This was a sweet, fun and funny story. The illustrations are eye catching and perfectly match the story. I loved the representation.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

🛼Get ready to roll into a world where skates meet fangs and chaos reigns supreme!

📖: Blood City Rollers
🖋️: V.P. Anderson & Tatiana Hill
⭐️: 5 of 5

Tropes & Themes:
🦇Vampires
🛼Roller derby
✨Queer representation
⛸️Middle grades graphic novel
🌈 Overcoming fears
🛼Pronouns
✨Found family

‘Blood City Rollers' is the graphic novel you never knew you needed—colorful, hilarious, and totally original!

From the stunning graphics that pop off the page to the laugh-out-loud humor that'll have you snorting with laughter, this book is a wild ride from start to finish!

And let's talk about Mina—our 13-year-old ice skater turned roller derby star! Her journey from Olympic dreams to undead derby queen is a whirlwind of epic proportions!

Amidst all the chaos and laughter, there's a heartwarming message about friendship, believing in yourself, and finding your place in the world.

🛼So grab your skates, embrace your inner vampire, and join Mina and her crew for a roller derby adventure like no other!

Thank you for the gifted book

This was super cute and fun to read. It definitely was a great palette cleanser to break up the more dark & steamy books I read. I loved the characters and the struggles they are going through but with a more lighthearted twist as times, Plus who doesn't like vampire roller derby!?!

Vampires + Roller Derby = This super charming YA graphic novel.

Mina is an ice-skater who wipes out at a competition and is taken in (held hostage??) by a group of roller derby vampires. They need a human player for their team and Mina is just the skater.

I loved this and devoured it in one sitting. V.P. Anderson and Tatiana Hill are a great team here. I’ve followed Hill’s work for a while and have a rollerskating tarot deck they made. So this graphic novel combined everything I love into one book.

I wish it had been longer and a little more detailed at the beginning about what was happening. I felt like I was trying to catch up with the world, and not even the roller derby rules. I just mean the world of vampires created here.

Still loved this and had SUCH a fun time with it.

This graphic novel was wildly fun, and I would confidently recommend it to a ton of middle grade readers. It follows Mina, an aspiring figure skater who faces a lot of pressure from her mother. One day she gets injured, and when her disappointed mother's back is turned, whisked off by a group of roller derby-ing vampires. The characters are delightful, the illustrations are vibrant, and the overall message is fun. Plus, the queer rep is great. However, us readers are expected to forgive kidnapping pretty quickly. A lot of graphic novels require suspension of disbelief and this is no different, but it doesn't always work for me. I felt like the flaws of the vamps were pointed out to us, and then never explored again.

Still, there is a sequel coming, and this was fun, when I wasn't having a moral crisis about the actions of teenage vampires. I'd recommend it for fans of Lumberjanes or Julie Murphy's Camp Sylvania. Young readers probably won't have the same qualms as me, and that's awesome!

Mina is poised to become the next great Olympic figure skater, until after landing a quadruple jump she skates onto her next move and wipes out. She breaks her arm and that's the end of skating for her...until she is kidnapped in the parking lot by a different group of skaters - roller derby skaters. Paranormal roller derby skaters who need a human on their team in order to play. All of a sudden Mina feels alive again as she learns how roller derby is played. Mina enjoys being part of a team, but what will it cost her?

2.5 stars

I don't know what's been going on in the middle grade graphic novel world, but this was another MG graphic novel that felt very choppy and unrevised to me. It seemed to jump at times in ways that didn't make sense in the overall scheme of things, making the characters feel like they weren't fully fleshed out.

I think the point of this book is to show readers that they can pursue their dreams no matter what, but it was mixed into a narrative that was about being kidnapped by vampires and not having anyone in your life care enough to notice. This made me feel like it was teaching impressionable kids the wrong lesson. If you're kidnapped by strange people who make it clear that they're using you for their own gains, please don't befriend them and definitely don't get a crush on one of them.

Ignoring these issues, the idea of having vampire roller derby is pretty fun and at times very hilarious. It just seems like the author should have taken a better route to get to what they were trying to do.

This book has a great premise with a lot of buzzwords like "roller derby" and "vampires," but I struggled to follow the actual sports part of the story. I feel like you would already need to be familiar with roller derby culture to understand.

I love anything roller skating, so I was excited to find this middle grade graphic novel about a disillusioned (but very good!) ice skater who finds a passion for (paranormal) roller derby! Mina has been a figure skater all of her life, but at this point the passion is all her mom's, who has Olympic dreams for Mina, and she mostly just goes along with it.

Then one day at a competition, Mina gets kidnapped by vampires who need a human skater to be the jammer on their paranormal roller derby team. There's definitely a learning curve moving from ice skates to wheels and from solo competition to a team sport, but Mina takes it all in stride and quickly finds her place on the team.

It seems like the book left space for a sequel. I hope so!

I got all the way to the end without realizing this was the start to a series! I was so invested in the characters and the plot, cannot wait for the next installment!

This was super cute. I liked the characters and storyline Art was amazing I look forward to book two

What do you get when you a human ice skater joins a vampire roller derby team? A fun story about found family and discovering not only who we are, but what we really want from life. Mina Murray is a 13-year-old figure skater whose mom has big plans for her: the Olympics, the breakfast cereal boxes, all of it. Mina's not so sure about her place in this world, so when two vampires "kinda sorta" kidnap her to be part of their Paranormal Roller Derby team, the Blood City Rollers, Mina is surprisingly quick to go with the new flow. The vamps need a human jammer for their team, and they need to win the Derby so they can maintain their status and keep their home. As Mina practices and becomes a part of the team, she feels like she's finally found somewhere she belongs. A queer-friendly mashup of paranormal/horror and comedy, Blood City Rollers is for everyone who loved Roller Girl, with just a bit more spooky added in. Mina explores a crush on Val, the team captain, and skaters' pronouns are included on the rosters; the skaters are a diverse group in terms of gender identity, race, and ethnicity. This is the first in a new graphic novel series and looks like it will be a popular one.

Blood City Rollers" is a delightful middle-grade graphic novel that captivates with its wonderful and intriguing storyline. The gorgeous artwork adds depth to the narrative, immersing readers in the vibrant world of the Blood City Rollers. The story itself is a fun and lighthearted adventure that keeps the reader engaged from start to finish. With its charming characters and visually appealing illustrations, "Blood City Rollers" is a must-read for fans of middle-grade graphic novels looking for an entertaining and enjoyable experience.

Love me some graphic novels and this was no different – and… it’s the start of a series about teamwork and self-confidence. After losing her passion for ice skating, she realizes roller derby is her jam. The camaraderie between the team and the chance to make friends (instead of cut throat competition) helps them fit in. Oh ya, and they’re vampires. The illustrator did a phenomenal job with bold and beautiful artwork. This is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

This was such a cute middle grade graphic novel. I really liked the story and the vibrant colored artwork.

Blood City Rollers follows Mina, a 13 year old aspiring ice skater, who struggles to fit in and keep up with the demands of the competitive ice skating world. Mina ends up getting kidnapped by a vampire roller derby gang, and she’s recruited to help out the team. It’s awkward being one of the only human players on the team, but Mina soon finds a sense of belonging and freedom that she’s never experienced.

If you’re into paranormal middle grade graphic novels, definitely pick this one up! 🛼🛼

Blood City Rollers by V.P. Anderson was a fun look into the world of supernatural roller derby bouts. I loved experiencing the main character's intro into a brand new world of monsters, but also of roller skating, compared to her training as an ice skater. The art is action-packed and the story is thrilling. Highly recommended!

Thanks to NetGalley and the book publisher for the advanced reading copy.

Thank you to TBRBeyondTours and the publisher for letting me join the book tour and sending me an egalley.

Top 5 Reasons to read BLOOD CITY ROLLERS:

1. Intro to roller derby with a paranormal twist that adds more fun in reading more about the sport.

2. Vampires + Witches Galore. Two roller derby teams compete to win, and Anderson and Hill have created a wicked and lively cast of characters that show their teamwork and cooperation.

3. Addresses an important message about dreams. Mina has always done ice skating her whole life, yet it wasn't always a dream she could call her own. The more she bonds with the roller derby team and finds a space to be accepted and belong, the more she learns to be brave and discovers new dreams despite how scary and risky they may be.

4. The bold retro color palette POPS. From warm colors to energize the roller derby action to the cool colors that dive deep into Mina's perspective, each turn of a page is a treat.

5. A middle grade LGBTQ graphic novel. The developing relationship between human Mina and her vampire roller derby captain Val is lovely to see. One will find sweet moments with Val training Mina with the roller derby basics. But when Val's past resurfaces, what does Mina truly mean to her? This will continue in the next one!

Blood City Rollers is a fun, brightly illustrated graphic novel that is sure to entertain middle-grade readers.

The story follows a vampire roller derby team that needs a new jammer, a position that can only be filled by a human. Mia, a figure skater with dreams of competing in the Olympics, is kidnapped by the vampire squad to be their jammer. As she delves into the paranormal world of vampires, ghosts, and witches, she finds a sense of belonging that she never experienced in the human world.

✨Highlights: found family trope, queer representation, strong female friendship (human/vampire), learning self-confidence, power of teamwork, and finding your dream

Blood City Rollers ends with a bit of a cliffhanger, so hopefully, book 2 is in the works.

When I saw this Blog Tour for Blood City Rollers I knew that I wanted in as the premise sounded right up my street and I love love Graphic Novels.

VP and Tatiana really did a fab job in creating this wonderful Graphic Novel which was so well put together that the story flowed. I also loved that Mina actually grew as a person and I loved her relationship with Val and hope to see it get stronger.

Yet my favourite thing were the action scenes and seeing what the actual Roller Derby was and it's rules.

Will I be continuing on with the series? and the answer is a big fat Hell Yeah.

For all the above reasons Blood City Rollers gets 4 Stars