Darren continues to rivet in this second volume of the saga. I laughed a little less and internally cried a little more, but THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT was still buckets of fun. Shan's use of simple language to convey complex sights and emotions is astounding. My dork dad Crep is still a dork, and I really appreciated how he emotionally evolved and let Darren's remaining humanity influence him. Everyone, including and especially the "freaks," was doing their best and had understandable motivations. They felt very much like real people to me, and I still couldn't be happier with a MG series.

But like...they're almost too good. I ATE this book. Shan's sense of pacing is insanely on point. I had this book for a little over 24 hours and suddenly...what times does the library open and when can I read the next one?