I always enjoy Rick Riordan Presents newest additions and so was thrilled to be chosen to host a spot
for SERWA BOATENG'S GUIDE TO VAMPIRE HUNTING by Roseanne A. Brown by Rockstar
Book Tours. I hope you'll check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
Author: Roseanne A. Brown
Pub. Date: September 6, 2022
Publisher: Rick Riordan Presents
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Pages: 400
Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org
Best-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 vampire's everyday 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 Review
Serwa Boateng's Guide to Vampire Hunting is the newest edition to the Rick Riordan Presents imprint. Serwa and her parents are Slayers who hunt the Adze, firefly creatures who can possess a person, and even morph into blood sucking Vampire's. Yep, sounds creepy right? All her life, Serwa has desperately wanted to get her tattoo that marks her as an official Slayer, and prove to her parents that she is ready for her Initiation Test. Despite her years of training and having fought alongside them, her parents have been overly cautious and have refused to allow her to take the test. Then her family is attacked by Adze, at what is supposed to be their safe house, hidden by protective wards. Outnumbered they're driven from their home by Boahinmaa, a Obayifo or witch who is seeking the Midnight Drum. Soon after the attack, Serwa and her parents are summoned to a meeting with the Gods and Serwa's parents are tasked with dealing with Boahinmaa.
Serwa is sent to live with her Aunt Latricia and Cousin Roxy in Rocky Gorge, Maryland. Serwa is very unhappy to be left behind by her parents but tries to blend in at her new school, which turns out to be a struggle. The schoolwork may be a breeze, having learned a lot of the coursework in homeschool, but interacting with the teachers and students is where her difficulties lie. Serwa has a teacher who repeatedly pronounces her name incorrectly, Sarah for Serwa, despite Serwa's best efforts to correct her. She also discriminates against Serwa, accusing her of cheating and lumps her into "kids like you." Roxy tries really hard to reach out to Serwa, but she rebukes her efforts of kindness. Gotta love Roxy for trying.
When Serwa has a misunderstanding with another student at school and a food fight ensues, she is forced to join Eunju, Gavin, Mateo and Roxy in a school detention program performing community service on the school grounds as a punishment. For me, this is the heart of the story, the interactions between these diverse characters. I just adored each and every one of them and the bonds that developed between them. Learning Gavin's story of how he came to live with two dads, and especially enjoyed Mateo who is super kind and Eunju. Serwa spent much of her life traveling with her parents and hunting Adze. She really didn't have the opportunity to interact with many other kids. I believe there is a part of her that didn't even know what she was missing until she was forced into detention and into completing the Where We're From collage. She has a strong independent streak and confidence I liked, but there is a huge vulnerable side to her too. For the first time she is surrounded by these other kids, who she needs help from to fight the adze at their school (needing help is a totally new experience for her), but who she's unsure of how to lead and train. I think it zaps her confidence for a while. There is so much growth within her in these chapters of them searching for who the adze's host is.
The reader learns about the Ghanian mythology the story is based on, Serwa's history and culture and how these overlapped with the history of Rocky Gorge from the 1800's. At the same time, we see Serwa feeling stuck or displaced from her Ghanian and American roots. Not sure what to put into her part of the where she's from collage. Struggling with who she really is. And then to top it off learning of the secrets her parents have been keeping from her. There's so much weighing on Serwa and well it's part of the reason that this story is 400 pages long. The length was needed to set up the characters friendship, introduce the Ghanian mythology the story is based on and needed to setup the ending. And oh, what an ending, best cliffhanger ending! Or is it worst cause I certainly felt the need to read the next book in the series, like right now.
I'd highly recommend this for a vampire hunting enthusiast interested in learning more about Ghanian mythology, history and culture. The story is adventurous, humorous and has plenty of action scenes of wielding an axe, fighting Adze, moments of utilizing elemental blessings, divine wisdoms and conjuring protective spells using Adinkra symbols, which the glossary at the back of the book was especially helpful for. There's also an element of dark magic which presents some moral questioning and gray areas to explore, questions like does the use of dark magic make someone entirely a bad person? Lastly, I really enjoyed the chapter headings beginning with sayings from Nwoma, a Twi Book. So yep, defiantly check this out. I'll be here waiting for, Serwa Boateng's Guide to Witchcraft and Mayhem. **I received this book from the publisher via Rockstar Book Tours in exchange for an honest review**
About Roseanne A. Brown:
Roseanne
“Rosie” A. Brown was born in Kumasi, Ghana and immigrated to the wild jungles
of central Maryland as a child. She graduated from the University of Maryland
with a Bachelor’s in Journalism and was also a teaching assistant for the
school’s Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House program. Her debut novel A Song of
Wraiths and Ruin was an instant New York Times Bestseller, an Indie Bestseller,
and received six starred reviews. She has worked with Marvel, Star Wars, and
Disney among other publishers.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub
Giveaway Details:
1 winner
will receive a finished copy of SERWA BOATENG'S GUIDE TO VAMPIRE HUNTING, US
Only.
Ends October 7th, midnight EST.
a Rafflecopter giveawayTour Schedule:
Week One:
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I don't usually read vampire stories but this sounds like one I'd like with the strong characters and Ghanian mythology.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, hope you'll check it out. It's lots of fun and not as scary as the vampire theme implies.
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