Today I’m excited to participate in the Bookstagram & Creative Tour for I’m With the Banned by Marlene Perez hosted by MTMC Tours. I’m With the Banned is the second installment in the Afterlife trilogy, a snarky, hilarious take on the vampire romance novel written by the bestselling author of the Dead Is series and it is published by Entangled Teen!
So without any farther ado, read below for my review of I’m With the Banned plus an out-of-context character interview. And don’t forget to enter the international giveaways to win kindle copies of The Afterlife of the Party & I’m With the Banned by Marlene Perez OR a $20 Amazon Gift Card (scroll down for more details). Tansy is AMAZING, cannot wait for you to meet her!
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I'm with the Banned by Marlene Perez
Series: Afterlife #2
Published by Entangled: Teen on October 5, 2021
Genres: Adult, Dark Fantasy
Pages: 320
Format: Kindle
Goodreads
Buy on Amazon|Book Depository|B&N
Source: Entangled Teen, MTMC Tours
I received this book for free from Entangled Teen, MTMC Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I never wanted to be a vampire queen.
But on the bright (if not sunny) side of the debacle, I’ve got a super-hot new boyfriend. And he just might be the perfect guy.
Well, if the perfect guy ghosts you for a month and then comes back to school with a new look, a pack of friends, and a secret. But we have bigger problems.
The Drainers are back. They’re singing a different song, but have they really changed?
Even worse, werewolves’ hearts are being ripped from their bodies—which is putting the people I love in danger. I need to figure out who is behind the murders before there’s an all-out vampire-werewolf war.
No one is going to mess with my friends, even the ones who like to get wild and howl at the moon.
Sometimes, all a girl can do is grab her tiara and start kicking some supernatural ass...
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Why you need to read I’m With the Banned
“This summer, I’d become the queen of the vampires. When I’d killed the king, I got the royal title— and yeah, he’d been exceptionally awful, even for an evil vampire— but now I had a crown I didn’t want and a kingdom I didn’t know how to rule.”
The continuation of the Afterlife series was a captivating and highly entertaining read! As we follow the story of Tansy in I’m With the Banned, we read about her struggle to keep up with her new responsibility as Vampire Queen of the California Realm while simultaneously finish high school. However life seems to be going back to “normal”, she has her best friend Skyler at her side and her cute boyfriend Vaughn as well. But will she ever have it easy? Strange murders are happening around that can possibly incriminate her, disagreements with people she trusts keep happening and unwanted characters come into play. It is up to her to fix everything and she is ready!!
I will start by saying I’m team Tansy, I was rooting for her the entire book. You can definitely notice her improvement from The Afterlife of the Party and she deserves everything!! She is an incredibly loyal friend, fiercely protective, she spends her time trying to get the hang of her new responsibilities as a vampire queen AND trying to bring peace. I definitely believe she needs better friends though, it infuriated me how she was always patient and quick to forgive both Skyler and Vaughn when honestly they did not deserve it. However she still gave them a piece of her mind every time she felt she was being misjudged and I was all here for it!! ?
As always, Granny and her Old Crones Book Club were AMAZING. This book club in particular is not ordinary at all, in fact it’s more of a witch’s club (although they do enjoy reading too) and I love how supportive they are to Tansy. She and her Granny have an excellent relationship and I thought it was so adorable that the team members of the club take care of her too. We also get to hang around more with Rose and Thorn, who we meet in the first book and are pretty cool. And surprisingly Travis also appears in this book, but somehow less evil and I kinda liked him? He has a country-and-western band now, but promises to behave. Tansy’s reaction the moment she saw him was hilarious :
I squinted at him. “That guy,” I said. “For some reason, I want to punch him in the face.”
Lol!? Anyway, I’m With the Banned was such a great read for me, the plot was entertaining, it was fast-paced and the story flowed so well. And even though I liked the first book, I enjoyed this one even more since I was more acquainted with the characters specially with Tansy. This series really keeps getting better and better. Full of supernatural creatures including witches, vampires, werewolves and even pie-loving hellcats, I’m With the Banned is the perfect read for the spooky season with a nice dash of comedy (very much appreciated)! The third book in the Afterlife series cannot come soon enough!!✨❤
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Out-of-context character interview with
Tansy from I’m With the Banned!
Hi Tansy, so happy to have you on the blog! Tell us, did anything happen over the summer?
This summer, I’d become the queen of the vampires. When I’d killed the king, I got the royal title— and yeah, he’d been exceptionally awful, even for an evil vampire— but now I had a crown I didn’t want and a kingdom I didn’t know how to rule.
Wow, a vampire Queen?! And did you get use to them calling you that?
Queen. Whenever someone used that word to describe me, my body felt as though I’d guzzled about a thousand cups of coffee.
I can imagine it must be daunting to have such a huge responsibility. How did it feel when you turned into a vampire?
Because I was a witch, I hadn’t fared so well. One bite from a reckless vampire and I became the creature I saw before me today.
And are you coping well with being a vampire?
I was getting better at taming the monster inside me, at least in public, but my fangs would descend involuntarily when I got angry or upset.
We have to ask. What happened the first time you walked in the Sun?
Since I was a striga vie— a vampire-witch hybrid—I didn’t turn to ash in the sun, like other vampires, but without my tonic, I did get violently ill, which was why I’d guzzled down a big glass of it right before school. The tonic, my granny’s recipe, was what staved off the worst of my vampire vulnerabilities, but it only managed the symptoms.
How did the tonic taste like?
Granny’s tonic , although lifesaving in the extreme, both for me and for any potential victims if I vamped out, tasted like licorice. It wasn’t my favorite, but it could have been much worse. The first batch had tasted like nettles and soap.
Was there a difference between your witch powers and vampire abilities?
When I used my witchy powers, I tapped into something that was part of nature, alive, fresh, and green. But when I used my vampire ability, it felt icky, artificial, and dark, like I was channeling the worst part of myself. The part that craved power.
Did you get used to your new life as a Vampire hybrid after The Afterlife of the Party?
My life was just getting back to the new version of normal. Sure, I couldn’t stay at the beach all day, but I could still go to school, eat garlic, and hang out with my friends. Nobody knew why the rules didn’t apply to striga vies, but I was grateful I didn’t have all the vampire weaknesses. At least as long as I refrained from drinking someone dry.
So, tell us a little bit about witchcraft!
Witchcraft was about learning the secrets of the universe, the things only the hidden world could reveal to those in the craft. So whenever Granny wanted to show me something, I listened.
And lastly, what are you currently reading?
A History of Vampyres—a little light reading before bed.
Thank you so much Tansy for being with us today, cannot wait for everyone to get to know you more in I’m With the Banned!!
INTL Blog Tour Giveaway!
Enter the Rafflecopter below to win kindle copies of The Afterlife of the Party & I’m With the Banned by Marlene Perez! Ends on October 16th, 2021. Winner will be announced in the Rafflecopter & contacted via email by MTMC.
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INTL Tour-wide Instagram Giveaway!
Head over to my Instagram account to enter the tour giveaway where you can win a $20 Amazon Gift Card! Ends on October 16th, 2021. Winner will be announced on @mtmctours’ Instagram account.
Tour Schedule:
October 4
@thereaderandthechef – Bookstagram + Book Blog
October 5
@romantasy_royalty – Bookstagram
October 6
@paperfury – Bookstagram + Book Blog
October 7
@idreaminbooks – Bookstagram + Book Blog
October 8
@moonlight_rendezvous – Bookstagram
October 9
@bookishbellee – Bookstagram + Book Blog
October 10
@readerofthewrittenword – Bookstagram
October 11
@book_withquotes – Bookstagram + Book Blog
October 12
@paperfates – Bookstagram
October 13
@a_bookish_dream – Bookstagram + Book Blog
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Hosted by:
About Marlene Perez
MARLENE PEREZ is the author of many books, including the Dead Is series, The Comeback, Love in the Corner Pocket, and Unexpected Development, an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. She lives in Orange County, California.
