Vanessa’s long-time girlfriend Tiffany is attacked by the unlikeliest of viscous animals, the dreaded possum. Then Tiffany starts to change, first she grows something akin to fur then her teeth starts getting sharper. Soon after the small town they live in is overrun with hordes of angry possums, not only that, they seem to be led by bigger almost humanlike possums.
Vanessa teams up with her aunt, uncle and cousin to try and solve the mystery of the possum hordes and how to stop them.
This is the second book that have been published after “The Roo” debacle on twitter, again featuring a cover by the talented Kealan Patrick Burke. Also want to point out that the proceeds of this book go to WWF
Now, let’s get back to the book itself, with “Playing Possum” Stephanie Rabig has created an enjoyable creature feature and is there anything more enjoyable than a fun creature feature?!
As you probably have guessed by now it is that possums are the small big-bad in this book, I don’t know about you, but I find possums quite adorable, if you don’t believe me then go to twitter and follow the profile @PossumEveryHour, go on, I’ll wait! If you haven’t changed your mind afterwards, well, then I’ll just assume you are dead inside.
I am not very good at staying on point here, I must have the attention span of a possum. Anyways, back to the book. Possums are attacking humans on sight, the people that are scratched and bitten turn into massive two-legged possums. But the murder and the carnage that the possums cause is not the truly horrific part of the book, no, for me the truly inhumane and horrific part is Vanessa’s family. Not her uncle and aunt that have taken her in, cared for her and love her, but her father for disowning her when he learned that she was a lesbian. Now, that is the part that really fired me up, the unfairness of it all, people whom disown their children for their sexuality, simply have failed as parents. It really riles me up and boils my blood. Just love your children, people, no matter what. This is even not a massive part of the book, though it is a reality for far too many children and teenagers growing up.
Sorry, I seem to have gone off tangent again. Well, back to the book. It is easy to see that Rabig has created a tale that elicits great emotion (well, for me at least). It is a fun creature feature, where the possums are somewhat menacing. It is written with heart. Vanessa’s relationship with her extended family and to her girlfriend Tiffany are realistic and sweet. The relationship she has with her aunt, uncle and cousin is better than most parents/children relationships in real-life. There are some great scenes in the book between the hordes of possums and a family armed with potato guns (that alone is worth the price of the book!).
So, if you are into a creature feature with a heart, featuring possums, LGBTQ characters and a sprinkle of witchcraft, well, then this book is for you
I give this book a 4.5/5 vicious possum scratches.
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