The Vanquishers: Secret of the Reaping, redeeming vampire mglit sequel

It’s great when the second book is a series is better than the first. Don’t live life in the rear-view mirror, keep pressing on with the pedal to the metal and tell your story. The Vanquishers established its roots as mglit vampire with a family and historical twist. The new generation of vampire slayers and their training had been dormant because the vampires had either called a truce or gone the way of the dodo. In Secret of the Reaping, the dual-fanged creatures are back, getting bolder and the history of the group might have something to do with it. Much to the enjoyment of upper-elementary through middle school students, the sequel zips along at a quicker pace with more action than its predecessor.

Overall, the glass is half-full about Secret of the Reaping. On the downside and for the most part, this is not mglit that will endear itself to reluctant readers, but we’ll get to that in a moment. However, I’m an optimist by nature so let’s highlight the things that mglit readers will enjoy about the Secret of the Reaping. First and foremost, the book moves at a quick, action-filled pace, especially when compared to the first book in the series. About 40% into the book a character enters the fray who is on the Vanquishers historical side of things and the story, tension and mystery immediately coalesce around them. As a reader you suspect that something is off about them, but aren’t sure if you’re being thrown in the wrong direction or if things are really what they seem.

This causes all of the characters to rise up, accept their roles and challenge each other when necessary. Aaron, the youth who was bitten by a vampire in the first book, but is still friends with everyone is a Vanquisher-in-training. His arc was the most entertaining for us because his dialogue was snappier and the action and mystery revolved around him the most.

The final act of Secret of the Reaping helps punch the book over the threshold of enjoyment too. It’s action-packed brings the Vanquishers and their children into the same battle, unites all of their fronts, establishes a greater evil and has a major death. Granted, a major death in a vampire story isn’t really mortal coil, but rather an undead state-of-being where they want to suck your blood. It also ends on a cliffhanger, which hopefully means that the third entry will continue on the upward trajectory that Secret of the Reaping established.

This is great mglit that will entertain audiences if they’re able to get past the first two chapters. I don’t know if it’s my rule regarding mglit or an unspoken process, but the chapters in this genre need to be presented an approachable length. While it is not mandatory for youth to finish a chapter when they’re done reading for the day, it sure does help. It’s a clean start, the reader is more likely to remember where the book’s characters are, what they’re doing and the overall arc in the plot.

The first two chapters are 25 pages each. Each of those chapters is broken in half by a black bat. Those young readers who loved the first book won’t bat an eye about this. However, the page count will put off any potential reluctant readers who want a vampire-centric, mglit story. A long chapter length is like garlic to those types of readers. The good news is that this series found its groove (or I finally discovered it), but to grow that audience to the size that a book like this deserves, it will need to satisfy those reluctant readers by deciding on cold stopping points for each chapter. Otherwise, it’ll be staked quickly by those who need the book the most because they’re intimidated by things that happen just out of the starting gate when the real fun happens near the final lap.

The Vanquishers: Secret of the Reaping is by New York Times Bestselling author Kalynn Bayron and is available on Bloomsbury Children’s Books.

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