Kimberly Pauley

Reviews & Comments

I’d love to hear what you think of the book! Please feel free to send me a note through the Contact page.

From Locus:
“The adolescent vampire novel gets a pleasantly light, bizarrely heartwarming treatment in this novel . . . It’s an unusual mix, a welcome change from all the darker, angsty teen vampire novels around these days, and a very promising first novel.”

From the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books:
“The lively pace, amusing tone, and accessibly non-gory vampire plot make this an ideal summer beach read, particularly for horror fans who may appreciate a lighter look at the path toward immortal bloodsucker.”

From Booklist:
Most high-school juniors face big questions about their futures, but few ask the question posed to 16-year-old Mina: should she stay human or should she become a vampire, like her parents? In this breezy, often uproarious debut novel, Pauley follows Mina through her decision-making process, which includes classes about vampire history and culture and field trips with her eccentric uncle Mortie, the first vampire in the family. The juxtaposition between Mina’s normal, human high-school existence and “vampire camp” creates hilarious contrasts, all narrated in Mina’s wisecracking, authentic teen voice. Mina’s frequent lists, such as “Why It Sucks to Have Parents Who Are Vampires” and IM exchanges between Mina and her best friend, add to the pitch-perfect humor. A chirpy cheerleader considering the vampire life and a cast of handsome romantic prospects round out the appealing supporting cast. Readers will race through this lighthearted debut, filled with vampire lore, to discover Mina’s final decision, and they might recognize Mina’s larger struggle to move between very different cultural worlds. Grades 7-10. –Gillian Engberg

From VOYA:
In this light-hearted romance, sixteen-year-old Mina struggles with the unusual choice of whether she should “turn” and become a vampire like her parents. Mina’s parents are pretty normal and boring, so she has never really given the whole vampire world much thought. Mina’s happy complacency abruptly ends when her existence is discovered by the Vampire Council. She realizes that her parents have been hiding her from the Council because it is against the rules for vampires to live with human relatives. Now that the Council is aware of Mina, she is forced to go to weekly vampire classes so that she can make an informed decision by her seventeenth birthday. Although having vampire parents may suck, Mina is having unusually good luck in her love life. Surprisingly Mina meets two promising boys in vampire school, and finally starts a friendship with popular Nathan, on whom she has had a crush for as long as she can remember. Luckily Mina has her best friend, Serena, to help her deal, although she cannot tell Serena the truth about her vampire problem. Mina is an appealing character with a humorous voice, and this story focuses on friendship and romance rather than vampires. The most unbelievable element is not the existence of vampires but how wonderful and kind Mina’s family and friends are. This breezy book will be more satisfying to chick-lit fans looking for a quick, fun read than to teens looking for a rich and atmospheric vampire story. Reviewer: Amy Luedtke

“What a great debut novel that is sure to stand out amongst the sea of other vampire books! You might think the main premises for this book is vampires, but I found that the story is more about a teenager finding herself than anything else. Even non-vampire fans will like this book…” (Read the rest of the review at The Story Siren)
—Kristi

“Kimberly Pauley is no stranger to the written word. More importantly she is no stranger to the words written for YA readers. As a reviewer of YA books (aka the Young Adults Books Goddess from yabookscentral.com) she has read a huge amount of books written for teenaged readers. She was obviously taking notes while she was reading because in Sucks To Be Me she seems to have written a remarkably good novel first time out…” (Read the rest of the review at LoveVampires.com)
—Amanda

“This is unlike any other vampire novel I’ve ever read, and is a great, original take on the whole vampire phenomenon. I loved this book! It’s absolutely hilarious and just so much fun to read…” (Read the rest of the review at BookChic)
—BookChic

“My mom (Alex Flinn) got a copy of your book to blog. I saw it on her desk. After the first page I ran into my room, got in my bed, got comfy and read. For a good two hours I read your book. Conveniently finishing right at dinner. I loved it! The subject of vampires has gotten very stale. It seems as if all vampire stories are the same. This is the best book Iv’e read about vampires ever! It’s a wonderful twist on the (boring) average vampire story and a wonderful love story!”
— Katherine

5 Stars: “Mina Hamilton has a major life (or death) decision to make, and only a few weeks in which to decide. Should she, or should she not, become a vampire? It seems like a no-brainer. I mean, Buffy would know in, like, a split second. But, having vampire parents sort of complicates matters…” (Read the rest of the review at TeensReadToo)
—Julie M. Prince @ TeensReadToo.com

“Mina’s the stereotypical teenage girl. Well, she fits the criteria…kind of. Boy troubles? Check. Crazy uncle (that her family would like to keep in the attic)? Uh, check. Oh, and did I mention that her parents are vampires? Well, they are and they’ve just confronted her with a question that could change her life forever…” (Read the rest of the review at Reader Rabbit)
—Reader Rabbit

“I love this book. Mina is a character that is just like me (without the vampire parents). I can relate to some of the things she does. I also love the way the book puts me into Mina’s world. It took me out of my world and into hers. This book is my all-time favorite and I will read it over and over.”
—Rachel, 17

“Mina (yes, she IS named after the Dracula character) is a normal teenage girl- albite her vampire parents and the fact that she now must choose whether or not she wants to join them in undead-ville. In this book you follow Mina as she has some ups and downs-some vamp related-some not…” (Read the rest of the review at Vita Dei)
—Jessica @ Vita Dei

“There are a LOT of Teen Vampire novels on the market now and I think I’ve read about 3/4 of them. This one is a worthy addition to the genre. Mina’s voice is so clearly just a normal teen girl with loving parents (who happen to be vampires) and a best friend (who she can’t confide in regarding the whole vampire thing) and a crush on a boy or two (one of whom is totally into the vampire thing, and one of whom isn’t)…” (Read the rest of the review at YABC)
—Brenda (my first review on YABC!)

“At the end of Mina Hamilton’s junior year in high school, she is faced with the biggest decision of her life: whether or not to become a vampire. To make it worse, the only guidance she has comes from her slightly crazy uncle Mortie and a vampire class taught by good old Grandma Wolfington (okay, her real name is Ms. Riley) that Mina is forced to take. And just because she is named after a character from Bram Stoker’s Dracula doesn’t make this enormous decision any easier…” (Read the rest of the review at Book Muncher’s Blog)
—The Book Muncher

“Mina Hamilton is your average kid…sort of. Normal except for the slight fact that her parents are vampires. Despite this minor technicality, Mina’s lived a pretty good life so far (sure, she has to remind her parents to get food now and then, and feed herself since vampires don’t have to eat), that is, until the day the tax collector came (ah, those pesky people!). Now the Vampire Council know that Mina exists and she’s forced to go to vampire informational classes and decide if she wants to chance or not…” (Read the rest of the review at The Book Vault)
—Dominique

“Being a high school student is stressful all by itself. Crushes, friendships, homework, the list goes on and on, but for Mina Hamilton life just got a little more complicated. You see, Mina’s parents are vampires. Her dad was accidently turned by her Uncle Mortie and since her mother was pregnant with her at the time, she waited to become a vampire until after Mina was born. The problem?? Mina’s parents never told The Council about having a baby and humans are NEVER supposed to find out about vampires and since Mina is human, she isn’t supposed to know…” (Read the rest of the review at Karin’s Book Nook)
—Karin

“Sucks to be Me is the delightful narrative of Mina Hamilton, a snarky teen with a big decision to make: whether or not to join the ranks of the secretive vampires. She has to deal with a lot of issues, both normal and supernatural, including boy problems, vampire school, regular school, and prom! Imagine, having to make a life changing decision in a month with only your parents, your eccentric Uncle Mortie, and Grandma Wolfington (AKA Ms. Riley, vampire teacher) for guidance…” (Read the rest of the review at Revish)
—Elizabeth

“Kimberly Pauley’s first novel manages to have an irresistible mix of hilarity and originality, throwing all the vampire cliches out the window and providing readers (like me) a fresh, energizing novel…” (Read the rest of the review at the Bibliophile Support Group)
—MrsRonWeasley

“Picked this up at work, read a few pages, had to take it home–this is one of those books that just jumps right into the story…” (Read the rest at Bookavore)
—Stephanie Anderson

“You are sucked into this book from page one. Mina’s voice is original, funny and truly engaging. She felt real and seemed like a teenage girl you might know.The little facts and truth about some vampire myths over each chapter were pure genius and each myth had something to do with that chapter…” (Read the rest of the review at BookLuver Carol)
—Carol

“…If you enjoyed the graphic novel Life Sucks, or if you’re looking for an anti-Twilight, you might enjoy this look at vampire life through a humorous lens. I did, and I’m not the biggest fan of vampire books…” (Read the rest of the review at Readers’ Rants)
—Sarah J. Steveson