Parents need to know that this book is heavy on the vampire lore, with some related vampire violence. There's also some mean girl-type violence, with one girl nearly being killed. Much of the violence happens without real consequences.
Positive messages:Overall, the book is positive with its focus on a young college student finding her voice among a dangerous mix of mean girls and undead evil. Solid friendships develop in the strange, supernatural surroundings.
Positive role models:Some positive characters, including one who is learning to speak up and stand up for herself, and some solidly evil ones, who seem to exist only to torment others.
Violence:This is a vampire story, so there's an expected degree of violence and intimidation including "disappearances" and threats of bites. Some of the most disturbing aspects of the violence comes not from vampires, but from mean girls targeting a smaller, less popular girl. They push her down the stairs, threaten to kill her, and make dangerous attempts to "pay her back" for a perceived slight.
Sex:There's more sexual tension than actual sex. Some mild crushes and intoxicating, dangerous vampires with bloodthirsty -- yet hot -- advances.
Language:Mild name-calling like "dork," "loser," and a few gateway swears like "hell."
Absolutely fantastic set of books. The series at the moment goes like this: Glass Houses, Dead Girl's Dance, Midnight Alley, Feast Of Fools, Lord Of Misrule, Carpe Corpus, and Fade Out. The 8th book of the series, Kiss Of Death, is soon to be released.
I love the entire Morganville Vampires series!
The books are amazing and if you haven't read them yet, I highly recommend you check out the first book, Glass Houses.