The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black (audio)

Tana wakes up at a sundown party to find all her friends murdered by vampires. Still she manages to escape, rescuing her infected ex-boyfriend, Aiden, and a mysterious vampire boy who was chained in the room with him. From there they travel to Coldtown where all the infected and vampires are sent in the hopes of curing Aiden and saving them all.

If  you are looking for a book with real vampires, then look no further. This is a book with blood and murder and vampires and sadness. Tana has lived what is a pretty sad, reckless life after her mother was infected. So she has this tough girl persona. But all that is tested when her ex-boyfriend is infected and she thinks she might be too. She runs to Coldtown hoping to fight off the infection and go home normal even though she knows the duplicitous nature of the wannabes and the vampires that live there.

I loved this book. I thought it was so great and I don't know how so much talent lives in one person. Black did a great job of making the vampires scary and the situation tense and violent. It was so well done. I really felt for Tana as she navigated this minefield and deals not only with the idea of being infected but with Gavriel, the vampire she rescued from the party. He is definitely an interesting character and it was nice to get his backstory without it overwhelming the book. The flashbacks done on the characters were a nice touch and nothing was given that wasn't necessary to the story. I liked it all.

Christine Lakin is the narrator and I liked her as the voice of Tana. She does fine with the different characters and I liked her reading. The musical cues in the book are really fun and add a little something to the book.

12 hours

Department 19 by Will Hill

Jamie Carpenter watches as his father is gunned down by mysterious government agents.  Two years later he is an outcast in society for his father's supposed crime.  But when his mother is kidnapped by a mysterious and dangerous creature, Jamie is brought into the Loop where the vampire hunters work for the government in Department 19.  It's up to Jamie to find his mother before the oldest living vampire does the unthinkable.  

Confession: I've never read Dracula.  It was just never high on my list of things to read.  And that story figures heavy into this story.  Despite my lack of Dracula literature reading, I still got the gist of the story and the background of some of the characters.  In this novel, Dracula is dead, killed like in the original story, but he turned three brothers into vampires and they are the oldest living vampires.  They are brutal and vicious and they are creating an army of other vampires.  The second oldest, Alexandru, kidnaps Jamie's mother, leading Jamie to hunt for his mother.  Jamie is taken by Department 19, a secret government agency founded by original slayers of Dracula, to hide him.  But Jamie only wants to find his mother.  Aided by Frankenstein (the monster), Jamie becomes immersed in the world of the supernatural, determined to find his mother and figure out what really happened to his father.

There is a lot going on in this book and I suppose part of that is a trilogy.  There is the mystery of Jamie's father, and why his mother was taken.  And there is something going on with the vampire brothers.  It's not confusing when you're reading it but when thinking about it, I can only hope that more is answered in the next book.  I enjoyed it though and I liked the characters.  I found Jamie a bit abrasive and there was a lot of yelling (I can't help noticing when a verb is overused), but it is all understandable.  It is on the gory side so if you are squeamish, be forewarned.  Mostly it is vampires exploding and lots and lots of blood.  But it didn't bother me too much.   enjoyed the alternating historical chapters and thought they were a nice touch.  There are definitely a quite a few stick with it images.  I'm curious to see where all of this is going.

Won from LibraryThing
Off the Shelf
350 Page

Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst

Pearl is a fun-loving, blood-drinking sixteen year old bad girl vampire.  That is until she is stabbed by a unicorn.  Suddenly she is a different kind of vampire, one who can walk in the sunlight and has a reflection.  But she is also turning into a different kind of girl, much to her family's displeasure.  Now they have given her the task of luring a large meal to the Fealty Ceremony and, for Pearl, that means going to high school.

I loved Pearl in a weird way.  I love that she was so badass and so out to prove herself and that doesn't change even after the unicorn incident.  I love that it was a unicorn of all things that stabbed her.  So random and fun.  But I loved Pearl's gradual transformation the best and the fact that she went to the library of all places as soon as she could walk in the sunlight.  Her fascination with daylight was almost touching.  It's something everyone just takes for granted but as a vampire she had no experience with it.  Pearl was awesome, even in high school.  She was just the coolest.  And Evan, the boy, was super sweet and I liked him too.  It is a romance-light book which works for the story being told.


The story was really fun and I liked this book.  The vampires and the unicorns, it's a weird combination but it works in this book.  I did have a little laugh at the Vampire King of New England because I mean, come on, what kind of title is that? But the world was built nicely and everything made sense and there were some good light hearted laugh out loud moments in the midst of Pearl's identity crisis.  And prom, of course.

From the publisher
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Publish date: 9/13/2011

Overbite (Insatiable #2) by Meg Cabot

Meena Harper is now working for the super secret Palatine Guard using her psychic abilities to keep its employees safe.  But when her ex-boyfriend, the prince of darkness and vampire king, Lucien reappears, she knows her life is about to get crazy again.  Something is going on in New York and within the Palatine Guard itself and Meena is right in the middle of the whole thing ... again.

And true, their relationship had gone from amazing to unmitigated disaster in record time because he'd kept biting her.  And then the members of his family kept trying to do the same.  And now vampires all over the world seemed to think of Meena's blood as a refreshing pick-me-up, like Dr. Pepper.  p.30

Another fun book from Meg Cabot and I'm guessing the last book in this series which is fine.  Meena is not very good at keeping in control of her life and she seems to attract the Alpha Male types, like Lucien and Alaric, neither of whom I liked very much.  Both of them rankled my nerves and I have a hard time believing someone as generous and kind as Meena would ever really love either of them.  But I am obviously wrong and, also, not the writer of these characters, because for some reason she does love them both.  So there is the kinda sorta love triangle, only not really because Lucien is a giant ass through the whole book and even Meena had to recognize this at some point.

I thought the mystery of who was turning everyone Meena knows into vampires was very good.  The perpetrator was a little obvious, but it still worked as far as mysteries goes. The book moved at a pretty good clip so there wasn't a lot of down time and Meena and her crew  have to work very fast to figure things out.  There were some funny moments as per any Meg Cabot book and I love Meena's brother who provides the most comedic relief.  The POV switched around so the reader gets a little bit of each person and the story unravels in a more whole manner.  It was a cute and funny story and definitely not the standard vampire story going around these days.  It's more old school than new school and I don't mind that at all. 

Cinderella, Ninja Warrior & Sleeping Beauty, Vampire Slayer (e-books) by Maureen McGowen

"Thanks, but I don't need saving.  Really." She did need saving, but she planned to save herself.  p.97 e-book

A fractured fairy tale with a twist.  In this "choose your own plot" adventure, Cinderella is held prisoner by her evil wizard stepmother and made to be a servant in her own house.  She secretly begins practicing ninja skills and testing her magic abilities.  But a visit from a mysterious servant from the royal house starts a chain of events for Cinderella and her escape.

I loved Choose Your Adventure books when I was young and I love fractured fairy tales so this book seemed right up my alley.  I did like it.  It was very fun though I wouldn't so much call Cinderella a "ninja warrior" as much as a really amazing fighter.  The language felt too modern for the setting but that is my only real complaint.  It was an action packed adventure something you don't see a lot in fairy tales and, though I had a hard time picturing the fighting, it was still exciting.  The choose your own direction part was neat and though I didn't go through all of the possibilities, I will one day.

Hogwarts: History of Magic
E-book

The girl's first instinct had been to go for her stake, rather than sounding the alarm to bring help.  She admired Lucette's instinct to act, rather than relying on others to save her.  This girl had potential. p.306 e-book

Another twisted fairy tale with a "choose your own adventure" plot.  This one was also fun.  I love how the curse came from the neighboring vampire queen rather than an evil fairy queen and how the curse changed as well.  Lucette, Sleeping Beauty, is cursed to prick her finger at 16 and to fall asleep during daylight hours, but then wake during the night while everyone else sleeps.  So she essentially alone at night with the vampires.  But she learns to fight, much to her dad's displeasure, and becomes a vampire slayer. 
Once again I didn't go through all the choices, but I am definitely going to go through them soon.

Hogwarts:  Care of Magical Creatures
E-book


Both provided by NetGalley

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer

This Eclipse novella shows the other side of the the Eclipse battle between Edward's family and the army of newborn vampires created by Victoria as part of her revenge scheme for the loss of her love at the hands of Edward.

It took me a long time to get around to this novella.  I sort of lost interest in Twilight after Breaking Dawn, a book with which I have a whole lot of issues.  But I figured I might as well read this for the November Novella challenge.  It was a fun, fast read.  Kind of interesting to see how Victoria and Riley created and trained the newborn army and the battle from the other side.  It provides a little more motivation for the Volturi in Breaking Dawn and, of course, we get to meet the vampire that Carlisle tried to save.  Bree is a sweet, some what innocent girl and it is sort of tragic reading about her already knowing her fate.  The "romance" was too short to really make me care and I really only interested in what was going on elsewhere.  The character that I wish we would have had more on was Fred, but he provided an interesting idea to the series.  So all in all, it wasn't bad.

Hogwarts: Defence Against the Dark Arts
November Novella
Library

Nocturne by L.D. Harkrader

Flannery Lane was found on a doorstep and raised by the town wizard.  Despite being very powerful magic-wise herself, her adopted uncle stops her from doing magic.  But Flannery cannot accept that especially when her uncle becomes ill and a vampire comes to town.

She sighed and led him to the bookshelves, thinking that the sooner he began his research, the sooner she would be able to stop talking.  And sniffing him.  p.164

Here I was wishing for just a regular old vampire story and I get two in one week.  First Insatiable and now Nocturne.  Nocturne leans more towards high fantasy than vampire though.  Mostly it is about a world where magic is common and everyday and all the magic creatures of legend exist, werewolves, brownies, vampires and the like.  The vampires just are, they are not the point so that was refreshing for a change.  It was also refreshing to have a head strong, capable heroine who doesn't immediately fall in love and get all stupid.  Flannery is very powerful and knows it.  She just been caged in by her uncle's worries and his need to keep her safe.  But when she decides to take ownership of her powers, then the story really kicks in.  Nocturne is a quick, fun read that borrows more from Diana Wynne Jones than Stephanie Meyer and her ilk.

Provided by Traveling ARC Tours
Hogwarts: History of Magic
YA

Insatiable by Meg Cabot

Meena Harper doesn't believe in vampires, but now she has to write about them for the soap opera she works for.  Then at her next door neighbor's party she meets Lucien and finds herself in the middle of an actual vampire war!

...even if vampires were stupid  Especially American vampires.  They hung out in places Alaric himself would never have gone, especially if he were immortal.  Such as high school.  And Walmart.   p.28

As much as I love Meg Cabot's young adult books, I really love her adult books.  The characters are much more rounded and usually don't make me feel like shaking anyone.  Meena is pretty well just awesome.  She has the power to see when a person is going to die and so that makes her much more sympathetic to others.  She is very relatable, with her frustrations with her job and her relationships.  I really liked her and her brother and her neighbors.  I was less than infatuated with Lucien and the vampire slayer, Alaric.  Alaric, in particular, was my least favorite character.

I thought the story was fun and fresh and enjoyed all the digs at the current vampire trend.  I like that the vampires were real vampires, teeth and seduction and blood drinking, and were unapologetic about it.  Meena's gift adds another great element to the story and I hope that this is the beginning of a series.  If it's not, then the story stands very well on its own.  But I'd like to hear more about Meena and her new adventures.

Hogwarts: Divination
Library

Frost Moon (e-book)

Dokota Frost is a not just a tattoo artist, she's a magical tattooist.  Able to tattoo images that look alive, she is one of the best in her field.  But when she is commissioned to tattoo a werewolves and at the same time is drawn into a police investigation involving a serial killer who is cutting magical tattoos off of his victim while they are alive, her life gets a lot more dangerous.

"I find myself less and less enamored of were-whatevers," I muttered, cracking my neck where the collar had kinked it in my sleep." (p.111 e-book)

This is not my normal type of book, but when I won it from Library Thing's Early Reviewers I thought what the heck.  I found that I really enjoyed it.  It's an alternate world Dakota lives in, filled with magic and mystery.  I like the idea of the magical tattoo and the skindancing that makes them come alive.  Dakota is very cool, very badass, and very nice.  She genuinely cares for people and their situations.  She gets into a lot of trouble trying to help a werewolve out and that leads down a dark path for everyone.  Some of it was very tongue-in-cheek and there were some funny moments.  It was alternately horrifying, sweet, cheesy, funny, kick-ass, and magical.  Fans of this genre will enjoy this series. 

My only problem was the writing was a little too loose in some places and the ending was a little too pat, too summed up.  I know it is a series so maybe a little should have been left for the next book.  The other thing that bothered me was the introduction of so many characters into one book.  Again I assume for the series, but it was a bit much.


Won from Library Thing's EarlyReviewer
Hogwarts: A History of Magic
E-book
GLBT Challenge (main character is bi)
Twenty Ten

I Am Legend

First let me say, Happy Halloween!!! It's one of my favorite holidays and we've got some good fun planned for the little boy (who is 2).  He's going to be a tiger (RAWR).

So on with the review.  I've chosen a wholly appropriate book for today, I Am Legend.

After a plague almost decimates the human population turning killing off most and turning the rest into blood thirsty vampires, Robert Neville is left completely alone to fend off the vampires who come to his house at night.  Leading a completely solidarity existence causes him to turn to alcohol and fuels his rage.  But as time passes, Neville tries to learn as much as he can about the disease and to create a cure.

Written in 1954, I Am Legend helped, according to the Wiki, to popularize the idea of vampirism as a disease and one of the first stories with that concept.  So I don't know if Peeps gives it a shout-out or not, but it definitely should.  I have seen the Will Smith version which I found scary, but mostly just sad.  It showed vividly how a human will behave if left compeltely alone and it was just a sad movie.  The novella also contains that same mixtures of sadness and horror.  It really shows that a person could get use to anything.  Day after day, Neville does his daily chores,  cleaning up the dead bodies on the front lawn, making stakes, killing any vampires sleeping in the area and after a while he barely notices the abject horror of his situation as the only human in the city or in the world for all he knows.  And all the while he relives the past and what happened to his wife and daughter.  I was really struck how he managed to live through the whole thing and with his memories.  But his will to live was strong.

*highlight for sort of spoilers*
The science part is well-research albeit it is from th 1950's and I'm no biology expert but it sounds good to me.  The only part that was sounded shaky to me is the end with the "living vampires."  And I got confused between the two a lot.  I found the ending to be fitting if not sad and it actually made me a little angry, but there was really no other way.


*for the November Novella Challenge

The Reformed Vampire Support Group

Nina and her support group are vampires. But not glamorous Hollywood vampires or anything. In fact being a vampire sucks with the nausea, the bleeding and the vomiting not to mention the physical weakness. So week after week, they meet to discuss their vampy problems and the temptations of human blood. But when one of them is slayed, Nina and her friend Dave enlist the others to find out who staked him, just in case they are coming for the rest of them.

And although I manage to get by, it's not as if my books are runaway bestsellers. I mean, it's not as if I'm Stephenie Meyer, or anything.  p.74

I've tried to read Catherine Jinks before and I couldn't get into Evil Genius. But this one is so good. It is a very different kind of vampire that Jinks has invented. Sure they can be killed by the conventional methods: sunlight, stakes, beheading. But that's about all these vampires have in common with the stereotypical vampire. In this book, the vampire are weak, fragile things prone to headaches, nausea & vomiting, hemorrhaging among other things. Vampirism is a disease and when you are bitten, you become infected (much like Peeps) only there are no superpowers that come along. So Nina and her group shuffle along during the night and "sleep" during the day with nothing to do but complain. Nina writes vampire novels and her main character is more along the lines of an Edward (or rather Alice) than a Nina. As much as I like the superpowered vampire, I also like this version too. It was a funny book and I laughed out loud several times. The image of these weak vampires trying to do anything more than lift a book was funny. They whine and complain a lot, but finally become pro-active when one of them is staked. And it's not even someone they like, but they are afraid this so called "slayer" will hunt them down next.

This book is also different since all the vampires are different ages. There's Nina who was "fanged" at 15, Dave 17, Bridget who's elderly, and the rest are all middle-aged so there's no super sexy 25 year old vampire. Nina talks about looking like she's 15 forever and how that effects her and how people treat her. It would be difficult looking that young forever. I wondered too what she was going to do when her mum died. Her mother is 76 (Nina's technically 51) so she still lives with her, but what will Nina do when her mother is gone. It's not discussed in the book, but I was thinking about it considering how much her mum does for her.

So anyway, not to sound all Reading Rainbow or anything, read if you like vampires or even if you don't. I'm pretty sure it's good either way.

Tantalize (Audio)

I've written about Tantalize before, but I just finished the audio version and wanted to give a little review of it.
Here is a quick synopsis:
Quincie, the main character, is drawn into a world of vampires and werecreatures where her best friend is a werewolf. She is determined to open a vampire themed restaurant but the plan stumbles when the head chef is murdered. Enter Henry Johnson, a chef that no one would consider dark and mysterious, to take over. Will Quincie be able to open her restaurant and resist the temptations that are offered to her? This is how to write a good vampire/werewolf triangle. It is one of those books that will stay with you long after you've finished shuddering.

It is interesting how differently you see the actions in a book on a second reading (or listening in this case). I read this the first time but decided to try the audio when I started reading the follow-up novel Eternal (not a direct sequel). Kim Mai Guest is the narrator and she does an excellent job. Her voice is soft and slow and she adds a dreamy quality to the book. She does a great job of making Quincie's choices sound realistic. This was an excellent audiobook.

Tantalize / Eternal

I absolutely love this book! Dark and sensuous, the imagery is amazing.

Quincie, the main character, is drawn into a world of vampires and werecreatures where her best friend is a werewolf. She is determined to open a vampire themed restaurant but the plan stumbles when the head chef is murdered. Enter Henry Johnson, a chef that no one would consider dark and mysterious, to take over. Will Quincie be able to open her restaurant and resist the temptations that are offered to her? This is how to write a good vampire/werewolf triangle. It is one of those books that will stay with you long after you've finished shuddering.

Eternal is the next book from Smith in this series. It is not a direct sequel but it seems that the following book will tie everything together. It is another dark book but the ending may surprise you.

Miranda is a shy girl who wants to be in the school play. Zachary is her guardian angel who somehow has fallen in love with her. When Miranda's friend brings her the graveyard to meet a guy, Zachary tries to keep her safe. But the worst possible thing happens and Miranda becomes a vampire princess. It's up to the tarnished guardian angel to save her soul and save himself.


I was impressed by both books and they are definitely on my re-read list. There are moments that horrified me but both left me breathless at the ending. Definitely not your typical vampire books especially the vampire/angel love story in Eternal. It's not necessary to read them in any order or back to back although they take place in the same world. I would recommend reading with all the lights on though.