FINISHED:
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. (2011). Tantalize: Kieren's story. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

[Quincie and her uncle are reopening their family restaurant as Sanguini’s, an Italian restaurant that will cater to “predators” and “prey”… vampires and humans. When the head chef, Vaggio, is found murdered in the kitchen, Quincie’s on again/off again boyfriend, Kieren, a human/werewolf hybrid, is accused of the brutal killing. This sets Kieren off on an investigation to not only find out who really murdered Vaggio, but also to find out what may have happened to all of the high school students that have recently gone missing, eventually discovering that the new head chef of the restaurant is using it as a device to create new vampires. Based on her own 2007 dark fantasy novel Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007), though with the focus shifted from the female protagonist to her hybrid (human/werewolf) boyfriend, this graphic novelization ends up being more boring than violent: there’s one scene where the vice principal of Quincie and Kieren’s school gets his head chopped off, but, otherwise it’s Kieren driving around town trying to find Quincie for the majority of the story. Being based off of a novel, there are definite moments where it seems like there is jump in the storyline/action, and some of the illustrated panels are so busy and muddy that it is difficult to figure out what we are being shown. That said, though the werewolf/vampire craze may be waning, this will find a definite audience – albeit one that may be disappointed in the lack of blood and gore. A brief Author’s Note discusses the literary and setting inspirations for the original novel. [Review based on ARC.]]

STARTED:
Brosgol, Vera. (2011). Anya's ghost. New York: First Second/Roaring Brook.

[.]

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