I loved this book! Thank you for the ARC. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that I wasn’t leaving reviews on netgalley and was solely sharing on Instagram. My apologies. Huge fan of this author! I actually received the tangible copy. Trying to clean up my netgally account.

If vampires are your thing, this book is for you!

I am a huge fan of vampires since the Sookie Stackhouse series and this was just another great book to add to the list!

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get into this book, it didn’t seem to hold my attention and this is one of my favourite genres. The characters I couldn’t connect with, it was slow to start and then just wasn’t motivating me to want to read it.

Once again I’ve proven to myself that low Goodreads rating doesn’t mean the book is bad or that I won’t like it. With a mere 3.04, «The Vampire of Maple Town» was a very solid and magical debut novel that I would highly recommend to anyone who loves fairytales and inexperienced vampires trying to find their place in the human society.

It’s not often that we get a new take on the old vampire story. Generally, vampires are these ruthless beasts, akin Dracula, or love boys like Edward from the Twilight Saga or Stefan and Damon from The Vampire Diaries. Seeing vampires as someone who is completely inexperienced in the “vampire business” and tries to learn how to live with it, was very interesting and refreshing.

Let’s begin with the small town setting. Maple Town seemed to come from the pages of a fairytale - orchards that belonged to the Maple family were the crown of the Maple Town, with Sally Maple as its center jewell. Everyone loved Sally. All eligible youth has tried their chance with the princess of orchards. Sadly, Sally’s heart didn’t belong to anyone.

You might think that this is a love story. But it was so much more. It’s a story of difficult choices, of friendship and finding your place in the world, when all the world does is trying to isolate you from everyone else.

In Maple Town everyone knows each other. Charlie, the young inexperienced vampire, got excited to meet people but he also needed to be careful to not reveal his biggest secret - that he’s a vampire and needs blood to survive.

Charlie’s story was very interesting, but the character that spoke to me the most was Alice. The story of a little witch hidden from the world was a little bit more exciting to me that the one about the little vampire. I guess I prefer witches over vampires… oops! The finale of the book definitely hinted at the possibility of a sequel, and there are still many questions that were left unanswered. So hopefully the sequel will focus more on Alice (sorry, Charlie!).

Alice seemed to be a very strong young lady, and with all the witchcraft skills she learned from the Cat, there is a ton of potential for a more magical orientated story in the future.

This was one of the few books where queer characters didn’t feel forced. When reading books with queer characters I often feel that authors introduce them just for the sake of meeting some goals. But in this book, it felt genuine, although I shouldn’t be the one to judge this, and would love to hear from someone who can actually relate to the character what they thought about it.

Another element that spoke to me was the little magical things that popped up here and there that didn’t affect the plot and didn’t require any logical explanation. They are magic afterall. It might look like I don’t like structured and “logical” magic (if such a thing exists), but I do.

However, what I love the most is the whimsical feeling of something magical happening that doesn’t need any justification. These elements bring me back to childhood because ultimately most middle-grade books contain this aspect in one way or another.

This was a really difficult book to read.

Far too slow and confusing. Too many characters who I didn't understand and certainly didn't care for

Not a bad read, I am thinking kids 5th grade up who are into vampires, witches, and other magical creatures are going to enjoy this story. Kind of a slow start, but it's a fun story for kids (I was beginning to think the vampire thing had end after Twilight...guess I was wrong.)

I would like to thank NetGalley and Crown Publishing for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I unfortunately could not care enough for this book. The story was confusing, it read as if the beginning had been cut out and it started in its very slow middle act, therefore the pacing was too slow. The story was also full of tropes to a point where there was nothing surprising about it and the characters were all not fleshed out enough so I would care about them.

Thank you to the author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review.
I found it difficult to review this book for a while. I just couldn't get my head around the story. I felt the author was trying to add too much into the plot that was, at times, unnecessary and just added more unanswered questions.
Some parts were slow and I felt the need to put the book down, other parts flew by and you're sure you missed something important. I liked the small village, it was very fitting for this fantasy world where witches, vampires and werewolves existed. I really liked the paper companion that Charlie found in the attic, it was a lovely aspect.
Overall I actually quite liked the storyline but I felt some detailed backstory would have changed it for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy of this book.

When I seen this on Netgalley I just loved the cover and the synopsis sounded intriguing but I do have to say I could not stay focused. I found my self not enjoying it. I think it was because the book was just slow. I did love the concept and think this could have been a great 4 stars if the character had just been flushed out more. The magic element in this book was very cute and I loved all the fairytales hidden in the story. This probably would be a good kid read.

Normally when we come across a fiction book about a vampire, we either find a dark, deary, gory, atmospheric tale set in Transylvania akin to Dracula or we find a bunch of modern, hot looking teenage vampires trying to live a normal teenage life in Forks or Mystic Falls. So when I came across this book on NetGalley, two things caught my eye--the cover and the fact that this seemed like a story about a teenage vampire boy called Charlie in a fairy tale kind of setting. Well, I wasn't wrong. The story of this book is set in a town called Maple Town which by its description sounded a lot like the town Belle lived in 'The Beauty and the Beast'--and references to fairy tales don't end here as there are quite a few (subtle and not so subtle) that are sprinkled throughout the book. Add in witches, magic, a talking black cat (a demon trapped in a cat's body), a paper sparrow, werewolves, masquerade parties, balls and a revenge plot and you get yourself a fantasy novel which I feel is mainly aimed at middle grade readers. For a debut novel, it's not a bad effort and the ending of this book does hint at a follow up story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for an ARC.

This book was both slow and confusing. I had trouble figuring out the timeline and there were too many characters who I did not care about. In the end, I was just glad to be finished with it. The writing was also simplistic but I do not think the topic or pace fits with the age group that the writing was aimed at.

The story was a bit confusing and all over the place. I found it rather difficult to follow. The storyline itself was interesting though.

the pace is a bit slow but I found the story interesting if a bit predictable, the story at times seemed to lack focus but I found the ending quite enjoyable, Basically I found it well worth a read but not a future classic

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of The Vampire of Maple Town by Kane McLoughlin. I have read and reviewed this copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If I had to use one word to describe this book it would be: confusing. Unfortunately the story was all over the place. It felt like there were four different stories thrown together in a blender without a thread to connect them. The mythology isn’t eplained at all. The characters have no backstory or their background isn’t really explored. Which results in a story that isn’t very enjoyable.

By the end the reader is left with more questions than answers.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to have access to The Vampire of Maple Town. I found the pacing for this story to be slow at the start, but things did pick up and I enjoyed the story more once the pacing started to improve. There were also a few things I wish the author would’ve touched on more (such as Sally and her understanding of love, I found her conversation with Alice to be interesting and wish they would’ve had a proper chance to discuss things again!) As a whole, I wish I could’ve connected with the characters more and that the romance wasn’t as heavy of a focus. I enjoyed this story, but I believe there was potential for even more to be discussed.

This book is really hard to rate, but I'm going to give it my best try! So, for this review I'm going to start off with the positive and say that this is a beautifully written, atmospheric story with a bit of whimsy to it (at least to me), but I'm well aware that this writing style can also be a turn off to some readers.

Now, the bad part about this book is that it sort of drags on, The pacing just wasn't there for me, and I found it really hard to stick to reading this. It took me a little over a month to finish, and I usually fly through books at least one every two days. I was really taken out of the story because of that, and I definitely think that the pacing could have been improved upon.

I rated this a 2.5 after a few days of reflection, which is why it's been bumped up to three.

The first chapter really set the mood of the entire novel. It's so mysterious, intriguing and atmospheric, written in a way I felt I was in for a good tale. It was a good tale, though there are parts of the story where the storytelling loses the mood and tone that the beginning promised. I can even say, it gets dramatic and dull sometimes. But overall the plot is okay and the twists are decent enough.

When it comes to the characters, Charlie, our main character isn't that likeable. I don't hate him but I don't like him enough. He's a bit meh for my taste. I'm in fact more interested in Vincent who thankfully is one of the main characters though I didn't like the fact that he hid something from Charlie and raised him very strictly. Still, I'm interested to know about him ad I would love to read his and his wife's love story. That would be a great tale. But unfortunately this book is more focused on Charlie and the deal Vincent made with the 'twins' to keep Charlie alive. Also, Charlie's Romance is in the spotlight. It's sort of love 'square' which really gets confusing because, in the end, I had no idea what it achieved. Did the romance a part of this story at all? I think the Romance was stupid.

I just wished the story also focuses on Alice, because, by the way, this is a retelling of Alice in Wonderland and I think she's really an interesting character. But instead, we get even more of the Queen of Hearts who is one stupid, confused character. I know it's part of her character, in the story she's called, THE QUEEN OF BROKENHEARTS, but still, she's one unlikeable character, like why does she even a part of this story?

Overall, this is a fine tale, I just wish, the author developed each plot points more because really, every part of this story and each character has so much potential. I think there will be a sequel or at least a companion novel and I might read it when it comes out.

Fifteen year old Charlie becomes a vampire. He has to sign a contract to kill someone. He is not to leave the house, ever. Vincent Prowl adopts Charlie and loved him as his own. When Charlie escapes, Vincent must find him even though, he may have to tear Maple Town apart. Surprising secrets are revealed. Talking cats, magical goings on, vampires and witches make this a story that I enjoyed reading. I received this book from Net Galley and EverAfterPress for a honest review and no compensation otherwise.

I don't think I was the right audience for this book. It seemed very simply written, like a children's book with some very dark and disturbing topics. Not able to finish

Many thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

The premise for The Vampire of Maple Town was an interesting one: there is a little village with a mysterious vampire for a doctor who at one point decides to turn a young dying boy into a vampire as well and ten adopts him as his son. The boy is made to sign a contract upon his turning that states he has to kill one of the villagers in exchange for his life. The boy, Charlie, however, gets acquainted very well with the village people and doesn’t want to kill anyone at all. Besides this main story, there were many random facts and seemingly disconnected events announced throughout the book.

I have to say, though, that I had a hard time reading this book and relating to it in any way. The writing style, which was very simplistic and almost child-like, didn’t appeal to me at all. I almost missed the pictures to go with it, because it felt like a children’s book, especially in the beginning. Every now and then there was also a strange all-knowing narrator who gave predictions for the rest of the book. These passages were very out of the blue and didn’t match the story in my opinion.

Additionally, the writer chose to incorporate a lot of elements from different books and fairy tales. There were references to Alice in Wonderland (the Mad Hatter party, a character named Alice, a queen of broken hearts who screams “off with his head!), Sabrina the Teenage Witch (a black cat who teaches magic), Beauty and the Beast (a baker named Maurice), and Rumpelstiltskin (a curse that is broken when you figure out the person’s name). I didn’t enjoy these elements at all, since they made the story feel less unique and more of a mixture of stolen bits and pieces.

Even though I have to say that I thought the book got better towards the end, and I was curious to see how everything turned out. I did not enjoy this book. There were too many strange things going on and it couldn’t captivate me enough to keep reading. I finished it, but I almost didn’t. And since I never really DNF a book, that it saying something.