R.L. Stine's "Temptation"

R.L. Stine's "Temptation"

There's a reason behind the old addage "Never judge a book by its cover", and this is it. The cover - awesome. The contents - what's the opposite of awesome? not awesome... 

To say that R.L. Stine's "Temptation" was a letdown is putting it mildly. Of course, this may be my own fault. I may have romanticized R.L. Stine to be better than he was. Afterall, I haven't read a book of his since I was probably thirteen. I didn't even know he was still alive.

When I was a kid, I remember thinking that "99 Fear Street: The House of Evil" was the scariest book of all-time. (Prior to that, it had been "Wait Till Helen Comes"). So, when I was doing a little Santa shopping, looking for books for myself, and I came across "Temptation", I thought, "R.L. Stine + Vampire romance?? It's like they reached into my head and made the perfect book!" (Please don't let that last comment effect your opinion of my taste. I am who I am.)  Boy was I wrong. During the reading of this book, I found myself referring to it multiple times as "the worst book ever." You'd think I'd just stop reading it, but nope. I'm a glutton for punishment.

To add to the deception that was the pretty sweet cover, there was a sticker that said "It's a mixture of (something) and The Vampire Diaries." (I didn't really read that first part. I saw "The Vampire Diaries" and yanked that business off the shelf.) Let me be perfectly clear, it is NOTHING like the Vampire Diaries. Maybe if the Vampire Diaries were written by a twelve year-old in a middle school creative writing class.

So, what's it even about? The book is comprised of two stories, both of which take place in Sandy Hallow, a touristy beach community, conveniently located by a small island which is home to bats and vampires. In the first story, a group of teens from Fear Street visit Sandy Hollow on summer vacation and fall victim to two evil vampires who have made a bet to see who can be the first to turn one of the teens into a new vampire.

The second is about a group of teenage boys returning to Sandy Hallow for summer vacation. One of the boys is there to hunt the vampires, but ends up spending most of his summer trying to convince his two friends that vampires exist and that the girls they are dating are evil blood-sucking fiends. Oh yeah, these girls ALSO have a bet to see who can be the first to make a new vampire.

The formula for the book is pretty simple. Group of teens + making out + vampire bites + stupid bets = best-selling book. It actually sounds like classic R.L. Stine, so like I said, falling for it is my own fault. It should have been a red flag from the very beginning.

BUY "TEMPTATION" ON AMAZON

Richelle Mead's "Bloodlines"

"Bloodlines" on Amazon

For those of you who have read my review of Richelle Mead's "Vampire Academy" series, you'll know that I LOVE the series. "Bloodlines" is the first book in her spin-off series, but before you start it, I highly recommend that you read the original series. Most of the characters in Bloodlines are familiar to those who have read the Vampire Academy series, and without reading that, you'll lack a lot of the prior character development. 

Bloodlines follows Sydney Sage, the Alchemist who assisted Rose in the original series. For those not familiar with it, an Alchemist is a human faction responsible for keeping other humans in the dark about the existance of vampires and dhampirs.

After her involvement in the events of the final Vampire Academy book, Sydney is given the opportunity to redeem herself with an assignment to keep an eye on  the Moroi princess, Jill, while she is in hiding after an assassination attempt. 

Also along for the ride are VA alums Eddie Castile, the devoted dhampir guardian, Rose's crime boss father, Abe Mazur and love-crushed vampire pretty-boy Adrian Ivashkov. Several new characters are introduced, but I doubt that they'll make much of an appearance in subsequent books, with the possible exception of Sydney's younger sister, and a future Alchemist, Zoe Sage.

As was the case in a couple of the VA books, Bloodlines is less about ass-kicking action and more about plot and character development. You're given plenty of insight into the Alchemist organization and both Sydney's background and family life. 

Observing the blossoming friendship between Sydney and Adrian, two characters who couldn't be more different, is entertaining and heartwarming, and you can't help but root for something more to happen there. Adrian's cocky confidence mixes with Sydney's introverted awkwardness for amusing results.

This book reads like a Nancy Drew novel, which is to be expected, since Sydney is very clinical and academic (a far cry from the heroine of the VA books, the "hit first, ask questions later" Rose Hathaway), but in true Richelle fashion, it finishes with a bang that leaves you craving more.

Richelle Mead's "Vampire Academy"

Before you roll your eyes at this and ignore it, because, hey - I'll be the first to admit it - the name is horrible, hear me out. I think that Twilight kind of soured everyone to the whole vampire genre (not so much Twilight as a story, but the weird fanaticism in its fans that make it awkward to enjoy, and embarassing to admit that you actually liked it *I know I'm not the only one. Just admit it. It wasn't a horrible story.* 


Anyway, Vampire Academy is NOT Twilight. It doesn't seek to be, and while it may vaguely share a few similar elements, it's quite unique as far as vampire stories goes. Not just unique, but downright good - and entertaining.

The main character, Rose Hathaway is a strong, sexy and confident dhampir, a 1/2 vampire 1/2 human hybrid, a race that's bred (in these novels anyway) to serve as bodyguards for the weaker, peace-loving living vampires - the Moroi. I say "living" because the villains in this series are the non-living vampires, the Strigoi, who prey not only on humans, but on the moroi.

Unlike most vampire stories, humans rarely enter into these stories. Instead, the books take place primarily at a private academy for young members of the moroi society (hence the name), and focus primarily on a group of young moroi royals and their dhampir body guards - more specifically on Rose and her charge and life-long best friend, Vasilissa Dragomir, who is the last of her royal bloodline, and who is hunted relentlessly by strigoi and moroi power-seekers alike. Needless to say, Rose does a lot of ass-kicking.

Of course, being a young adult novel, and a vampire story to boot, there has to be a love story or two, especially for a foxy heroine like Rose. But, Rose is no damsel in distress and the objects of her affections are strong, capable and intelligent guys, never afraid to take her on and knock her down a notch.

As a matter of fact, in a fight between Vampire Academy's dhampir hero, Dimitri Belekov and Twilight's Edward Cullen, my money would be on Dimitri.

The series takes you through 6 books: Vampire Academy, Frostbite, Shadow Kiss, Blood Promise, Spirit Bound and Last Sacrifice. Each book on it's own is an action-packed page-turner (with the possible exception of the third, which I felt was more about character and plot development) and numerous plot twists. I basically flew through all six books.

If you like vampire stories, even in secret, then these are worth a read. They're not all blood, gore and romance, like Vampire Diaries or Anne Rice novels, but more butt-kicking action with compelling love stories (think Buffy or Underworld).

Kim Gray is a mom, blogger, nutrition fanatic and founder of the Voracious Readers Society and ePaleoCookbooks.net. If you would like to join the society and submit your own book reviews, you can contact her at voraciousreaders@yahoo.com or on twitter @artex1024.