Review: Still Sucks To Be Me: More All-True Confessions of Mina Smith, Teen Vampire by Kimberly Pauley

Still Sucks To Be Me is the sequel to Kimberly Pauley's awesome vampire book, Sucks To Be Me. Why is this series so awesome? Well let me just say, it is lighthearted, doesn't take the vampire thing too seriously and it's hilarious!

This book picks up pretty much immediately after the previous book. Mina is now undead and she is being relocated! Yikes! And while she is holding out hope she's just moving to LA, she doesn't realize that LA stands for Louisiana, and not just any city in Louisiana, but tiny Cartville, Louisiana, home of...well, not much. So now, Mina is far away from her best friend, Serena, her boyfriend, George, is living in BRAZIL (and Mina is not happy about this turn of events) and Mina couldn't even attend her own funeral.

Life as a relocated vampire still sucks but Mina is making due with the help of another local teen vampire, Cameron. Unfortunately, he has some secrets of his own up his sleeve. And remember Raven? Well, she hasn't disappeared either.

The humor is back in spades. Mina is definitely the queen of the one-liner because this book is filled with droll and amusing observations about humans and vampires. But it's also filled with everyday normal teen worries: starting over at a new high school, having to make friends, hearing the gossip about yourself, being frustrated with your parents, missing your best friend and boyfriend. Author Kimberly Pauley gets these teen emotions and drama so exactly right. But at the same time, Mina is not one to just sit by and whine about what she is missing. She is out and about in Cartville trying to adapt, putting off the advances of the most popular guy in school, and taking continuing education classes about being a vampire.

What I enjoyed about the first book is still alive and well in this book: fantastic humor, a quirky main character, and even some new interesting characters. There were a few cliched high school characters I thought (Kacie, the Mean Girl, Grady, Mr. Popular) but what high school isn't complete without these cliches so it just seemed natural to include them. And what Mina does to Kacie at the end is beyond humorous.

Some of my favorite lines:

"Oh, yes," says the sage Dr. Musty. "Kacie Kinsely. She's been after Grady Broussard for quite some time. They did go out a few times, but nothing serious. At least, not on Grady's part."

Why in the world does he even know that? We all stare at him.

He shrugs delicately and takes a tiny bite of a little tuna fish sandwich. "It's a small town," he says. "I think you'll find that you'll soon know everyone's business."

-------------------------------------------------------

I'm watching yet another stupid cat video when I hear dad singing off-key in the shower, which means he's deliriously happy to be getting ready for work AND I'm nearly late for my first day of school. Agh! Curse you, Lolcats!

---------------------------------------------

"He must be at Ernie's Blood Bar," I say. "I thought you guys were listening? Lowell, like, practically lives in the back room there."

"Then lets go!" At least he didn't yell, "To the Batmobile!"

-------------------------------------------

Ok, maybe some of these quotes need more context but seriously I was laughing while reading this book which to me, a humor junkie, is a very good thing! And wait until you read about cow patty bingo. This book retains a lot of the freshness of the first book and gives you more insight into Mina's character. This is the perfect read for those teens you know who are getting burnt out on vampires but aren't quite ready to move away from the paranormal genre entirely. It's a nice mix of realistic human and undead supernatural.

All in all, this is a quick and enjoyable read. It helps to have read the first but honestly, the author does a great job of setting up the back story without just throwing it into the story that even new readers should understand what is going on. I really enjoyed revisiting Mina and family and I think others will feel the same.

This book comes out in May 2010, so not too far away. I received this book from the publisher for review. It will now be passed around to my teen readers.