Book 2: The Radley's

GoodReads synopsis:  Meet the Radleys

Peter, Helen and their teenage children, Clara and Rowan, live in an English town. They are an everyday family, averagely dysfunctional, averagely content. But as their children have yet to find out, the Radleys have a devastating secret

From one of Britain’s finest young novelists comes a razor-sharp unpicking of adulthood and family life. In this moving, thrilling and extraordinary portrait of one unusual family, The Radleys asks what we grow into when we grow up, and explores what we gain – and lose – when we deny our appetites.

                                                                       *******

My GoodReads review: Every family wants to be considered normal and accepted within society. The Radleys are doing their best to be just that, but when the daughter, Clara, makes the conscientious choice to be a vegan, a situation arises and in defending herself gets her first taste of blood. This sets of a chain of events that proves that the Radleys are FAR from normal no matter how hard they try to be. Much to the mothers dismay, in flies Uncle Will to the 'rescue', but with a dark secret. In fact, this whole family seems to have thrived and survived on secrets their whole lives, ones that are just as responsible for the said chain of events that expose what they really are. Vampires.

This is not your typical paranormal vampire book. After Twilight became such a big deal among young adults, hordes of paranormal romance novels sprung up all over the place. Vampires seem to be the big fad this decade and it's hard to wean out the good from the bad. This novel, written more for adults, is a good read. I could never lump it in with Bram Stokers "Dracula or Anne Rice's "The Vampire Chronicles', nor is it as diverse as the Charlaine Harris novels, but it is a respectable addition to the vampire genre.
    
                                                                         *******

  The Radley's was my second 'First-Reads' novel. I was one of 200 people that won the privilege to own the Advanced Readers copy of this book. (I don't mean to boast. I just can't think of anything else to say about this book at the moment besides the truth; that it was good, but I wouldn't read it again or recommend it to anyone who prefers action packed paranormal novels. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't that great, either.)