My rating: 4 of 5 stars
FCC disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from Goodreads First Reads. This has had approximately the same affect on me as the typeset.
Release date: August 2010
Lenah Beaudonte doesn't want to be evil anymore. She doesn't like being an evil blood-sucking killer.
And now, thanks to Rhode, her best friend/brotha from anotha motha/lover/soulmate... she doesn't have to be anymore.
Of course, it's not that simple. First of all, it takes time. One hundred years, to be exact--setting her to become a human in a much different time than the last she'd seen. 2010 isn't exactly the same as 1910, after all. Oh, and there's the small problem she created herself: her coven is bound to kill her when they find she's regained her humanity. Her only feasible option is simple: become so human, she can hide from her bonds and the vampire world. Naturally, that's going to be easier said than done as Lenah finds herself propelled into an ultra-preppy New England high school after a hundred years' hibernation, with a looming October deadline just ahead...
I'm really on the fence about this one. On the one hand, Maizel has a fantastic premise. Her rules of vampirism are refreshingly traditional at times, but her new edge is also deliciously fresh. Lenah is a complicated character; half the time she's unfathomably cruel, the other half of the time you can't help but love her. The writing isn't bad, even if it's a little weighty. The duel narrative, present-day with flashbacks, was fantastic (I really, really enjoyed the added dimension of the flashbacks). The lack of sex scenes was very pleasing.
Then again...
**SPOILERS AHEAD. WATCH YOUR STEP.**
Lenah is too darn good at all of this. I mean, honestly. She doesn't stand out hardly at all. She gets over the language barrier remarkably quickly, only keeping her British accent (seemingly for kicks). She even swears like a 21st-century teenager--not at all like a turn-of-the-century Brit. Oh, and she's not even a real turn-of-the-century Brit. She's over 500 years old. Doesn't that call for a little bit of a problem adapting? But no.
And then there's Tony, the best friend, and Justin, the boyfriend. I don't really know what to think about that. Again, I'm torn. On the one hand, it's a nice change that she doesn't go with the best friend, the first person she meets. But then there's Justin, who is a classic example of THE HOT GUY. Except, he's... nice? What? Points for that, less for the fact that everyone's supposed to hate the popular kids (Tony even reaffirms this), and yet they're not that bad at all. There are minimal problems with relationships at all. Heck, Lenah's life is pretty perfect as a human. She steals THE HOT GUY from his girlfriend, and she doesn't even cause problems. She instead ends up dating the art kid, Tony (this, I completely and utterly think was because Ms Maizel simply needed to find a girlfriend for him).
Everything just seems so easy for Lenah. I mean, seriously. She tells her boyfriend that she's a vampire, and the same day he comes back, decides he's going to believe it, and everything's so great between the two of them that Lenah offers to, er, take their relationship to the next level, let's say.
And then all hell breaks loose. Suddenly, all bets are off as soon as Part II starts. Lenah gets special powers to make the plot work again. Rules are brought to the surface. Tony dies, for no apparent reason. Lenah gets turned back into a vampire, and, I reiterate, gets special powers. That Rhode tells her about. (Wasn't he supposed to be dead?) The pacing gets all whacked out, but it's not any more page-turning than before--I could set it down by that point.
Still... I have to give the book four stars (and not because of the typeset, which in my copy is a plain Times New Roman-esque). It's riddled with too many small mutant plot-bunnies (Tony and Tracey? What?) for a full five, but still it is, without a doubt A GOOD BOOK. If you're wanting to read a vampire book, read this one. If one more vampire book is going to push you over the edge... well... wait a while and then read this book anyway. If you're a nit-picker like I am, though--you might be better off reading something else.
On the bright side, it's a debut novel. Maybe the next ones will be better. Personally, I can't wait.
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