I’m in love this book. I do love a book that pokes fun at something with good humor just as much as I love a nice, dark paranormal read where the characters must protect the world and themselves from something big, bad, and terrible. From the first pages, the humor is apparent in this book. You know this because a vampire walking in broad daylight in a Hazmat suit. This novel is a parody of all things vampire and team-related. There are the vampire groupies who practically worship them, and there are the vampire haters who think its sacriligeous and downright idiotic to risk your life for immortality. In short, vampires are trending in New Whitby with near equal supporters and haters. Mel falls near the middle, being chill with vampires until they get close to her and her friends.
Mel captured my heart from the beginning. She’s pushy and opinionated, set in her opinions, and judgmental. She takes charge of situations and always tries to do right by her friends. Despite claiming that Francis, the vampire Cathy falls in love with, is racist against her for being Chinese and Ty for being African-American, she discriminates against Francis for being a vampire. Yeah, not the best way to endear yourself to someone. What makes Mel so real and endearing is that she acts the way she does because she wants to protect her friends. Because she is so strong, however, we have to witness her break down at times and learn to be more flexible, or she’ll lose what she’s trying to protect.
The world building is fabulous. At first, the vampires seem distant and aloof because of Mel’s prejudiced views, but as she learns more about the vampires, and we with her, they become more humanized despite their forever poker faces. I enjoyed learning more about vampires, their relation to zombies, and how their world has been co-existing with ours for quite some time. There is romance is funny and over the top, the kind I could totally see happening in a manga, but it doesn’t overtake the plot. It’s a side thing that happens along the way and actually contributes to its development.
There is also great diversity in this book. Groups include skin color, sexuality, and vampirism. The diversity is far from the focus of the novel, excluding vamp prejudice. After all, one of Mel’s two main missions in the book is to separate Francis from her best friend. The other mission being to find out the truth behind the disappearance of Anna’s father.
Team Human is about the grey space between the black and white. Each character has his or her own story to tell in relation to the team they play. While it is a parody of vampires, it is also about how one doesn’t have to be strictly one team or the other. As Mel learns, it’s perfectly fine (and recommended) to follow your own path, but one should also be understanding of others’ thoughts and desires. This isn’t a book for everyone, but if you appreciate good humor, poking fun at vampires in good fun, and diversity, I’d recommend picking up this book.
Note: One of the most fun parts of this novel, besides Mel’s overabundance of sarcasm and humor, was reading the title of the chapter and guessing how it relates to the chapter.
- You may also enjoy: Fang Girl by Helen Keeble
Author: Crystal
A story girl at heart, Crystal is a bibliophile who can easily spend the day immersed in a good read. She writes under the name Kristy Wang. You can follow her writing adventures on X and Instagram @_kristywang.
Alison Can Read says
Wow, this does sound like an unusually diverse books. It's sad that this is so unusual. I do like a good parody.
Crystal says
I know! I was reading Team Human and thinking about how sad it is that I get excited seeing diversity in a book. It really got me thinking about how small a fraction of books on the market actually cover diversity. This is a good parody, and I would definitely recommend it!
Shane says
Great review. glad you enjoyed it.
Crystal says
Thanks, Shane 🙂
Bookworm1858 says
I really liked this book too; I've pretty much always been Team Human so I loved that aspect of it as well as the humor, which had me snickering throughout.
Crystal says
Go Team Human! 😀
Lisa says
I loved this book too! Read it a few days ago 🙂 Mel was absolutely hilarious and I really enjoyed the vamps <3 Umm..I really could go on and on about all of the cool things about it but you've pretty much said it all <3 Fabulous review! 🙂
P.S. Loved the chapter titles too!!
Julie says
Team Human sounds like an awesome book. Hehe, the main character is Chinese. Just like me. 😀 I love how this is a funny book, but broaches the subject of those lovely discriminations. Very thoughtful review, Kris. 🙂
Crystal says
Thanks, Julie. I loved this book for the same reasons. It approaches serious subjects with a light atmosphere.