Publisher: Flux; 1 edition (May 1, 2009)
Paperback: 240 pages
Price: $9.95 from AmazonSummary: Gina Covello's Perks and Pitfalls of Vamp Life:
1. Hello?! Eternal youth and beauty!2. Free. Designer. Clothes.
3. My hot new boyfriend Bobby went from chess dud to vamp stud.4. No reflection! First order of business: turn my own stylist to stop the downward spiral from chic to eek.
5. Vampire vixen Mellisande has taken an interest in my boyfriend, and is now transforming the entire high school into her own personal vampire army. If anyone's going to start their own undead entourage it should be me.
I guess I'll just have to save everyone from fashion disasters and other fates worse than death.Rating:
Review:
The Bad: First off, don't be deceived by the summary. I know it says "free designer clothes" and her having a "personal stylist," but they're not present much. This book is more of how Gina deals with the vampire problem with girly comments on the side. Not exactly original, but it's there.
The beginning really had me confused. The first thing you know, a girl, Gina, is waking up in a coffin and manages to figure out she's a vampire in a matter of minutes. She doesn't feel like a "flesh-eating" zombie, so duh! she has to be a vampire. She's been dead for about three days according to the "legends," which I'm not sure how she heard in her burried coffin, and is expecting Bobby, the hot guy she was making out with at the prom, to come through some mysterious communication. All in all, a very confusing beginning.
There are a lot of other mystifying scenarios and shallow conclusions, like how Gina knows the antagonist, Mellisande, is evil just by looking at her. I understand that the point of the book is to show how a "typical" girly teenager deals with vampire-dom, but I often found Gina's comments annoying. I felt like she had to complain about a manicure or shampoo every two pages! And her conclusions always had to be explained, some of which I think the author could have just left to common sense. I liked Gina's character better near the end, when she suddenly turns cold-hearted in the face of battle. You can tell I like strong, butt-kicking heroines. (:
The Good: There is a boogeyman in Vamped. That's not something you see everyday in paranormal books. He's creepy, he's gross, but he could possibly be one of my favorite characters in the book for making Gina squirm in fear.
Strong teenage voice. I really felt like the conversations and observations were from the view of a teenager, albiet an whiny, girly one, but a teenager all the same. And, like always, I like references to other things, so the Spiderman reference was appreciated. I can truthfully say I didn't get bored, but the book is very fast-paced. The whole story spans only a few days, and almost every minute is jam-packed with action or information.
Bottom Line: I borrowed this book, and let's just say I'm glad I did; I definitely would not be spending my money on this. Vamped isn't a horrible book, but it's one that I will never re-read, mainly because I found Gina too girly and spoiled. Go ahead and read if you want, but don't expect anything phenomenal or even great, especially with a leading guy named Bobby (sorry, name fetish here).
