My Never Ending List

It was a different kind of vampire story, not your typical bite them, love them or I need to drink story. This was about Darius who is living his life as a typical teen in Michigan, going to school and living with his family but facing some hard choices.   His mother was living with HIV2, a disease with no cure, Darius himself is tormented by bullies and his peers are changing, transforming right before his eyes and Darius isn’t sure if he can wait for his transformation any longer.   Darius’ mother has good days and bad days and Darius longs for a cure, something to prolong her days as he can’t see their future without her.  Being the sole provider in the home, she feels the pressure of running their household yet some days she struggles to see the children off to school.  Darius is tired himself of being picked on, he doesn’t want to have to rely on anyone to watch his back but to make the commitment to transforming into a vampire would mean to stop taking the Reds. He wanted to wait till he was eighteen but his life seems so complicated and right now just seems to be right time.   To discontinue taking the pills, Darius would transform into a full-blooded vampire and by using the Blood Orange Soda, the transformation would rapidly increase.  There are complications to stop taking the pills, so this is not an easy decision.  So much is happening in Darius’ life, let’s add in a hormonal vampire transformation into his mix and hope that this solves his problems, really Darius?

It was the relationships in the book that had me.  Darius had a rough time with his Goth appearance but that did not stop him for being who he wanted to be.   His best friend Weezer bounced back between Goth and normal but Darius and his guyliner and heavy metal that surrounded his neck and wrists, I loved him for being who he was with everyone of his friends.  His relationship with his uncle, with his sister Kira, Officer Denny and with his friend Angel, and finally with Bao in the end: they each had a piece of Darius but they each knew where he stood with him.  I am conflicted over the idea of fighting in the book but I liked how Darius and Bao compromised in the book.  Sometimes, things in life are about image and I have to think that about them plus I know not everything will remain a secret forever.   I found the ending not what I had expected, nice work.  Interesting story line with unique twists added-in made this work of fiction different than other vampire story I have read in the past. 

Thank you NetGalley for sharing a copy of this book with me.  This is my honest opinion of this book.