Adam and Victor have fights just like all brothers - over the remote, over chores, over rather or not it’s morally acceptable to eat people… well, more like when it’s okay to drink someone’s blood. They’re young vampires hiding in the woods with the sibling Sung and their Moms in Lacey, Washington. Pacific Northwest. United States of America.

For the most part, everything has been great - until bodies start to appear all over town and it becomes pretty clear there’s a vampire hunter involved. But as both boys try to find their own way of solving the murders, it creates a wedge between them. Can they reconcile their differences and work together before it’s too late?

Okay, this was cute. I was a little bit worried about it when I first started it because young literature with vampires can go so many different ways. This one however, went in the right direction! There’s of course a small change up from what you usually think of vampires with how the author pictures them in their world, but through the characters, they explain kind of their reasoning as to why their vampires are a little different than your classic ones. Which, in all honesty, all made complete sense to me!

I also loved the idea of a Jewish Vampire. Cause yea, nearly everything around vampires has been centered around Catholicism (I mean, so is most history if we’re being real honest), so that was another nice change to see in a vampire world.

Overall, a wonderfully cute, middle grade vampire novel. I didn’t think it was really scary or gory or anything like that so it fits well with younger readers. I don’t know if “soft fantasy” is what I’m looking for because there is a vampire hunter and murder, and it’s high stakes, but it’s not terrifying! This is a book I can see those who like the vampire world would enjoy - no matter the age!

*Thank you Tundra Books and LibraryThing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ( )

I thought this was a great book! It's about two vampire brothers, Adam and Victor, who are getting to the age where they are restless. Adam befriends humans to find a murderer and Victor is trying to not get killed by a very young vampire hunter. Loved all the characters and the ending was great! Recommended for middle age and above and beyond! ( )

Not my favorite vampire fiction for youngsters - something about the story just didn't stick for me. I found the switching point of views to be too similar which in turn made them a little confusing.
However, I did like the idea of baby vampires continuing to age and grow up - it added an interesting component, and the plot has some unique twists and turns. ( )

Good read ( )

"Don’t Want To Be Your Monster" is the story of Adam and Victor, two young vampires adopted into the same vampire family. They have different ideas of what it means to be a vampire and are at different stages of their development as people, so the two have been fighting recently. I found the author to have done a good job at highlighting both Victor and Adam's problems - both children struggle with this idea that they are a "monster" and demonstrates how difficult it is for children to grapple with this concept while trying to make a place for themselves in the world. Moulton does a really interesting job at tying this concept and using it to deconstruct antisemitism in vampiric lore. I would have wanted to see more of how they could start interacting with the world, their beginning-friends-outside; being a vampire is very isolating. An enjoyable read overall. ( )