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Team Human

Justine Larbalestier,

Sarah Rees Brennan (Goodreads Author)

3.57 · Rating details · 3,961 ratings · 794 reviews

Just because Mel lives in New Whitby, a city founded by vampires, doesn't mean she knows any of the blood-drinking undead personally. They stay in their part of town; she says in hers. Until the day a vampire shows up at her high school. Worse yet, her best friend, Cathy, seems to be falling in love with him. It's up to Mel to save Cathy from a mistake she might regret fo

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Hardcover, 352 pages

Published July 3rd 2012 by HarperTeen (first published July 1st 2012)

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Jul 08, 2012 Shannon rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, vampires, young-adult, paranormal-romance, supportive, 2012, novels, stand-alone, asian-characters, zombies

I feel bad about giving this two stars, but about halfway through it really lost some steam. Larablestier and Brennan wrote this story as a satirical take on young adult vampire romance and it was funny and biting (haha) in the beginning, but many of the elements that I enjoyed when I first started reading became increasingly annoying.

I liked the main character, Mel, throughout most of the book, though at times she was unnecessarily violent, prejudiced, and rude. There was one scene where she pu I feel bad about giving this two stars, but about halfway through it really lost some steam. Larablestier and Brennan wrote this story as a satirical take on young adult vampire romance and it was funny and biting (haha) in the beginning, but many of the elements that I enjoyed when I first started reading became increasingly annoying.

I liked the main character, Mel, throughout most of the book, though at times she was unnecessarily violent, prejudiced, and rude. There was one scene where she punched her guy friend so hard he reared back to retaliate (though thankfully he controlled himself) and she thinks nothing of it. She's angry and lashes out and nobody calls her on it. She does the same thing when returning a volleyball to some random people playing nearby; she throws the ball so hard that it knocks the breath out of the guy she launches it at. Then they ask her to play with them. If a guy pulled these stunts he'd get his ass kicked.

Mel also hates vampires, though she claims she has no problem with them, and I can't help but think that if her friend's new boyfriend was African American instead of a vampire everyone would think she was incredibly racist. She calls vampires "them" and pretty much says to everyone that they should be segregated and kept away from humans. Obviously, vampires drink human blood so it's a different type of fear and prejudice, but I couldn't help think that if this wasn't a paranormal story the reactions to this book would be very different.

Let me make something clear: I don't agree with the nutters who want to kill all vampires. My parents voted yes on Proposition Four, and if I had the vote I would have too: Unlawfully killing vampires should be punished as harshly as killing people. Murder is murder. I don't want vampires dead. I just wanted Francis to go to a different school.

Swap out "vampire" for any race and that sounds pretty awful, right? It's definitely an interesting observation when you consider that Mel is Chinese-American too. What if someone said, "I don't want to kill Chinese people, I just don't want to go to school with them." Perhaps this was the authors point though, because the bulk of the story is spent trying to convince Mel that vampires are people too and they're not all murderous villains. I think her hatred of vampires was laid on super thick though, so much that it makes it difficult to believe that she could ever turn over a new leaf. I thought this conversation that Mel and her sister had was telling:

"I know how you feel about vampires."
"What?" I asked. "Why does everyone keep acting as if I have a problem with vampires? I don't have a problem with vampires. You said Cathy shouldn't be dating a vampire. You agreed with me!"
"Well, sure," said Kristin. "I think vampire groupies are dumb. And I know Cathy gets way too intense and serious about things, and getting intense and serious about a vampire seems like a terrible idea. But I'm not saying I'd never date a vampire. You, though, Mel. You love to laugh. Not to mention you're always fierce about your friends, and the way you saw it, a vampire hurt Anna. None of those things are bad! It just means you are less likely than anyone I know to be Team Vampire."

Racists will be more upset about being called a racist than the possibility that they might be racist. Mel definitely shows those signs here.

Mel's sister brings up laughter in that quote I pulled, and that's one of the reasons I dropped this book to two stars; the words "laugh" and "smile" or some derivative thereof were used over 150 times, and most of them were in the last half of the book.

What if they said it was an honor, a privilege, and a blessing for Cathy to get all her blood sucked out and to never laugh again?
She'd never laugh again if she became a vampire. And she'd never laugh, or smile, or speak if the transition didn't work.

So many of Mel's thoughts and her conversations with her friends are about laughter, jokes, and making people smile. Or trying to make people laugh with a joke, or one of her friends smiling at her and Mel thinking that she couldn't bear the thought of never laughing again if she was a vampire who didn't smile at jokes and laugh ... It gets old, quickly.

Random praise: I like that neither Mel nor any of her close circle of friends has a car. She walks and rides her bike for the majority of the book. She also has two parents who take an interest in her life and she does her homework and goes to a public school. She and her friends hang out at a coffee shop and share a brownie because they only have enough money for one. These little realistic touches were nice and unexpected when you think about all of the other YA books with rich kids whose parents have no idea what they're doing (if they're even in the country) and go to boarding schools in the woods. I liked the fact that these teens felt like real people and that I could identify with them more than normal.

I enjoyed most of the humor in this book, though the prose is nothing to write home about, and for the most part I liked the story even though the mystery and romance got a bit frustrating as they both went around in circles at times. Two stars is "just ok" and that's how I feel about this one; I don't regret reading it but I'm glad it's not a series. I have a feeling this isn't these authors' greatest work since the ratings and reviews aren't overwhelmingly positive, so I'll probably check out another book they've written (by themselves) sometime in the future, (I'm excited for Unspoken in particular.) Parody and satire can be a lot of fun, but unfortunately this book doesn't outshine any of the original material, though I'm sure it's still a better love story than Twilight. ...more

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Dec 01, 2012 Kristalia rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: everyone who wants good laughing with vampires :D

Shelves: reviewed, made-me-smile-or-laugh, favorite-couple, be-my-heroes-please, age-young-adult, type-standalone-story, me-likey-mucho, be-my-heroine-please

Final rating: 4.75/5 stars

Made by Street-Angel - click the img to go to the original fanart

I am totally team ~~vampire~~ oops, i mean, team human . This was so hilarious. I really mean that. I laughed a lot, and it was highly entertaining book. I love Sarah R. Brennan, and i had to read this book as well, since i love all of her books. I think i might also check out Justine Larbalestier now, because she really is good writer :D (and i think the collab between the two was high amount of epic win :D). I actually didn't know that this was a parody of Twilight ...more

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Oct 12, 2011 Serenity rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya, fantasy

Hate vampires. Hate love triangles. Hate teen paranormal romances. Hate this cover.

But you know what? I absofuckinglutely cannot WAIT to read this book because if SRB wants to remake twilight, you can bet your ass it will be better than anything you ever imagined a vampire story could be.

Edit - THOUGHTS AFTER READING:
It was as fun and cleverly written as I hoped. Somewhat more thought-provoking than I expected. And I am happy to report that there are no love triangles or annoying teen angst! But ...more

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May 07, 2012 shady boots rated it it was amazing

Shelves: all-time-faves, 2012-faves, heroines-i-adore, heroes-i-adore, oh-my-god-marry-me, fluffy, hilarious

This review is also available over at my blog.

____________________

Picture Twilight, but imagine that the Bella character has a best friend—who just so happens to be a badass bitch—and the book being told from her point of view instead of Bella's.

That's what you'll get with Team Human.

New Whitby, Maine, is a city founded by vampires, with the humans and vampires living separately. Mel is perfectly fine with that, until a vampire enrolls in her school, and immediately sweeps her best friend Cathy ...more

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Jun 20, 2012 TheBookSmugglers rated it really liked it

Original review posted on The Book Smugglers

Team Human surprised the hell out of me. I was expecting it to be a good satire but it manages to be much more.

Mel is not a huge vampire fan. I mean, it’s not like she goes out of her way in her dislike but neither does she think a lot about them. In her town – New Whitby – vampires stay in their part of town, she stays in hers. But then worlds collide when a vampire enrols at her high school and her best friend Cathy (who would have been a vampirologi Original review posted on The Book Smugglers

Team Human surprised the hell out of me. I was expecting it to be a good satire but it manages to be much more.

Mel is not a huge vampire fan. I mean, it’s not like she goes out of her way in her dislike but neither does she think a lot about them. In her town – New Whitby – vampires stay in their part of town, she stays in hers. But then worlds collide when a vampire enrols at her high school and her best friend Cathy (who would have been a vampirologist if that was an actual career) starts to fall in love. Mel is duly horrified at the prospect of losing her best friend to the undead and starts a campaign to save Cathy from Francis’ attentions. Whatever it takes.

In the meantime, her other friend Anna is having problems of her own: her father left her family for a vampire and her mother is behaving oddly. Since Mel has taken upon herself to always help her friends in time of need, she starts an investigation of her own. An investigation that will lead her to cross paths with a vampire cop, her human son not to mention, zombies.

From the start it becomes patently clear that Team Human is a satire. It is there in the blurb, it is there in its tagline and it is there as the story begins. It is a book that pokes fun at many of the most recent, post-Twilight Vampire novel tropes in a way that criticises their most obvious problematic facets. And just like in any good satire its main weapon is its wit – and the authors found in Mel, the main character and narrator, the perfect weapon of mass satire. She is witty, clever, determined and awesomely developed. Mel’s is the voice of every single one of us on Team Human, who have ever questioned the allure of Team Vampire. She voices all of those applicable concerns when her best friend starts to fall in love with a vampire: the question of their age different for starters (as Francis is over 100 years old), the question of immortality vs mortality and everything that Cathy would miss if she became a vampire (more on that in a bit). She also raises the questions of some of the most funny-inducing aspects of Teen Vampire tropes. Life for example:

”A vampire who wants to go to high school?” I said. “That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

But to say that Team Human is simply a tirade against vampires would be doing the book a disservice. Yes, it satirises a lot of Team Vampire’s most common shortcomings but without losing sight of the fact that Vampires can be extremely allure. Mel might sit firmly on Team Human (and this never changes) but part of her arc is to realise not only some of her prejudices but also to learn to sympathise and understand other people’s choices. Not to mention the fact that the setting of the novel (and there is one) is one where Vampires exist in the world and humans have known about them since forever. There is also the development of rules to a very specific worldbuilding for this world (I loved how the authors combined Zombie and Vampire lore in a way that made perfect sense). Vampires here supposedly lose all of their human emotions when they become vampires and are incapable for example, of laughing. And since Mel is one of those people who love to laugh, becoming a vampire is unthinkable to her. In that sense, the authors managed the improbable: Team Human is a book for both vampire haters and lovers. As a firm member of Team Human, I loved it.

But that’s because the book is not only a satire – and that’s where it really surprised me. Knowing the authors’ sense of humour, I was expecting it to be laugh-out-loud funny. And it was, but it was also extremely charming and poignant. Because you see, at its core this is a book that lovingly portrays all kinds of relationships between people (human or not). Its main focus is Mel and her love for her girlfriends, a love that is so fierce and deep that she would do anything to help them. I absolutely, completely loved Mel and her friends.

More than that, Team Human features great sleuthing shenanigans, awesome kisses, girls who are capable of making their own informed decisions, girls who make earnest mistakes and learn from them and a world that is diverse in terms of race and sexual identity.

I just realised I managed to write the driest EVER review for a book that is not only extremely funny but also full of remarkable warmth. In the end, I laughed. A lot. What I didn’t expect was that I would also cry – a lot (good tears). I obviously FAIL at reviewing Team Human.I shall then resort to borrow the correct words from Maureen Johnson, who says it best: Team Human is in fact, TEAM AWESOME. ...more

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Dec 23, 2016 Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ Campbell rated it really liked it

Shelves: vampires, ya-ya-land, pnr-uf

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Remember when TWILIGHT was the Big Thing in publishing and teen paranormal romance was coming out by the dozen? Dragons, mermaids, ghosts, faeries, werewolves - oh my. If it existed, it was fair game, and would be turned into a romance.

TEAM HUMAN was a reaction to all that nonsense, and at the time many of my friends were calling it a breath of fresh air. Even though TEAM HUMAN is a teen paranormal romance, it's also a parody - of TWILIG ...more

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Mar 26, 2013 Sherwood Smith added it

Shelves: fantasy

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which obviously began as a satire of Twilight but then seems to have taken on some gravitas, with its look at prejudice and gender expectations. Mel. who rather bulldozes her best friends in 'taking care of them' is horrified when her besty Cathy falls for a vampire who begins attending their high school. Francis the vamp may look seventeen, but he's over a century old, so why is he at high school? Mel quite reasonably figures he can't be up to any good.

As Mel unr ...more

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Jun 02, 2012 Jessica rated it it was amazing

Shelves: werewolvesnvampires, youngadult

This book was not what I thought it would be. Rather than just a snarky look at the current vampire mania, this book explored not just the pros and cons of dating/becoming undead, but also explored the idea of friendship and of family. I loved Mel, with her shouting and her need to fix things, and the dialogue was quotably hilarious. But I also loved the various plotlines, one of which was a moral dilemma, while another was a mystery worthy of the Scooby Gang. (The original or Joss Whedon's.)

...more

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Jul 27, 2014 These Violent Delights (Robin) rated it liked it

Shelves: hardcovers-i-own, 2012-releases, july-2012

Please Visit My Blog For My Full Review Of This Book http://wherebooksleadus.blogspot.com ...more

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Sep 08, 2012 jesse rated it liked it

Shelves: laugh-out-loud

everything is fine and dandy for mel. she has good grades, a supportive family and two best friends to share everything with. that is, until a vampire --the first ever-- decides to attend their school. everything changes and there is nothing mel can do about, or is there?

where vampires and mel are, disaster follows and hilarity ensues thereafter. as a rule the sidekick character most commonly fills out the goofy and/or supportive role for the main lead. in team human the american born chinese (! everything is fine and dandy for mel. she has good grades, a supportive family and two best friends to share everything with. that is, until a vampire --the first ever-- decides to attend their school. everything changes and there is nothing mel can do about, or is there?

where vampires and mel are, disaster follows and hilarity ensues thereafter. as a rule the sidekick character most commonly fills out the goofy and/or supportive role for the main lead. in team human the american born chinese (!!yay!!) sidekick already is the main lead and oh, what a treat! not only is she witty and loyal, she's sensible to boot too. one of her best friends strongly believes herself to be in love with the aforementioned vampire (francis) after only a few days and is ready to be transitioned into one herself at the age of 17, mel is understandably upset about this revelation and fights tooth and nail to prevent this from happening. because even though as a vampire one is granted immortality and eternal youth, sunlight will be an aspect you will never again be able to enjoy and also .. vampires cannot laugh o.0 (yes, therefore they can only brood and meet the criteria of the "brooding" vampire).

a world were humans and vampires more or less peacefully cohabit a planet, but still prejudiced against another, might as well be a placeholder for lgbt or non-caucasian people. poking fun at familiar ya tropes, team human is a delightful combination with food for thought and a lot of laugh-out-loud moments, keeping the reader entertained from the first to the last page.

p.s. also, am i the only to draw character similarities between pride & prejudice and team human?
p.p.s. my first book ever to read on a (sadly only borrowed) kindle touch!


------------------------------------------
 team human | pride & prejudice
------------------------------------------
 cathy <----> jane
 francis <----> darcy

****** ******** ********* *********** ********
"look, mel. can you admit that you might be a tiny bit biased against vampires? don't you feel that you might have judged them a little quickly? what if i asked you to learn more about them?"
"we could read a book about them together if you wanted," i said, with visions of highlighting all the bits that said POTENTIALLY FATAL.
cathy smiled. "you know how i love books. but i was thinking about a more hands-on experience."
"you want me to put my hands on francis?" i made a face. "isn't that kind of a best friend no-no, cath?"

(45%)

****** ******** ********* *********** ********

"no problem," i said, patting him below the knee. he shot me a strange look. "um, no," i told him. "my touching your knee does not mean i want to have sex with you."
kit blushed. "i didn't--"
"you know, when you're a vampire, you won't be able to blush anymore."
he went even redder.

(50%)

****** ******** ********* *********** ********

"your family's not that into soccer?"
"well, no," kit said. "not that we don't do activities together. francis taught me how to waltz."
i burst out laughing. "i'm sorry -- what?"
his voice warmed. i could imagine him being delighted he'd made someone laugh, even over the phone.
maybe not just someone. maybe delighted he'd made me laugh.
"yes, well. at first he tried to instruct me and mom together, but mom said she'd never liked waltzing much herself [..] and in the end francis said that we were all impossible and nobody was properly dedicated to the child's education or ever thought about how i would conduct myself in society and how it would reflect on them all. so francis ended up waltzing with me himself."
"are you a credit to francis?" i asked, solemnly.
"oh, i'm an excellent waltzer. sadly, i don't actually know how to lead ..."
i thought of several excellent jokes about kit's first ball gown and also his dance card, but i pulled myself back.

(54%)

...more

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Jan 01, 2016 Ana rated it it was ok

Shelves: 21st-century, fiction, north-american-literature, united-states-literature, young-adult, paranormal

This past year has been a rocky year for me when it comes to young adult and I've come to separate all of YA into two categories: the one that teenage Ana could enjoy and the ones adult Ana likes. This book was not the later.

There is nothing wrong with the book, Sarah Rees Brennan's humor shines, the concept was really interesting and the plot was engaging. It's just that I can't see any difference between her characters in this book and those in Unspoken, especially when it comes to the heroin ...more

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Dec 07, 2011 Calembour marked it as to-read

This book sounds almost as hilarious as the reviewers who haven't figured out that it's supposed to be a parody of all the other vampire books out right now. ...more

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Feb 01, 2021 TL rated it it was ok

2.5 stars

Interesting enough to finish but overall just "okay" ...more

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Oct 17, 2012 Lynne rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: people who don't take themselves too seriously

Shelves: ya, paranormal

How can one resist a book with the tagline, "Friends don't let friends date vampires"?

Larbalestier and Rees-Brennan's seriocomic treatment of the vampire love story is refreshingly original, spoofing vampire romance while paying homage to it at the same time.

These writers must have read just about every vampire story produced since the 1840's. They did leave out John Polidori's 1819 short story "The Vampyr,"and an 1870's novel called Carmilla (featuring girl-on-girl vamping), but I digress.

The ...more

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Feb 22, 2012 Sarah rated it really liked it

{I posted this mini review on Clear Eyes, Full Shelves.}

Also, vampires don’t eat food. You never get to eat chocolate again. Ever. I’d rather die.

Team Human is one of the smartest novels I’ve read in a long time. Linsey, who’s in the same subversive book club as Laura, Renegade and I are (we’re part of a larger club, but we don’t really read their choices), suggested that we read this satirical take on the teen vampire novel for our September book, and I am so glad she did.

I love satire, but I ...more

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Oct 06, 2013 Eilonwy rated it liked it

Shelves: diverse-characters, enjoyable-enough

Mel lives in New Whitby, Maine, the first town in the New World to have been settled by vampires. But Mel isn't a vampire: she lives on the human side of town, doing human things like going to high school, hanging out with friends, and laughing and crying. Her contact with vampires has been pretty much zero -- until the day a handsome teenage vampire enrolls at the high school, and Mel's best friend falls for him. Hard. Cathy wants to become a vampire, while Mel is firmly "Team Human." Meanwhile

Mel lives in New Whitby, Maine, the first town in the New World to have been settled by vampires. But Mel isn't a vampire: she lives on the human side of town, doing human things like going to high school, hanging out with friends, and laughing and crying. Her contact with vampires has been pretty much zero -- until the day a handsome teenage vampire enrolls at the high school, and Mel's best friend falls for him. Hard. Cathy wants to become a vampire, while Mel is firmly "Team Human." Meanwhile, Mel's other best friend and her mother have problems of their own -- mysterious problems that Mel is determined to solve.

I had such high hopes for this book! And it's not awful. But neither is it all that good.

For something that's supposedly a parody of vampire novel tropes, this story is very heavy-handed and not very funny. Narrator Mel is a busybody who tries to run everyone else's lives because she has no clue what to do with her own. Unfortunately, she has no personality that shines through in the writing voice, and no particularly charming or redeeming qualities. Worse, she "develops" by the end of the book only because the other characters demand that she do so, not because she really seems to change based on experience or her own reflection.

The other characters do no better. They're mostly very flat actors brought in to represent something, rather than seeming like actual people inhabiting an actual story. They all talk exactly alike, even Francis, the "old-fashioned" teenage vampire. Cathy, the best friend who wants to become a vampire, is somewhat intriguing, but never gets to move beyond being basically colorless. A boy named Kit was the only person in the entire novel who ever seemed complete and well-developed; I think he must have stumbled in from another book entirely. Otherwise, they just all seemed like a bunch of cardboard cutouts to me. Is this really a book co-authored by the same author who wrote The Demon's Lexicon?!

The writing does the book no favors, either. It's as flat as the characters, and as prosaic as instructions written by people who actually speak English as a native language (as opposed to more interesting instructions which were clearly translated by people who don't :-). The writing has no style, no flair, no personality. And maybe there's something wrong with me, but for a book that other folks keep raving about as funny, I didn't find it humorous, either. It felt very earnest to me, especially as "the message" began to appear in the last third of the story, and got crammed down my throat at least five times. This was an After School Special packaged as a novel, and only barely spiced up by the presence of vampires.

Hmmmm. I'm making it sound pretty awful, aren't I? The fact is, if it hadn't had SRB's name on the cove and I hadn't PAID for the darned thing, I would not have finished this book, it's that meh. So if you're curious about it, take it out of the library! Or just read I Kissed A Zombie and I Liked It instead. ...more

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Sep 11, 2012 Alz rated it it was ok

Shelves: ya-mg, urban-fantasy, paranormal, alternate-history

2.5 stars.

Although entertainingly written, Mel was just too much. Granted that the parallel between vampire hatred and racism is intentional--well, it's not really fun reading about a racist protagonist who doesn't have much depth to her unwavering loathing of vampires except that they're creepy. Mel was just too hyperbolic and crazy every time she started trying to talk her friend out of vampire romance, all metaphorical capslock and Intense Rage.

The book reads like Mel is a side character watc ...more

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Jan 02, 2012 Linda (un)Conventional Bookworms rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, paranormal-ya, pre-ordered, look-forward-to, read-in-2012

This and other reviews can be found on my blog:(un)Conventional Bookviews

I liked quite a few things in this book, but I didn't connect that much with the MC, Mel was acting like a spoiled brat for a lot of it, and she thought she was helping her friends, but really, she was looking out for number one.

...more

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Aug 12, 2015 The FountainPenDiva, Old school geek chick and lover of teddy bears rated it it was amazing

Shelves: best-covers-ever, books-on-kindle, e-books-purchased, books-that-are-keepers, characters-kick-ass-heroines, genre-ya-fiction, characters-asian-heroines, characters-chinese-heroines, characters-vampires, omg-girl-power-yes

The cover kicks ass! If people are missing this book because there's an Asian girl prominently featured, poor them. For those of us just so DONE with vampire/paranormal romance (especially in YA), this book is a humorous infusion of fresh blood. ...more

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Sep 20, 2011 Dinjolina marked it as avoid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tio-Y...

It's raining men, haleluyah
It's raining meeeen....I mean vampires. Because humans are so not cool any more. ...more

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Mar 03, 2020 Namera [The Literary Invertebrate] rated it liked it

Shelves: style-1st-person, genre-action, setting-alternate-universe, style-fast-paced, heroine-aged-teens, heroine-abrasive, hero-american, heroine-black-haired, hero-charming, genre-contemporary

3.5 stars, and I really wanted to round up because the good outweighs the bad, but it was just missing that 'spark' for me that would have convinced me rounding up was the right thing to do.

The Good

✔️ It's a parody of Twilight, so there are some great snarky lines, e.g. about the ridiculousness of falling in forever love at age 17.

✔️ The heroine Mel is Chinese-American and actually comes from a loving family and has a great relationship with her parents.

✔️ Mel is super funny and there are ...more

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Aug 09, 2019 Skyeofskynet rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 09, 2013 tatterpunk rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Oh, book.

I WANTED to give you three, maybe even four stars! (Which may not sound like much, but check out my shelves -- I am super picky.) I loved your voice and verve, even if some of the dialogue and world-building made me wonder if your authors were better suited for writing middle grade, rather than the more complex world of young adults.

But then then last twenty pages. (view spoiler) ...more

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Apr 16, 2012 Lisa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bloomsbury-allen-unwin

Originally posted at Read Me Bookmark Me Love Me

Team Human caught me by real surprise. After my initial hesitation at reading a vampire book that sounded heavy on the romance, I realised it was actually a parody of the paranormal insta-love that's not unusual to find in YA these days! We've all seen them before… And you know those awful books which try to be funny but fail? Well, Team Human certainly doesn't fall into that group. It had me in stitches and I was shocked by how witty Mel was! Full Originally posted at Read Me Bookmark Me Love Me

Team Human caught me by real surprise. After my initial hesitation at reading a vampire book that sounded heavy on the romance, I realised it was actually a parody of the paranormal insta-love that's not unusual to find in YA these days! We've all seen them before… And you know those awful books which try to be funny but fail? Well, Team Human certainly doesn't fall into that group. It had me in stitches and I was shocked by how witty Mel was! Full credit must go to the authors for providing me with such entertainment and I now know that I'll happily read more from them both in the future!

Mel Duan is the vampire-hating, rude and unsympathetic best friend of Cathy, a typical teenage girl who's fallen head over heels in love with Francis Suvarney. He's over 150 years old, silent, brooding, mysterious and chivalrous. Hmm, right... How very unique of him! Let's not forget that he's easily scandalised by the forward behaviour of modern females too! Cue the eye rolls now because Cathy and Francis get sickeningly sweet from here on out. Mel obviously feels the same, as she tries relentlessly to discourage their affections for each other but to no avail . Although Mel is overbearing at times, she has good intentions and it eventually became humorous and very justified. I love her! Brennan and Larbalestier do a wonderful job at poking fun at the over the top human/vamp relationship and were able to show us the not so ideal and glamorous side of it.

I really enjoyed the mysteries found in Team Human. The vampires in this book are traditional for the most part but there are a few fun changes that play an important part in the events that occur. As well as preventing Cathy from turning into a vampire (RISKY!), Mel's busy investigating the whereabouts of the principal's ex-husband. He supposedly ran away to be with a hot vamp but…what if that's not the case at all? Mel also thinks Francis is up to something shady, so many aspects of this book do overlap and we're left to wonder how they all relate to each other! The action amps up during the final section of the book but I found it to be too short-lived and the resolution too simple! However, it can be forgiven because of everything else that's great about the book.

During one of her stalk sessions, Mel finds herself in Francis's house and meets Kit, a human boy who was raised by vampires after being abandoned by his real parents and left for dead. His "mother" Camille is a badass cop and this trio of characters were my favourite to watch together. They had an amusing yet sweet bond with each other and the male banter…where do I start? For all that she preaches, Mel is completely oblivious to Kit's affection for her. I must have 'aww'ed a million times at his cuteness. He smiles whenever she giggles and always looks to please her. I obviously liked this pair, despite the fact that there was never really a romance shown between them in the book. Team Human doesn't focus on the romances themselves very much but the ending definitely leaves things open for interpretation! ;)

Overall, these two authors make a wonderful team and write extremely well together. I would've liked to have explored Mel and Cathy's friendship more, as well as between them and the boys, but Team Human isn't a book to take too seriously. It's hysterically funny and will put a smile on your face in the short amount of time it'll take you to fly through it! I bow down to the authors for their bottomless pit of jokes and willingness to create some seriously kooky characters, while still providing some heart-warming and more serious moments too. The book covers all the bases!
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May 18, 2012 Lisa rated it liked it

Rating - 3.5

The Short Story? - Team Human is a highly original YA novel! Two of the most brilliant YA authors have come together to write one heck of a novel! A brilliant plot that antagonises vampires ( hey! that's different!), a romance tagline that's completely adorable and a feisty protagonist that really grows on you with her lack of grace and fierce loyalty. Team Human is the ultimate juxtaposition to YA paranormal mainstream. Brennan and Larbalestier are bringing back the human glory!

T Rating - 3.5

The Short Story? - Team Human is a highly original YA novel! Two of the most brilliant YA authors have come together to write one heck of a novel! A brilliant plot that antagonises vampires ( hey! that's different!), a romance tagline that's completely adorable and a feisty protagonist that really grows on you with her lack of grace and fierce loyalty. Team Human is the ultimate juxtaposition to YA paranormal mainstream. Brennan and Larbalestier are bringing back the human glory!

The Long Story? - The novel and I got off to a rough start but everything smoothed over about 80 pages into the novel. Team Human is a wonderfully unique idea and Brennan and Larbalestier are two very brilliant authors. The writing style took some time to get used to, mainly because of the different writing styles due to two authors. However over the course of the novel you get used to it! The plot started off a little too fast and too slow at the same time. There was this massive rush of events in the first 20 pages and then it slowed considerably and kind of pondered along until about 80 pages in. The thing I liked the most about the plot was definitely originality. In YA we have no shortage of books supporting to paranormal but to get a novel that's Team Human is quite something. I enjoyed the book but I had higher expectations, some events were a little too predictable and others a little frustrating. However the idea was unique, I loved the romance tagline and the mystery element about Anna's missing dad was good! Overall, it was enjoyable!

I had some problems with the characters. Some people might describe Mel as feisty but to me, she came off as irritating and rude. I really felt like she lacked manners and some of the things that came out of her mouth should have been left unsaid. She grows onto you as you progress through the book and her intentions are good and her fierce loyalty is something truly admirable, she's just a really "explosive" character and that kinda clashes with my own personality. Cathy really annoyed me. I felt she was really 2D and she was too nice and ignorant. She was all lovesick over Francis ( which is kind of the point) but it just got a little too extreme sometimes, I felt the urge to shake her and say "GET A GRIP AND MAN UP!". Francis had noooo appeal so I didn't see the attraction and he was under developed. However I really liked Kit ( and the story behind his name) as well as Camille! Characterisation wasn't a highlight for the novel but the characters kinda fitted with the novel as a whole.

Team Human wasn't perfect but that didn't make it any less enjoyable. It was a rough start but I ended really loving the book, so much that I stayed up late to read it and woke up early to finish. Even with our clashing personalities, Mel was a good protagonist for Team Human, without such a strong-willed and fiery character, Team Human definitely would have lost to Team Vampire :D Overall, good writing, great plot, loved the romance and a solid cast. Thumbs up for Team Human! ...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Ferdy rated it liked it

Spoilers

Mel Duan tries to save her best friend, Cathy, from falling in love with the new guy at school who much to Mel's annoyance is a centuries old vampire.

-I adored the concept of a protagonist who hates vampires and that goes on a mission to keep her best friend from dating one. Its pretty much guaranteed that every YA vampire book will be filled with cliches and this is no different, however this book is really only filled with cliches for the purpose of pointing out how ridiculous those c Spoilers

Mel Duan tries to save her best friend, Cathy, from falling in love with the new guy at school who much to Mel's annoyance is a centuries old vampire.

-I adored the concept of a protagonist who hates vampires and that goes on a mission to keep her best friend from dating one. Its pretty much guaranteed that every YA vampire book will be filled with cliches and this is no different, however this book is really only filled with cliches for the purpose of pointing out how ridiculous those cliches and tropes are.
The first half was very funny but the latter half didn't come across as satirical — the romance with Cathy and Francis (the vampire) started to be portrayed with more gravitas, so it wasn't quite as easy to laugh at their wuv for each other.

-I can imagine a lot of readers not liking the main character, Mel. She was obnoxious, racist, judgmental and tactless — but I found her attitude mostly entertaining. I loved that she didn't go weak at the knees for vampires and wasn't impressed by Francis. Her observations about him and vampires in general were hilarious and spot on. I liked how Mel was blunt with Francis and didn't just let him take Cathy away without a fight.

-I have to say I hated Cathy, she was weak, idiotic and too damsel in distress-y. Even though Francis and Cathy were both blah and had the personality of planks, I still found their dialogues hilarious because of how cheesy they were.
It was hard to like Cathy, since after a month of meeting Francis she decided to become a vampire for him even though in doing so she could die or become a zombie. I know the whole point of the book was to poke fun at silly teenage girls falling into insta-love with the centuries old vampire — but I still found myself irritated at Cathy's devotion to Francis and pissed at her giving up her life for someone she barely knew. I was hoping at the end that she would turn into a zombie, I would have preferred that, since it would have shown that jumping into things doesn't always work out. I suppose if that happened though it wouldn't have made for light, funny reading.

-Mel and Kit's romance was cute and funny. At first I was afraid that Mel would fall in love with Francis but thankfully the authors went down a different route. I was glad that Mel became a little more accepting of vampires but still stood firm that vampirism wasn't romantic or something people should do lightly. I hope that Kit doesn't turn into a vampire at the end — he seemed to enjoy hanging around with humans. I loved some of the conversations Mel and Kit had especially when Kit accused Mel of wanting to sex him up — it was so funny.

Overall, this was an entertaining and witty book. It's not meant to be taken seriously and Mel may not be everyone's cup of tea since she's pretty much a racist but for those readers that always groan, snort and roll their eyes when reading vampire books this might be right up your alley. ...more

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Feb 04, 2014 Kaethe rated it it was amazing

Shelves: domesticity, humor, sex-positive, feminism, fiction, romance, sisters, usa, skepticism, social-issues

Team Human - Sarah Rees Brennan,Justine Larbalestier Parodying Twilight is incredibly easy, but also, very quickly it becomes tiresome. Once you point out the oddness of anyone more than a hundred years old voluntarily going to high school, and the awkwardness of dating someone old enough to be your great great grandfather, what's left? Plenty. For one thing, there's a mystery to solve. For another, the authors take time to explore the prejudices that develop in segregated communities, and the Team Human - Sarah Rees Brennan,Justine Larbalestier Parodying Twilight is incredibly easy, but also, very quickly it becomes tiresome. Once you point out the oddness of anyone more than a hundred years old voluntarily going to high school, and the awkwardness of dating someone old enough to be your great great grandfather, what's left? Plenty. For one thing, there's a mystery to solve. For another, the authors take time to explore the prejudices that develop in segregated communities, and the ways in which well-intentioned people discriminate without meaning to. The authors created a strong, principled, sporty, modern heroine who cares deeply about her friends, and they gave her friends with distinct personalities and points of view. There some romance, and plenty of humor, and a recognition that high school students are soon to be adults and need to make decisions for themselves. As well, the book is beautifully plotted. And it all makes sense.

Really, there's nothing about it I didn't love. I even appreciated the list of recommended vampire books in the acknowledgements.

***
I picked it up again because Westerfeld was coming to town(ish) for a signing, and Tosh and I pretty much checked everything out of the library by either of them, that we didn't already own. Between the three of us, that wasn't much. Inn fact, I ended up checking out several that one of us did own, because it was easier than rampaging through the girl's bookshelves. Apparently not everyone is comfortable with other family members walking into their rooms and making off with their books. Just goes to show. Also, it must be said, some of the people in the household are not meticulous about shelving their books in an easily comprehensible order.
Anyway, I read it again and loved it again. The Larbalestier/Brennan pairing is seamless and the book is funny and fresh and warmly human. I'm glad there are writers reminding me that all of humanity isn't a stupid waste of space and resources. Sadly, I need that reminder at least daily.

Library copy. ...more

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Aug 23, 2012 cEe beE rated it really liked it

Shelves: urban-fantasy, monster-mash

A paranormal book that doesn't feature a hot supernatural stud and/or a girl with hidden super powers? How refreshing!

Team Human stars Mel Duan, a regular 17 yr old human girl, who with her BFFs, Cathy and Anna live in New Whitby, Maine a city founded by vampires. Unlike Sookie Stackhouse's world, the vampires here have been living as citizens since the founding of the USA, and live separately in their own community called The Shade.

Mel herself has never met any undead and likes it that way. Bu ...more

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Oct 11, 2012 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: library-owns, young-adult-middle-grade

Starts off in high snark, as Mel and her best friend, Cathy, observe the arrival of a new boy to their high school -- the eternally 17-year-old Francis.

He looked beautiful and bored. He also looked like a crazy astronaut suit full of trouble.

As the story unfolds, the tone gets more serious as we watch Mel respond to the many changes her friends are experiencing--the disappearance of Anna's father and the bizarre behavior of her mother, Cathy's decision to become a vampire so she can be with Fran ...more

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Oct 27, 2011 Mada marked it as to-read

I think it's gonna be great.It sounds so funny and I love the cover.Can't wait to read it.
...more

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About Justine Larbalestier

Justine Larbalestier

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Justine Larbalestier is an Australian young-adult fiction author. She is best known for the Magic or Madness trilogy: Magic or Madness, Magic Lessons and the newly released Magic's Child. She also wrote one adult non-fiction book, the Hugo-nominated The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction (Best Related Book, 2003), and edited another, Daughters of Earth: Feminist Science Fiction in the Twentiet ...more