This is not a review because I am not good at explaining things.

I would say the first few chapter might need a lot of concentration to understand and to imagine the places and the characters which I did not give my concentration a 100%. I will definitely re-read this book because it was packed with action and a touch of teenage drama.

And I don't know who else does this, I am an avid True Blood fan so I imagined the scene where the blood bubbling forming a figure of Eric from True Blood.

Okay I am weird.

Anyway, this book is definitely a good read ;)

Die dt. Übersetzung wurde von Bastei Lübbe mit "Thriller" bezeichnet, aber meiner Meinung nach passt es nur bedingt. Für mich las es sich in erster Linie wie ein Jugendbuch mit Thriller- und Horrorelementen. Der Schreibstil ist nicht besonders gut, der Spannungsbogen manchmal etwas zäh und die Horrorszenen schaffen es nicht wirklich, Gruseln zu verbreiten.
Alles in allem kann man es als leichte Unterhaltung lesen, muss man aber nicht. Kein besonderes Buch. Ich würde auch eher 2 1/2 Sterne vergeben,

I liked this book, even though there were some problems with it. Primarily, I felt that all the leaping around in time to tell every character's story in detail was a bit... excessive. It took away from the primary story. I felt that so many pages were spent detailing past events that I only really got to know the main characters half as well as I should have, and in the meantime, I knew about 3 times more than I needed regarding most of the secondary characters. It slowed the book down, significantly. It also made it probably 1/3 longer than it needed to be (total page count). It took away the adrenaline underlying the race to find Jamie's mom - with all the bouncing around, it felt like weeks had passed, instead of what was probably only days in "real time".

Despite that, it was a fun story (despite the villain being exactly who you suspected it was about 75 pages in). Not really twisty-turny, but then, not every book has to be. It did well in establishing the world of this series, and it should be fun watching it progress.

I got my copy of Department 19 from HarperCollins to co-inside with the competition I held to celebrate the paperback release of the book.
I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, and I do this a lot, but if I saw this book in the shops then I would possibly pick it up to look at it, but might not buy it, and that would be a terrible mistake.
From the minute I started this book I was drawn into the world of Jamie Carpenter. There is no long introduction to the characters you jump straight in and are dragged along the roller coaster journey with Jamie in his journey to try to get over his Dad's death, but also to find his Mum.

Department 19 has all the action a book could need, with a secret department in the government trained to take out Vampires, Werewolves and other creatures that shouldn't exist. Its like M.I.B stopped hunting aliens and started hunting vampires. They have some really amazing weapons, that when reading I was amazed at the creativity used by Will Hill, not only to think of these weapons, but also uses for them.

We meet some familiar characters along the way Frankenstein, Van Helsing, Dracula, and I loved how they were added to the story, not only with the present story, but also with the occasional history placed perfectly between chapters to help build the back story and reason for Department 19. Most of all my favourite character is Larissa. She plays a big part in helping Jamie and I loved how their friendships has grown and blossomed throughout the book.

Department 19 had me laughing and crying and really enjoying the fighting scenes and I can't wait for The Rising (Department 19 #2) to be released next year.

Department 19 is a must buy for everyone

Three words: Wayyyyyyyy. Too. Long.

Overall I would say that Department 19 was okay, but I had a couple problems with this book.

The protagonist was pretty much the definition of a "magic boy." Father dead and estranged from his living mother, he discovers that he is part of a secret society that hunts monsters. With little explanation, the boy is inducted into the order. In two days of training, he does better than the most skilled cadets do in nine months. He is so good, in fact, that everyone forgives him for his shadowy family history, and it is never brought up again that they all hated him in the start.

There is also a really odd romance plot thrown in, where the protagonist basically sees a pretty girl and begins making out with her, despite the fact that she's done nothing but look pretty and try to kill him. True love conquers all apparently.

I'm being a little generous with this book, because it's targeted for a different audience than me. I don't know if I will continue with the series.