Leo has been preparing for this night. She does not want to disappoint her powerful mother. From the castle up on Mount Moth, Leo has made regular night visits to the town of Otto's End. Leo has decided the local orphanage will be the perfect place to complete her task. For travel, vampires use the GRIMWALK, but sadly Leo had the most terrible accident many years ago. She lost her leg on her first grimwalk and she now relies on a prosthetic one fashioned by her father.
As the title suggests, there are important rules all Vampires must follow. Most are things you might expect involving garlic, silver, reflections and the consumption of blood. There is a also a rule that a vampire cannot enter a house uninvited.
On arrival at the orphanage, Leo finds a young girl sorting papers in a darkened room. Minna short for Wilhelmina, has her own plans. The owner of the orphanage is an evil and cruel man. Minna knows he about to sell of the orphans for a tidy profit. Leo hypnotises Minna in order to be invited into the room. Minna is not alone in this room. A scuffle ensues, a lamp is knocked over, there is a fire, Leo does not succeed in the Hunt and now she is responsible for two ghosts. Minna, now a ghost, will need to team up with Leo to thwart the Orphanmaster who in a short time will rise as a ghost with terrifying power and the girls must be complete this task in just seven days. The girls need to gather some special supplies, track down the Orphanmaster and prepare for the battle.
I picked up an advance reader copy of this book from Beachside Bookshop a couple of weeks ago. I am working my way through the books in my bag and this is one I put towards the end of the pile. Vampires are not really my thing. Today was a rainy day so I pick up Rules for Vampires and I read all 342 in almost one sitting. YES it is good! My copy says this book will be out in September but I just checked with a bookseller and the Australian release date is 17th November, 2021. If you are reading this post from the UK it has already been released into your shops.
There are vampires in this book and ghosts and gruesome battle scenes but there are also light touches of humour and completely splendid descriptions. This book feels like you are watching a film unfold - the writing is so cinematic. Alex Foulkes creates an amazing world in her story. I also loved all the small details in this story which are left to your imagination. Leo is not really the daughter of Sieglinde and Dietmar, she was once a human child with human parents. Minna's own father lived in the same orphanage and he has a connection with the Orphanmaster's wife which goes part of the way to explain why the Orphanmaster is out for revenge. Most of all I need to know more about the butler/nanny called Marged who wears a full suit of knights armour and is devoted to Leo. Oh and the birthday party foods which feature so many things made from blood would surely make an excellent book talk extract to read to a group of students aged 10+.
In this video Alex talks about her book and she reads an extract. She also shares some of the art from this book which was not included in my Advance copy.
As I mentioned there are wonderful descriptions in this book. I've marked up some excellent ones in my copy only to discover this book is not due to be published (even though my copy says September) but I can't resist letting you 'see' Leo.
"Leo was rake-thin and six feet tall. Her claw-tipped fingers reached past her knees, her skin was luminous grey. Her eyes were dark caverns that turned into catlike slits in lamplight ... Her smile was full of needles; her teeth, sharp as any blade."
And here is a description of her mum:
"In stepped an arresting figure, pale as marble, and equally as stony. She seemed to glide, graceful as she was gaunt. Her voluminous grey cape was adorned with furs. Her silvery hair was swept back from her pinched face, sloping-nosed and pointy eared, and her black, bottomless eyes ... "
Love Reading4Kids include some reviews by young readers on their page. The publisher likens this book to Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy and I agree. You can read a few pages here.
Here is the cover of the US edition due out in late November, 2021.
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