A gripping, original take on vampires.
Absorbing suspense dominates this chick-lit vampire story.
This 11th installment of the Morganville Vampires series doesn’t require familiarity with the previous books for readers to figure out what’s going on, and to find excellent suspense. Claire, the story’s main protagonist, lives in the Glass House with her heartthrob Shane, her best friend, goth girl Eve, and vampire Michael (whom human Eve wants to marry). Humans and vampires share Morganville, with humans providing pints of blood for their more powerful neighbors. The town reacts against the proposed marriage, but all becomes moot when a far more powerful entity invades: the draug, sea-based enemies of the vampires. They decimate the vampire population, also attacking humans who get in their way. Claire finds herself caught in a limbo-like state as she tries to fight them, adding another layer of suspense to the already gripping tale. Caine puts her strong imagination to good use in devising semi-impossible scenarios for her characters to conquer, and she writes the major fight scene well. A few quirky characters and some humor flavor the story, such as Claire’s highly eccentric scientist employer, vampire Myrnin, who apparently secretly loves her, as does the emotionally aware house the group lives in. Chick-lit staples come in the form of clothes, a bit of gossip and girl rivalry.
A gripping, original take on vampires. (Paranormal adventure. 12 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-451-23487-2
Page Count: 352
Publisher: New American Library
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
IN THE NEWS
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter.
After a Nigerian British girl goes off to an exclusive boarding school that seems to prey on less-privileged students, she discovers there might be some truth behind an urban legend.
Ife Adebola joins the Urban Achievers scholarship program at pricey, high-pressure Nithercott School, arriving shortly after a student called Leon mysteriously disappeared. Gossip says he’s a victim of the glowing-eyed Changing Man who targets the lonely, leaving them changed. Ife doesn’t believe in the myth, but amid the stresses of Nithercott’s competitive, privileged, majority-white environment, where she is constantly reminded of her state school background, she does miss her friends and family. When Malika, a fellow Black scholarship student, disappears and then returns, acting strangely devoid of personality, Ife worries the Changing Man is real—and that she’s next. Ife joins forces with classmate Bijal and Benny, Leon’s younger brother, to uncover the truth about who the Changing Man is and what he wants. Culminating in a detailed, gory, and extended climactic battle, this verbose thriller tempts readers with a nefarious mystery involving racial and class-based violence but never quite lives up to its potential and peters out thematically by its explosive finale. However, this debut offers highly visually evocative and eerie descriptions of characters and events and will appeal to fans of creature horror, social commentary, and dark academia.
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250868138
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A fresh, generous, wide-ranging compendium of frights.
Spooky stories covering multiple subgenres, plus some added attractions.
Few horrific tropes or creepy conventions are overlooked in Duplessie’s debut. The stories are arranged into six sections: “Short Frights for Dark Nights,” “Anatomical Anomalies,” “Five Minutes in the Future,” “Be Careful Who You Trust,” “The Dark Web,” and “The Unearthly, the Ghoulish, and the Downright Monstrous.” Some of the best entries are grounded in familiar setups, but Duplessie is careful to avoid repetition. The stories’ relatively short lengths and the crisp, direct writing style make this volume inviting for even reluctant readers, but it doesn’t shy away from the truly terrifying and grotesque. That said, the grisliest events are often described with poetic elegance rather than gratuitous violence: “His face collapsed like an empty paper bag.” The stories frequently conclude with the suggestion of frights to come rather than graphic depictions. One ends with an overly curious girl getting sealed up in a brick wall. Another foreshadows the murderous power of a cellphone. Highlights include the eerie “The Reaping,” in which the prick of a rose’s thorn triggers a spate of bloodlust, and “Chamber of Horrors,” which features a murderous iron maiden. Each story ends with a bonus in the form of a QR code and instructions to “scan the code for a scare”—if readers dare. Short, eerie poems are peppered throughout; there are even a handful of riddles. Most characters read white; names cue some ethnic diversity.
A fresh, generous, wide-ranging compendium of frights. (Horror. 13-18)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9780063266483
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
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