Anyone who has watched me lug this book around for the past month will already know my general opinions, but here we go I guess...

For reference, I really didn't enjoy Who Let The God's Out. I rated that 1 star.
The children in my book club picked this as their focus, so I was ready to give it a try and was hopeful for a change of heart.

Spoiler; no change I'm afraid.

I'd like to start with the fact that the children had very mixed opinions. I'll be talking to them tomorrow about what they thought of the ending, but up to now I've had children who I quote "would die for this book", children who rated it about a 3, and children who really didn't like it at all.

Personally, whilst I loved the story, I have so so so many issues with the book on the whole.

The story itself has so much potential! I /enjoyed/ the plot. If I didn't have so many issues with the writing, I would 100% read the next book because I honestly want to know what happens next. I want to know who big bad Umbra is (and if my guess is right). I would love to see how Vi and Russell get on in their new school. And I loved the ending of Vi's mum and dad's respective relationships - it felt both realistic and still happy.

However.
Vi Spy managed to outrage me on a whole other level, far surpassing the reasons I disliked Who Let The God's Out.

A lot of my issues with Who Let The God's Out came from pacing, plot and characters, which I feel Vi Spy did so much better at.
My only other big dislikes of the first book were the very cheesey, punny, personally not funny humour - which I respect is different for everyone, especially children.

But Vi Spy went way beyond just cheesey humour.

My 3 biggest issues:

1. Vi's mum being continuously and constantly incorrectly named. Practically deadnamed.
There was something so vile as a transgender person to watch everyone in a person's life, their mother, daughter, ex husband, best friend, and even the author, call someone by a name they do not go by and actively dislike. One of the character's (Vi's mother) ongoing punchlines is correcting people that her name is Susan, only to be ignored because 'Easter suits you better'...

I was talking to friends that if this turned out to be a drawn out lesson about respecting people's choices towards the end, I might let it slide, while still disliking the method. But no.
At the very end, Vi's mum instead decides to correct the one person who has always called her Susan (her new fiancé), and tell everyone that her name is really Easter.
No.
That is not how you do this.
Maz has effectively written a whole cast of characters bullying someone into taking their deadname back, because that's who they 'truly' were all along.
I know it is not the same thing as a transgender person's deadname, but it's all in all teaching children to disrespect someone's choice until they eventually listen to you.

2. I can deal with a fart joke every now and again. A smelly, crude, or silly joke. It's not my humour, but I know kids love it. I get it. But this was a David Walliams level of crude humour which I just have never understood a need for. No thank you. It just feels lazy.
Especially Siren. She was such a good character, and she didn't need to constantly have a punchline every other sentence about her warts or her portaloo-smelling breath or her refried bean toilet trips.

3. Dimitri the vampire.
I won't go on a long rant, but let's just say this is not how you write a 'white man conscious of privilege' character, even as a punchline. It was grossly miscalculated.

I hate that I have more, but I'm fully aware noone wants to just watch me rant.

Overall, I'm just so disappointed.
I would give it 1 star, as its made me angrier than Who Let The God's Out did, but the plot, the characters, and the story potential itself redeems it just enough for 2 stars.
In another world, I could have truly loved this book.