Review: Vampire Kisses, by Ellen Schreiber
I've been in one of those moods lately; you know, the times when you seem to devour book upon book and still hunger for more. Running out of other literary material, I found myself, as a last resort, in the Vampire Teen Section. You see, my school has this little table filled with the latest in the "vampire" genre. I'd been trying to avoid vampires simply because I thought I'd gotten enough of them. That is, until I found this book, called Vampire Kisses, written by Ellen Schreiber.
It's the classic scenario of girl meets smokin' hot, silvery nightstalker, angsty adolescent teen vampire with an aversion to, you guessed it, garlic. He also comes with cliche "I can't really tell you about my past" type of lines, and even the power of turning himself into a bat! Not that this book doesn't have some good points, which it does, but for the most part I found myself with a vampire love story too much like all the other vampire love stories, especially Twilight. That's probably the reason I've started to avoid all the new vampire books — they're practically all the same.
The main character is a pale, gothic, night-loving girl who always wears black outfits and lipstick; her name is equally cliche: Raven. Then, there's your typical opposites-attract shy country girl/hick, Becky. This inseparable duo have this unbreakable bond, due the fact that both of them are the two least popular kids at their school. For the most part, there's nothing interesting going on in the town, setting it up for some vampire action later on. Raven dubs it "Dullsville." The only thing that interests our gothic heroine is the cemetary (go figure, let's keep the theme going shall we?) that overlooks the town. Atop a hill next to this is a creepy old mansion, a.k.a. vampire lair. Raven convinces Becky to go inside with her to expore. And that's where their crazy vampire love adventure begins! Oh, but of course, there's normal drama going on as well; though their school might only have a hundred kids in it, Schreiber manages to incorporate hidden romances, sleazy rich kids, and traitorous best friends into the mix as well. It's this mesh that I really like. The writing style is fast-paced, making the typical vampire aspects more bearable and almost unique (>.>)
If you're looking for a quick read and have nothing to do on the weekend, I suggest you pick up this book from your nearest library... or bookstore. NOW.