Fang Girl by Helen Keeble

★★★★★
Hilarious and Lighthearted

This book had me in hysterics.

When Xanthe Jane Greene wakes up in a coffin, not breathing but certainly alive, it doesn't take her long to figure out that she's been turned into a vampire - after all, she's read every vampire book out there and frequents the fan site Fang-Girl.net.  After making it out of the ground, however, things start getting a bit more complicated.  Vampire politics are a little hard to understand when you're a newborn, and trying to sort out the good guys from the bad guys is tough - if there are even any good guys.

That was definitely one of the things I was not expecting from this book: a super compelling plot.  I could never tell who to trust, or what anyone's endgame was.  This, aside from the laughs, was what boosted my rating from 4 to 5 stars.

Also, don't be turned off by the cover - it's unrelated to the story, though the style fits the feel of the book.

I loved all the characters, especially Xanthe, or Jane, as she prefers to be called.  I could totally relate to her, and how much of a "fangirl" she was.  Her humour really got me, even though at times it seemed a little overdone.  As for the other characters, Zack, the little brother, was also amusing and a realistic 12-year-old brother (as confirmed by my experiences with a younger brother).  The parents were also fairly realistic, and they were surprising reasonable.  Ebon was kind of weird, but in a good way.  Sarah was a pretty big surprise, but despite that, I still liked her.  Van was my favourite character apart from Jane, and I also felt pretty sorry for him at times for the circumstances he's been put in.  Actually, that was a lie.  My favourite character overall was Brains - the goldfish.  What an awesome pet.

As mentioned, the story was so very funny.  Jane's voice was perfect for her age and she was smart too.  This was a rare book in the paranormal YA genre in that Jane's family was very present throughout the whole novel, which was awesome, and there was very, very little romance (I don't think there was even a kiss), which was also awesome and refreshing.

This is definitely a book that you have to be in the mood for, and if you take the paranormal genre overly seriously then you probably won't like it.  If you're up for a laugh, and don't mind the silliness, then I would recommend this to you.  If you're sick of vampires, then I would recommend this to you.  If you've ever enjoying being part of a "fandom", I would recommend this to you.

Sure, Fang Girl wasn't an immaculate literary masterpiece, but it was extremely entertaining and if you take it for what it is - a lighthearted, paranormal comedy - then you will not be disappointed.  I seriously can't think of anything that I didn't like about this book, so I give it a very justified 5 stars!

I hope you decide to pick this up if it sounds like something you'd enjoy.  If you have read Fang Girl, let me know what you thought of it! :)