e-Audio, 12:58:47
Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
Release Date: September 6, 2022
Published by: Rick Riordan Presents
Read from: September 5-6, 2022
Serwa Boateng, #1
Source: Netgalley (I received a copy of this e-audiobook from Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: Micro-Aggressions
For Readers Interested In: Mythology, Paranormal, Series Starter, Middle GradeBest-selling author Rick Riordan presents best-selling YA author Roseanne A. Brown’s middle grade debut about a pre-teen vampire slayer with a strong helping of Ghanaian folklore.
For most kids, catching fireflies is a fun summer activity. For twelve-year-old Serwa Boateng, it’s a matter of life and death.
That’s because Serwa knows that some fireflies are really adze, shapeshifting vampires from the forests of Southeastern Ghana. Adze prey on the blood of innocents, possessing their minds and turning them into hulking monsters, and for generations, slayers like Serwa and her parents have protected an unknowing public from their threats.
Serwa is the best adze slayer her age, and she knew how to use a crossbow before she could even ride a bike. But when an obayifo (witch) destroys her childhood home while searching for a drum, do Serwa’s parents take her with them on their quest to defeat her? No. Instead, they dump Serwa with her hippie aunt and cryptic-obsessed cousin in the middle of Nowheresville, Maryland “for her own safety.” Now, instead of crossbows and battle armor, she’s dealing with mean girls and algebra, and for the first time in her life she doesn’t have to carry a staff everywhere she goes, which is . . . kind of nice, actually.
Just as Serwa starts to get the hang of this whole normal girl who doesn’t punch vampires every day thing, an adze infiltrates her school. It’s up to her to whip some of her classmates into monster-fighting shape before all of them become firefly food. And when she uncovers a secret that upends everything she thought she knew about her family’s role in the slayer vs. adze war, Serwa will have to decide which side of herself–normal girl or slayer–is the right one.
After all, seventh grade is hard enough without adding vampires to the mix.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I think I say this with all the books that come out from the Rick Riordan Presents publishing, but I think this series is my favorite lol This was so much freaking fun! And no one is more surprised than me to hear me say that lol I am not a fan of vampires anymore, but when they’re connected to Ghanaian folklore, I can give it a pass. And I definitely did.
First things first…. Mythology has me in a CHOKEHOLD. I will always break my neck running to any book that has mythology in it. And this one was even better because it was something that I had never read/seen before. Not only were there gods that were introduced and talked about, but there were also paranormal things in it. There is something in it for everyone. And no they aren’t the nice, sparkly vampires. (even though they are shape-shifters that shift from fireflies to the vampires!) In this book they are very blood-thirsty and very, very tricky. They like to play games over your school’s loud speaker…..
The characters were super cute! This reminded me of like The Breakfast Club for tweens. They are a rag-tag bunch of kids, all different with different interests. The ring-leader is Serwa, who has known about all of this her whole life, but figures out that she needs the others to help out because she knows she can’t do all the things they need to by herself. Because what they need to do to save the school and the town is….. ALOT. But the way Serwa and those kids kick ass, man, you will get so into it.
The plot was hella basic, but with mythology books, they always follow the same formula. Though this one is a bit different, there’s still a kid that doesn’t have their parents around, and they still have to go through different trials and listen to different prophecies etc. From just that, it may seem like it’s trope heavy, but even still, it was ok with me. I still enjoyed it.
But that ending?! Um Ms. Brown, come to the front please! Like what in the world would make you want to do the children (and me for that matter lol) like that. I need to know! Were they being tricked? Are they going to throw the whole world into chaos? What is going to happen to the rest of the group? I’m going to need the rest of these questions before I can move on!!!!
Overall, I give this
