Review: Bloodthirsty by Flynn Meaney

Some vampires are good. Some are evil. Some are faking it to get girls.

Awkward and allergic to the sun, sixteen-year-old Finbar Frame never gets the girl. But when he notices that all the female students at his school are obsessed with a vampire romance novel called Bloodthirsty, Finbar decides to boldly go where no sane guy has gone before-he becomes a vampire, minus the whole blood sucking part.

With his brooding nature and weirdly pale skin, it's surprisingly easy for Finbar to pretend to be paranormal. But, when he meets the one girl who just might like him for who he really is, he discovers that his life as a pseudo-vampire is more complicated than he expected. This hilarious debut novel is for anyone who believes that sometimes even nice guys-without sharp teeth or sparkly skin-- can get the girl. (YA)

REVIEW:
Bloodthirsty is the story of a boy who turns life’s lemons into lemonade or more accurately; a tale of a boy with a sun allergy who turns himself into a brooding vampire.
Finbar Frame is 16, intelligent, thin, pasty and unpopular. He watches romantic comedies with his mom. He’s definitely not a chick magnet despite that all the rom com movies say the nice guy always gets the girl. Nope, not in real life. Instead Finbar is routinely beat up by the school bully.
After a day at the beach with his parents, Finbar develops a sun allergy and has to cover his blistering skin and stay out of the sun. When a girl on the bus interprets this as Finbar possibly being a vampire just like in the vampire romance book she is reading he goes along with it. After all this was the time to strike – smart, pasty and puny are in!
There are quite a few things to love about Bloodthirsty. One is Finbar himself. He’s smart, funny and just a normal teenage boy trying to be noticed and get a girl. Because he’s a teenage boy however, he is easily distracted by his hormones so expect many references to boobs and the like. This didn’t really bother me though. I think we have come to think of teenage boys as almost asexual once they find the girl they love. Somehow all the hormones go into hibernation while they wait patiently for their true love to reciprocate. That just doesn’t seem very realistic and Finbar’s personality rang true for me.
I also enjoyed all the pop culture references. Twilight, True Blood and Buffy references abound. One of the funniest scenes is when Finbar is chased down by a pack of slayers and Jacob werewolf wannabes at a Fantasy Fest. Some of the references may seem out of date to future readers but they do add to the humor and charm of the book now.
It does take a while for the vampire plotline to take hold and I would have liked to have read more about how he pulls it off but Finbar is so damn snarky and likable it wasn’t a deterrent for me.
While Finbar is not really a vampire, the persona gives him something to live up to and consequently turns him into the guy he’s always wanted to be. He stands up to the school bully, makes friends and meets girls. Most notably with Kate, who I adored. Bonus points to Finbar for noticing and choosing an intelligent girl when he now has a few to pick from.
Loved: Really sweet story about being and accepting yourself. Lots of fun, pop culture references that gently poke fun of the vampire craze.
Nitpick: I wanted to read a little more about Finbar’s “transformation” into a vampire.

Rating 3 out of 4

Author's website: http://www.flynnmeaney.com/
Buy the book! Bloodthirsty