Review of It's Hard to Be a Vampire

[Tomi Ahmed]

[Following is a volunteer review of "It's Hard to Be a Vampire" by Viktoria Faust.]

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1 out of 5 stars

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Viktoria Faust’s anthology book, It's Hard to Be a Vampire, offers a deep exploration of the intricate and difficult nature of vampire life. This collection of nine stories introduces a diverse cast of vampires, each grappling with unique challenges, including love, acceptance, and inner turmoil.

The first story shares the same title as the name of the book where Sandra desires to be a vampire but is unfortunately able to do so due to her being overweight. The second story and third story are the most interconnected. It is about an artist whose art is not initially accepted and is seen as vulgar and blasphemous. Due to the artist’s mistakes, a curse is lingering. The fourth story is about a vampire hunter who kills other vampires because he believes it would kill his inner vampire and ends up falling in love which conflicts with his morals. In the fifth story, a man hits on a female vampire but accuses him of looking at another woman. In the sixth story, a vampire seeks redemption for past sins by protecting the innocent and battling against evil forces. The seventh story talks about a group of vampires that overthrow a corrupt council and fight for equality and justice. The eighth story follows an alliance between a vampire and a human as they uncover dark conspiracies. The final story talks about a war between vampires and humans dealing with the consequences of their actions. Each story has a very distinct plot. The foundation of each story fizzled into vague, complicated resolutions that were confusing to me as a reader. There are various themes in the book including romance, loss, redemption, and supernatural intrigue.

My personal rating for this book would be one star out of five. I typically enjoy anthologies, but unfortunately, I found the writing style of this book to be lacking. While the initial story was easy to grasp, I found myself struggling to follow the plot as I continued reading. The other stories included in the book were excessively gruesome and failed to capture my interest. I had anticipated a more comedic tone after reading the first chapter, which was a letdown. Additionally, I found the characters to be one-dimensional and had difficulty forming a connection with them. Despite the lack of errors in editing, I do not believe I would recommend this book to others.

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It's Hard to Be a Vampire
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[Jennifer Coxon]

Thank you for your honest review. I like vampire stories, but struggle with anthologies for some of the same reasons you have noted - lack of space for character development, rushed conclusions that can be vague and unsatisfactory, ...

[Tomy Chandrafrost]

Initially, I thought this book about vampires would be interesting. Reading your review made me reconsider whether I would read this book later or not. Nonetheless, your review also balanced in explaining the strengths and weaknesses of this book. Thank you for writing this review.

[Risper Ouma Anyango]

I dont really understand why someone can't be a vampire because she is over weight. Like it doesn't make sense but am sure the author explains this more in the book. I am however not tempted to read it because of your low rating.

[Eric DUSHIMIRIMANA]

I am inclined to believe that it is hard to write. Any book at OBC deserves at least two stars! A one star rating is completely demoralizing for the author and publisher.

[MAHAD BAIG MIRZA]

This review provides an intriguing insight into "It's Hard to Be a Vampire," detailing its diverse cast of characters and complex storylines, while honestly addressing the reviewer's personal experience and criticisms of the book's writing style and plot development.

[Jenna Padayachee]

I do like the anthology approach of vampire stories.
I do like the different distinct plots, the main ideas of each of them I feel, are pretty great.
However, based on your review it is disappointing that the quality and flow of the actual stories turned out to be " vague, complicated resolutions that were confusing.."
I sincerely hope the author considers your review as constructive feedback that can influence the potential revision of this collection.

[Harshitha Nayak]

Totally I'm with you in this regarding this book. There were so many problematic things like Mallika 's age, Yaser's cheating brush off, so unrealistic connection to the Adele concert.