Tagged: vampires

Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

(Cover picture courtesy of Hooked to Books.)

Enter the dark, magical world of the House of Night, a world very much like our own, except here vampyres have always existed.  Sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird has just been Marked as a fledgling vampyre and joins the House of Night, a school where she will train to become  an adult vampyre. That is, if she makes it through the Change—and not all of those who are Marked do.  It sucks to begin a new life, especially away from her friends and on top of that, Zoey is no average fledgling.  She has been chosen as special by the vampyre Goddess Nyx.  Zoey discovers she has amazing powers, but along with her powers come bloodlust and an unfortunate ability to Imprint her human ex-boyfriend.  To add to her stress, she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers: When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school’s most elite group, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny—with a little help from her new vampyre friends.

Marked represents everything that’s wrong with the YA genre.

Okay, that’s a bit harsh and more than a little melodramatic, but it also has a grain of truth in it.  Literary snobs point to the juvenile writing style, vapid characters and utterly predictable plot and say all YA books are like that.  Let me show you two examples of the horrible writing:

“So I listened to the haunting Gaelic lyrics and pitch-forked up poopie.”  (pg 133)

“I wished it was cold and Kayla would freeze her over-developed boobies right off.”  (pg 175)

Writing style and voice are such important components of a novel that when they make it feel like a wish-fulfilling tween wrote it, it’s a good indicator of other problems.  I don’t know about you, but pretty much all sixteen-year-olds I know would die rather than even think the word “poopie.”  P.C. and Kristin Cast have deliberately dumbed down the writing so they think it will appeal to teens, but in truth they have underestimated their target audience and insulted my intelligence.

Pretty much all the of the characters, except Neferet, are stereotypes.  Zoey is the chosen girl who’s super powerful, Damien is the smart and sensitive gay guy, Erik is the hot love interest, Stevie Rae is the cute little Southern girl and Aphrodite is the hot queen bee straight off Mean Girls.  Neferet is really the only character with a little bit of depth and she barely features in the novel.

The plot is so predictable that it’s sickening.  It almost felt as if P.C. and Kristin Cast made an effort to throw every cliché known to mankind in their novel.  To be honest, if I didn’t know better I’d think this was a parody, yet it’s deadly serious.  Scary, isn’t it?

I give this book 0.5/5 stars

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June is History Month

Well, it’s finally the month you’ve all been waiting for: June.  And over here at The Mad Reviewer, that means only one thing: History Month.  I’m going to be reviewing historical fiction for all ages as well as some nonfiction books I enjoyed.  I’ll still be guest posting over at We Heart Reading every Wednesday, but those reviews will also be on history-themed books.  If you’re curious about what June will hold, here are some hints:

  • Carolyn Meyer.  Lots of Carolyn Meyer.
  • Non-sparkly vampires
  • The French Revolution
  • Troy
  • Uther Pendragon

That’s just a few of the many subjects/authors/people my reviews will involve, so stay tuned!  There will be something for everyone next month.

The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice

(Cover picture courtesy of this site I cannot translate.)

Lestat.  The vampire hero of Anne Rice’s enthralling novel is a creature of the darkest and richest imagination.  Once an aristocrat in the heady days of pre-revolutionary France, now a rock star in the demonic, shimmering 1980s, he rushes through the centuries in search of others like him, seeking answers to the mystery of his eternal, terrifying existence.  His is a mesmerizing story—passionate, complex, and thrilling.

If you don’t like slow plots or are in any way sensitive to gore or explicit sex scenes, this book is not for you.  But if you can appreciate a slow but compelling narrative filled with fascinating characters, you will appreciate The Vampire Lestat.

The Vampire Lestat is the second book in the Vampire Chronicles, but you don’t have to read Interview with the Vampire to understand it.  Anne Rice lets her book stand on its own, but it is interesting to see first Louis’, then Lestat’s different perspectives.  Whereas Louis found his vampirism to be a curse, Lestat chose to embrace it, delighting in his newfound power.

I think a big part of why the Vampire Chronicles are so popular is the fact that Anne Rice has created truly memorable characters.  If I’m honest with myself, Lestat remains in my mind along with other great characters like Thu, Harry Potter, Katsa and Hamnet.  What keeps people coming back for more is her characters, not her slow moving plot or her sensual descriptions, as some reviewers claim.  Lestat is not always sympathetic, but he is appealing enough to command your attention.

I can honestly say that once you start reading The Vampire Lestat, you won’t be able to put it down.  When I first read it, I stayed up until four in the morning to finish it—although that was partly because the alternative was going to sleep on a concrete floor with nothing but a thin sleeping bag.  Still, it is a great book and you’ll have to forgive me for being cliché and describing it as “hypnotic”, because there is no other word for it.

I give this book 4/5 stars.

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Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey

(Cover picture courtesy of On the Bookshelf.)

Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit in to Jessica Packwood’s senior-year “get a life” plan.  But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchanged student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth and he’s her long-lost fiancé.  Armed with newfound confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess.  But Jessica has never even been kissed—how can she possibly commit herself to a long-term relationship?  Or an eternal relationship, for that matter?

When I first started reading this book, I thought it would be another YA novel that jumped on the Twilight bandwagon.  Boy was I wrong!

Beth Fantaskey’s novel is the thought-provoking, yet semi-hilarious story of Jessica Packwood, a high school girl just starting her senior year.  Her plan is to get a life and become popular, but things go horribly wrong when the European exchange student, Lucius Vladescu, shows up on her doorstep, bringing back dark secrets from Jessica’s past.  Jessica is really a Romanian vampire princess who was betrothed to Lucius at birth.  Throughout her senior year, Lucius helps Jessica build up her confidence and they slowly fall in love.

Jessica’s  Guide to Dating on the Dark Side is a wonderful novel that stands out from the hundreds of other vampire novels.  My favourite part of it is when we get to see Lucius’s correspondence with his uncle back in Romania.  They offer a great insight into his personality, especially his rapier wit.  Although there are many great things about this novel, there is one thing I do not like.  Jessica takes a very, very long time to believe Lucius is a vampire, even when there are huge clues all around her.  Maybe it’s just me, but when someone shows you fangs that weren’t there before and the people who have taken care of you since birth tell you this person is a vampire, I would clue in to the fact that things are not all that they seem.

I give this book 4/5 stars.

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Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

(Cover picture courtesy of Pepper Ink.)

Here are the confessions of a vampire.  Hypnotic, shocking, and chillingly erotic, this is a novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force—a story of danger and flight, of love and loss, of suspense and resolution, and of extraordinary power of the senses.  It is a novel only Anne Rice could write.

Interview with the Vampire is no doubt a classic novel, but it is not for everyone.  If you do not like descriptions of graphic sex or admittedly disturbing violence, this is not a book you should attempt to read, regardless of its classic status.  I do not like graphic descriptions of sex, so I skipped over these parts, but the violence was unavoidable as this is a true vampire novel.  This is definitely a book for older teens to adults.

Aside from some mature content, Interview with the Vampire is a wonderful, slightly disturbing novel.  It starts off rather slow, but as Louis’ tale goes on, this book will become glued to your hands.  The sensual descriptions, the exotic characters and the authentic historical details are what really make this novel so great.  The plot slowly twists and turns until we learn how being a vampire has changed the once mild, innocent Louis de Pointe du Lac.  If you’re used to the wishy-washy vampires of today, prepare for a fresh and frightening experience.

I give this book 3.5/5 stars.

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