Never Bite A Boy On The First Date by Tamara Summers

Publisher: HarperCollins Children’sBooks

Format: Paperback

Published: 4th March 2010

Number of Pages: 272

Book: Bought

Genre: Dark Romance-Romantic Comedy, Fantasy, Action, Romance, Murder Mystery, YA

Recommended Age: Teen: 11+

When we found the guy and saw the holes in his neck, the cause of death was obvious. 

"It wasn't me," I said.  "I made one mistake and suddenly every little vampire attack is my fault?  That's so unfair!"

But it doesn't matter how much I protest, unless I can prove my innocence I'll be spending the next decade in a padded coffin.

So now I'm on a mission to track down the real murderer.

I've narrowed it does to three suspects.

All acting suspiciously.

All boys.

And all very cute...

Review:

Kira was a sixteen-year-old, newly-turned vampire when she made her little ‘mistake’.  She turned her boyfriend, and now is viewed as a slight risk by the rest of her vampire family.  So when a dead boy turns up on the steps of the school, the cause of death obviously being from a vampire attack, the suspicion instantly falls on her.  And she has to prove her innocence in one week, or she’s going to be sentenced to a couple of centuries in a padded coffin.  Which would not be fun.

It just so happens that her three suspects are all cute boys.  And to find out who the murderer is, she has to get close to them.  But someone has to do it, so why shouldn’t it be her?  Only problem: one of them is a murder vampire.  But... which one is it?  The one she’s falling for?  Well, that could possibly create a slight difficulty in their relationship...

I enjoyed Never Bite a Boy on the First Date, but it was more like a romantic comedy with a twist than a Dark Romance.  It was a light, funny read that was strangely addictive; I actually wanted to know who the murderer was.  And honestly couldn’t guess.

Kira was a brilliant lead girl: she was more-than-slightly insane.  An aspect I love in my characters.  And, even better, she was cheerful, unlike a lot of the heroines we read about today.  She was funny, and I had fun with her: she somehow managed to approach her could-be-imprisonment with a good attitude and humorous air.  Basically, she was light-hearted and made me laugh.  And, yes, she was smart, but her Nancy Drew skills were a little bizarre, to say the least – but, then again, what else do you expect from a girl with green hair?  The only downfall: her ‘teen’ language felt forced at times, she was a little too focused at times on her ‘suspects’ and their pecs than the whole murder.  But overall, I liked her, and think she was a good, strong, completely-bonkers character.

Her boys-slash-suspects was all different and good too.  And, I have to admit, a couple of facts about them completely shocked me, which is hard to do.  And there was a nice mixture: a completely creepy, death-obsessed, kinda unhinged one; a sweet, smiley, perfect one; a second cute one, who’s into mystery solving and has been hanging around in some suspicious places...  Well, who do you think did it?

I liked Kira’s family, especially the free-spirited, scatter-brained Crystal, but they weren’t really the focal point. 

I loved the twist Tamara Summers put on the whole vampire genre: in this they can go out in the sun, if they wear herbal suncream.  It gives them a killer headache, but they don’t “poof” into flames.  And mirrors.   That old myth.  In this, the vamps themselves can’t be seen, but their clothes, hair and makeup can: something I found incredibly cool.

Overall: I really liked this book, but a) it was sometimes a little too much on the lightside at times.  And b) the teen language again!  One minute it’s overly stressed: “My family thinks I did it, which is, like, totally unfair, by the way, because I so totally did not.”  And the next: “I have to figure out who did it by tomorrow or else I’ll be in big trouble.”  How many teens do you know jump from “so totally” to “or else” in a matter of lines?  It just bugged me.

But I loved the humour, the mystery, the mad characters, and found it quite addictive.  So, if you want a light, easy, silly, sweet read with bonkers heroines, lots of boys, vampires and a few mentions to pecs, then I suggest this book.  It’s a good holiday read, in my opinion. 

I’ve taken the ¼ off because of the language conflicts.  Other than that, really liked Never Bite a Boy on the First Date.

Star Rating:
3¾ Out of 5

Read this book if you liked:

The Drake Chronicles by Alyxandra Harvey

The Last Vampire by Christopher Pike

Confessions of Georgia Nicholson by Louise Rennison

Gallagher Girls by Ally Carter

Challenges It's Taking Part In:

100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2011 (Hosted by Book Chick City)

A-Z Reading Challenge (Hosted by Book Junky)

Horror and Urban Fantasy Reading Challenge 2011 (Hosted by Book Chick City)

Vampire Challenge 2011 (Hosted by Parajunkee's View)