I... Didn't really like this one? In theory, with all the characters that came back and where the setting of this book was, I should have liked it.

I just didn't though.

I think I found the plot line of Darren HAVING to go to school, and them treating it like it was a big issue, just kind of lame. Plus, I get it. Debbie and Darren are the same age. She was his first love. BUT, Darren looks 15 and Debbie is like 25 and then you add in that she was his teacher and I just felt icky. I know it wasn't meant to be icky, but I felt icky anyway.

It just was a little lackluster considering all of the characters and the literal war that was taking place during this book.

¡Y se empiezan a complicar las cosas! Aparecen personajes de los libros anteriores y toman más relevacia en este y los próximos libros, jugando así con mis emociones. Cada vez más cerca del final y ni Darren ni los demás saben lo que les espera :O

3.5/5 (rounded up to 4)

School's boring and I don't want to read about it.

This book wasn’t quite as interesting as previous books. While I will always enjoy seeing Larten and Darren interact like the amazing duo they are, this book wasn’t as strong to me as other have been.

I may be the odd one out on this but even though I was pleasantly surprised by Debbie’s return, I wish she hadn’t been reintroduced. I can see that she was introduced to give the plot some drama and give Darren some moral dilemmas during the fight at the end but I kinda wish she’d just been left as the girl Darren had crushed on when he was younger. I feel like now, especially since she knows everything, the only clean option is to kill her off which I’m mainly concerned about because I don’t want to see Darren turn into Mr Depressed because his love interest was killed.
Don’t get me wrong, the “love interest dying” trope can be a great trope to use but with these two I just don’t buy into it. His confession of love to her before all hell broke loose felt like an add on that the author threw in there to up the dramatic stakes. And I mean, if he REALLY loved her he should be a hot mess right now considering she’s in the hands of R.V. Hooky hands. But he’s still his cool, calculating self with just an added pinch of worry for Debbie’s safety. That doesn’t say “love” to me, that says “I really care for you like I do all my friends.”

Maybe the author is trying to show Darren’s maturity in his ability to handle stressful situations calmly? Who knows

I loved this book it is full of surprises and twists. Lots of old faces but new nightmares . Loved it loved it and loved it!!!

Demasiado, demasiado predecible este libro. Ahora parece Debbie de nuevos y es peor que antes. Confunde a Darren y hace que deje a un lado todas sus responsabilidades solo por salvarla, ya que siempre está en peligro inminente, es como Iris West en la serie The Flash: antes cuando se enteró de que Darren le dijo que tenía algo de información sobre los asesino, Debbie le dijo que era obligación d el ir a la policía y ayudarlos, luego cuando Debbie sabe algo sobre la Guerra de las Cicatrices exige más información sobre los vampanezes y mágicamente se convierte en una guerrera imparable, de un día para otro. Asco, detesto es personaje de Debbie. Sentí la historia como un círculo vicioso.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars for me overall! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Whilst I enjoyed meeting Debbie again and revisiting Mr Crepsley’s birth town, the school element let this book down for me! It seemed rather juvenile given all of the action to date in the previous books and just didn’t seem to really fit other than to reintroduce Debbie! The reappearance of Steve Leonard was however a good surprise! Now onto book 9 - what’s going to happen next?!

This is a solid 5. It had everything you need. Vancha and Crepsley dynamics 10/10. Debbie being a baddie. AND THEN STEVE. Omg. Also Harkat deserves everything.

Steve Leonard is Back! Yay! Better and better...

So this is the eighth book in the series and I really did like this book so it starts off with Darren Mr Crepsley and the little person so they going back to Mr Crepsley hometown again to try and fight there enemies after a few nights of doing this one mid afternoon they get a knock on their hotel door it's someone who says that Darren needs to start attending school if not did have to get the police and all the authorities involved after talking it out with Mr Crepsley they decide Darren to go back to school is first school day was horrendous you didn't look right you didn't smell right you didn't even speak right the only good thing was when he had English I think it was and the vet is ex-girlfriend who is now a teacher at the school is going to because remember Darren doesn't age the same as everyone else because he's a half vampire so he still looks like he's 15 even know he's a lot older let's just say she was surprised to see him and to see that he still look the same as he did 13 years ago he just looked a little bit older oh and also his best friend from childhood Steve came back in this book as he had said previously that you was going to become a vampire Hunter you're just have to read to see if he is a vampire Hunter I really did enjoy this book

I actually thought this was the weakest book so far in the series, but I seem to be in the minority!

I thought that the whodunnit mystery storyline was way too obvious from the get-go, even for a middle grade/YA book, and the whole Darren and Debbie thing just felt a little weird to me... I get that he is around her age really because of how vampires age, but he still looks like a little kid, and idk it just felt a little icky. Similarly, I didn't like how Debbie, as one of the very very very few female characters, was just a whingey, whiney character who always said silly things and was essentially ridiculed (and literally called a wench) for not knowing the right thing to do, and how she then became the damsel in distress. Some people may think I'm reading too much into it for a kids book series predominantly aimed at boys, but I still think that female characters within those books deserve better representation than the oldest stereotypes known to literature; women being dead weight damsels.

This book just wasn't the one for me, and I hope the rest of the series goes back to its usual greatness!

Actual Rating: 3.5/5