2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Fairly Entertaining Read, January 8, 2010
This review is from: Blood Sinister (Paperback)
Blood Sinister had an excellent beginning which drew me in from the first chapter. I enjoyed the alternation between the present and the past, as Ellen of today reads a diary written by her great, great, grandmother (also named Ellen). Unfortunately, the story moves from one of intrigue to cliche when by the end there are three young teenagers running around trying to stake a vampire. The story that promised so much at the start ended up being a disappointment.
When Andy, a childhood friend that Ellen hasn't seen in years, turns up again, their friendship just continues from where it left off. As with all the other friendships it happened too quickly, so everything they did together seemed unrealistic. This was especially true when Jenny, a nurse Ellen befriended while in hospital, was introduced near the end of the book, who was willing to die for Ellen although they had only been friends for a day or two.
There were other aspects of the story that didn't make sense. Why were both characters from past and present named Ellen? What is the significance of Andy finding a photograph of Ellen in the past who looks exactly like Ellen in the present? Why is Ellen of the past forced by her father to spend so much time with the count? Was he hypnotised into offering up his daughter this way? And when Ellen begins to dream as though she is Ellen from the past it's as if she almost becomes her, but for what reason? Why? What are the reasons behind them all? They are never explained and therefore just confusing, pointless additions to the story.
However, it was refreshing to read a young adult novel with vampires that are just evil and sinister and nothing more, unlike the sexy, romantic vampires we read so much about today. This book was originally published in 1996, pre-Twilight, so maybe this has something to do with it.
Verdict:
For the most part Blood Sinister kept my attention but it didn't have the same depth of character development or writing skill as most of the vampire novels I have read recently. However, if you are after a quick read with a vampire thrill, then this may be the book for you.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
A wee bit confusing, July 21, 2011
This is a teen novel about a young modern day girl named Ellen suffering from a rare, undiagnosed blood disease. She discovers several diaries and delves into them with enthusiasm. The writer is an ancestor and very much like Ellen herself only living in historical times. They even share the name Ellen. Confused yet?
The book then goes back and forth between the past Ellen and the present Ellen's life which are similar in many ways. The past Ellen, at the request of her father, is pretty much forced to spend time with an ailing visiting Count. As time goes on it's pretty clear that the Count is a vampire. The more the present Ellen reads the more deeply enmeshed in the past Ellen's life she becomes. So much so that oftentimes it is unclear exactly which Ellen we are reading about. Either way both of them are in danger from the evil, old fashioned style vampires. While I found it refreshing that the vampires were sinister and weren't the glammed up sexy versions we so often find these days the story just didn't work for me.
This book had a good start and was very interesting but lost me about 2/3's of the way in because I was hopelessly confused about events. Which Ellen was which? Why was present Ellen experiencing things that the past Ellen did? Was I just confused? I have no idea. I continued to the end in somewhat of a reading fog and didn't comprehend many of the plot twists. Ah well, can't win 'em all.
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3 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best book we EVER read. Fantastic!!!!, June 23, 2006
This book is very good. It's brilliant. We adore it. It's a story about a teenage girl Ellen who is very sick and has great problems with her bloooooooooooood. She arrives at her grandma's place and finds a pack of old diaries. They're very creepy. REALLY creepy and interesting.
Suddenly, it seems that the dark and scaaaary past of her ancestor is repeating itself.... on pooor Ellen.
It is an amazingly written story, with lots of action, excitement, drama and vampires. We'd recomend it to everybody. So go out and buy it. Now. Good day. WE SAID GOOD DAY!!!
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