Lucas Blake - Age 11

The main character of this book, Leo is an 111 year old vampire. According to the council of vampires, after a century of being a vampire, each must undertake ‘The Hunt’ - their first human kill. Leo’s hunt doesn’t go as planned and she accidentally creates two ghosts. The story is then about what she can do to put her mistake right and successfully complete her hunt. My favourite character was Roderick the spider whose occasional appearance in the story made me chuckle. It’s a good book which is easy to read and I enjoyed reading it. I would recommend this book to those aged 8+ who like stories about the undead!

Lily O’Dwyer - Age 12

This book caught me straight away from the cover. I like the wacky illustrations and the fact it is red like blood for vampires.
The characters are brilliant although I am a bit scared of Leo’s mum, she sounds terrifying as a mum and as a vampire. Her dad seems great though, just wrapped up in his library and science experiments.
Leo is your average 111 year old undead girl, with an annoying little big sister and no friends except her cat and Rodrigo her pet spider.
The trouble all starts when Leo has to go out on her first Hunt. This is a rite of passage that all vampires complete on their 111th birthday. Leo finds the orphan house and figures that might be her best bet. She looks in an upstairs window and sees a girl that she uses her Will on to let her in. And then the problems start.
I won’t tell you what happens, but let’s just say she ends up with a friend called Minna who is a little different just like her and the two of them have to try to fix the problem caused by Leo. His name is The Orphanmaster.
This book is great fun, it’s so descriptive it makes it really easy to picture the scenes and get totally swallowed up in the story. In some parts it is a bit scary and a bit yukky, but I really loved it. I would definitely read it again and would tell all my friends to read it too. I really hope Alex writes some more stories about Leo and Minna. Oh and I’d like my own Marged too!

Rob - Age 11

I thought this book was very silly at times. However, it did make me laugh. It is all about 11 year old vampire Leo (really 111 years old) and her strange family. At the beginning of the book, she heads out on her Birthnight for her first hunt. But it all goes badly wrong. It ends up that she starts a fire and makes a ghostly enemy, the Orphanmaster. She becomes terrified about what her scary mother will say to all that has happened, feeling like she has let her down. She now has to defeat the Orphanmaster with the help of her new ghost friend before it is too late.

Very strange, but hilarious. Spooky, with its haunted castles, knights with no bodies, spiders and vampires. Great reading for over Halloween. An excellent dark adventure story.

Leonard McNaughton - Age 9

Overall, "Rules for Vampires" is an interesting book, which would appeal to children who like books that are a bit scary. In this book, the main character Leo, has to find ingredients to defeat the ghost of the Orphanmaster. As she does this she find new alliances with a ghost called Mindra, and the audience want her to succeed. This book is high in adventure as Leo completes her attempt with her new friend. She has a very distant relationship with her parents and her sister. In fact, her sister is almost a deadly enemy. Anyone with siblings might understand this feeling!

Readers are encouraged to empathise with Leo: she has one leg and is not able to fly like some vampires such as her sister and mother. This adds a greater level of connection with our hero. The illustrations added extra information and enjoyment although there was one picture of the Orphanmaster which confounded me!

However, sometimes I felt like this book did not engage me all of the time but the ending made up for it.

I would recommend this book to kids of 8-10 years old because it is a book which has some frightening bits and some comedy bits. If you like "How to Train Your Dragon" this has a similar mix of mythical creatures and illustrations.

Emily Welbourn - Age 10

This is a really fun, spooky and mysterious book about a young vampire called Leo who has lost her leg in a previous book and has to prove her own worth as a vampire, to herself and to her mother! The intro is amazing, especially as the page itself is black, and it really makes you want to read on and find out more. I loved all the characters, especially Leo, because she is bold and daring and though she makes mistakes she never gives up! This is a perfect book for Halloween, or for anyone that enjoys a darker and more supernatural read.

Andrea Rayner

Leo is an 11-year-old vampire – a hundred and eleven that is! Now she has reached that age she needs to complete the Hunt of the Waxing Moon on her birthnight and ‘eat’ her first person. Her vampire family, the Von Mottebergs, have high expectations of her, especially as her mother, Sieglinde, is an extremely old and powerful vampire.

So whilst her mother is away at a vampire council, Leo sets off for Otto’s End to bag herself a human. She heads for St Frieda’s Home for Unfortunate Children and all goes well until she meets the Orphanmaster. Then Leo accidentally sets fire to the orphanage, creating two ghosts – one friendly, one most definitely not.

How can Leo sort out the mess she has made before her mother gets back from the Council and discovers that Leo has not only failed her Hunt but also unleashed a powerful enemy? It’s a tricky business when you are one-legged vampire uncertain about your abilities. But help comes in an unexpected form from a young orphan called Minna (a cheeky name-check to a character in Dracula).

This is a hilarious book, following the misadventures of an engaging and unusual heroine. It is darkly humorous subverting many traditions from the horror genre. However, it is also a book that deals with deeper themes about friendship, family, and childhood fears.

Lukas Stewart - Age 12

What I like about this book is that it is a funny take on being a vampire and makes you think about what it would be like to be one in the real world! I can relate to certain parts of Leo's character as she is a similar age to me and so I can imagine how cool it would be to have all her extra abilities, but like all of us, she doesn't like the rules so much! The illustrations really add to the book and help create images of the story in my head as I am reading it and help to set the atmosphere and tone of the book. Most vampire stories are dark but this one is really comical and I love Leo's family as they are really funny. The story also keeps you wanting to read on and find out what happens next in the life of a vampire family! If you like comedy, thrills and suspense, then you will definitely like this book as it has strong characters and a really good plot throughout the book and a good ending to the story. I also think this book will appeal to a wide range of ages, throughout high school and maybe even a bit younger as it has not in it that we can all relate to.

Elissa Watkin - Age 9

This story follows Eleanor, more commonly known as Leo, and her life as a young vampire. Things start to go wrong for her almost straight away on her 111th birth night when she makes a big mistake. This is a clever fantasy story that gets you inside the mind of a vampire and makes us humans feel quite insignificant! I would recommend this book to both boys and girls of my age (9) and above. I particularly liked the fact that in the end, although there were very tricky parts for Leo things come together. I hope there'll be a sequel to this enchanting tale.

Gowshanth Maheshkumar - Age 9

This devilishly funny book is all about vampires as you can see at the start.

At first I thought it would be a really boring and it was a bunch of rules for vampires no adventure or anything. But as I got in the story it was like I was in the book myself. It is a vibrant world-building, hilarious story of a ghost and a vampire killing another ghost which I thought wasn't possible myself. Alex Foulkes' book tells me that not all vampires or ghosts are mean and scary some can be kind and caring. My favorite character is Mina with her tough attitude and strong personality it makes me like her very much.

We are introduced to the timid but hot headed Leo who is now 111 and on the day of her waxing moon she doesn't make it and meets the Orphan master. At the start of the story when we are introduced to the Orphan master he is mean and hates children, but as I got into the story it tells me why he hates kids so much. Although Leo never gets to bite a human on her grim walk a ghost is twice as good.

This book is funny for everyone. A real life vampire and all good and bad things that go with it! If anyone likes comedy I would recommend this book .Overall this is a comedy for all ages.

Rodborough Readers - Age 11

A wonderful book full of twists and turns and an ending that was spectacular. Leo (the main character) thinks the grim walk shouldn’t be suitable for a vampire and in her opinion it’s horrific and disgusting. Leo goes on her first ever hunt that goes horribly wrong and in the process makes two ghosts, which isn’t supposed to happen on your 110th birthday hunt! Leo has a mother and a father but doesn’t remember anything about being human. An absolutely fantastic and amazing storyline. Overall an amazing book. Definitely would recommend for fantasy lovers, it is a fantastic view of a vampire's life and their experience with humans, ghosts, bats and magic.

martha - Age 9

I enjoyed reading Rules for Vampires because it had excellent descriptions. The full idea, theme and progression of the story really makes you want to read on. The author has also really imagined what it is like to be the main character and it makes it a lot more enjoyable. The plot, about a young vampire who makes two enemies and has to try and stop them from overpowering the vampiric world, is very engaging and fun to read. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy fantasy but also people who like mystery and adventure. I liked this book because of the genre since I like adventure books but I also loved the descriptive sentences and it really makes, I think, everybody feel like they're in the book. As an avid reader, this book will surely make you want to read and read and read and never stop. It is a very fun book and I think the author's world he has created is brilliant. I would rate this book 9/10.