When one night Clara finds herself driven to commit a bloodthirsty act of violence, her parents need to explain a few things: why is their skin is so sensitive to light, why do they all find garlic so repulsive, and why has Clara's recent decision to go vegan had quite such an effect on her behaviour...? But when mysterious Uncle Will swoops into the village, he unleashes a host of shadowy truths and dark secrets that threaten to destroy the Radleys and the world around them.

The Radleys... It was a gothic, but also a light, fast-paced, thriller. I loved it. It was good the way it was stretched out over a couple of days! Very Clever.
          The book made laugh out loud so much. The comedy was well thought out and helped to lighten the gothic them of Vampires. That is one thing I loved about this. For a Vampire book, it was actually really light, which was great because recently everything I’ve read has been really heavy and I guess it was nice to get a break. It is a good, and quite different plot which I most enjoyed.

The characters were cool, and I think the book was on the verge of having to many characters but just stayed safe. Sequel? I wish. I love the way the kids have not an idea they are vampires thirsting for the blood of humans, and how they found out, freaked and fell in love. The book has a bit more maturity than other books, I guess treating you as a more responsible person? At least that’s the feeling I get.

Favourite character... this part always gets me stuck. Who, who? I think it’s gonna be a couple this time, yes it is... EVE AND ROWAN!!! OMG they are so perfect together, with a caring and unconditional love for each other. All the better when Eve was converted. They were by far my favourite – Eve and Rowan forever – or should I say – FANGS FOREVER!!! Don’t take it personally (all you dead (and alive) but I am sucker and a hardcore fan of the Undead – whatever form they’ve taken.

The only problem was it was a very obvious plot and the whole story sort of unravelled before you even got to the part. That was the only flaw in the book.

The book is the classic vampire novel with a modern twist. I thoroughly enjoyed it and the difference of it so yeah! Well done Matt – You’ve created a book that I lurrrv!

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