V.P. Anderson

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review though Netgalley.)

-- 3.5 stars --

"Friends come and go. But teammates are forever ... Especially if most of them are undead."

Romanian tween Mina is under immense pressure from her parents to qualify for the Olympics. But, when she wipes out in a most spectacular fashion during a competition, her dreams are shattered - along with her arm. Mina's identity has been wrapped up in ice skating for as long as she can remember; who is she without it?

Mina has precious little time for self-reflection before she's kidnapped and conscripted into the Vamps - just one of many teams competing in the Blood City Paranormal Roller Derby. Each team is comprised of one human jammer, who plays alongside her extra-human teammates. Led by their hundreds-year-old captain Val, the Vamps are - you guessed it - vampires. With ghost judges looking on, they go up against all manner of supernatural foes, from witches to werewolves.

But this seemingly fun game has a much darker underbelly - the teams are literally playing for their lives, since getting dropped from the ranking makes you a nomad without union protection. Can Mina learn to trust her teammates and play nice with others, after a lifetime spent viewing other athletes as competitors?

BLOOD CITY ROLLERS is a fun middle-grade graphic novel about vampires, roller derby, self-confidence, and letting go - with a sapphic romance thrown in for good measure. (This is an all-girls' team, after all!) Think: ROLLERGIRLS meets BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER with a dash of VIKINGS. (What can I say, Val is giving strong teenage Lagertha vibes.) Overall I enjoyed it but it did start to drag a little in the middle - I feel like it could have been ~30 pages shorter. The messages sometimes feel a bit heavy-handed but are admittedly age-appropriate (at 45 years young, I'm not quite in the target audience lol).

I was surprised to find that the story ended with a cliffhanger - I'll definitely be checking out the next book in the series.… (altro)