The Homecoming Masquerade (Girls Wearing Black: Book One) [Kindle Edition]

Spencer Baum (Author)

Book Description

In a posh suburb of the nation’s capital, at the most exclusive high school in the world, the vampires who secretly run the government have created a game for America’s daughters of privilege. Show up to Homecoming in a black dress and you’ve entered yourself in a contest where the winner becomes a vampire, and the loser becomes the winner’s first victim.

Only the wealthiest, most connected students can hope to win, so when new girl Nicky Bloom wears a black dress to Homecoming, everyone assumes she has a death wish. They don’t know that Nicky has her own agenda. As the dance continues into the night, they will find out that Nicky Bloom is far more than she seems.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book kept me awake for a good part of last night and resulted in me going to work today looking like an undead...I am so waiting for Book Two!"- The Japanese Garden

A #1 Bestseller in Contemporary Fantasy

A Top 20 Bestseller in Teens

From the Author

The Girls Wearing Black Series is a new take on the teen vampire novel, written for those who prefer vampires that are strong, bloodthirsty, and evil, and heroines who are more interested in killing vampires than dating them.

• Book One: The Homecoming Masquerade
• Book Two: The Festival of the Moon

Book Three will be out in 2013.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 377 KB
• Print Length: 260 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1469916487
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0072X4ATA
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,459 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the read February 4, 2012

By Vicki Khouli

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Masquerade jumps right into the middle of the action, and really draws you in from the first page. I like the vampire genre in general, both romantic fiction and fantasy mystery adventure. After a few pages, I could tell that the book was well- written with an engaging storyline, pulling you into a human world run by vampires.

The story is told from the viewpoints of two main characters, Nicky (originally Celeste) and Jill. Both are master spies, for lack of a better world, infiltrating a top-notch school for wealthy human power-players. The human world is getting ready to fight back in a major way.

The entire book ( book one in a series, as usual - such an annoying trend!) takes place on the night of the Homecoming Masquerade Ball. The ball is a decades-long tradition that starts a competition to win the Coronation. The lucky girl who wins gets to become immortal, a vampire. The loser, in last place, gets to be the winner's first meal. The stakes are high.

Kim, the girl who appears to have it all locked up, suddenly has pretty strong competition from Nicky, the new girl in school. There is a lot of backstory - and the book ends with many questions unanswered. There are a couple of important boys, and the characters are well-drawn.

While reminiscent of the Vampire Academy series, there is still a very original storyline and vampire world. There don't appear to be any good guy vampires in this world, though.....they are all killers who kill with no compunction. I read it quickly and am anxious for he next installments.

Totally satisfied, especially since it was free for the Kindle. This is a collection that I wouldn't mind having in hardcover right beside my Vampie Academy series on the bookshelf.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars One long background story February 12, 2012

By redLYUBA

Format:Kindle Edition

SPOILERS!!!
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If you're looking for an action packed book, look elsewhere. After reading the blurb I got a completely different thing from what I expected to get.

This book feels like one long background story, that goes on and on and on. The narrator's voice wasn't very engaging, I felt like I was reading a lecture about the past of every person we meet, well every IMPORTANT person we meet.

The characters were not very engaging either, because we were told so much about their past that there was no place for them to act and do something. Most of the book (and I do mean MOST) was spent talking all kinds of BS and networking at the Homecoming dance. I actually didn't feel disappointed when I got to the last page, my feelings were more along the lines of "that's it?" If a whole book covered about 3-4 hours, then I'm afraid to know how many books are going to be there to finally get to the actual Coronation ceremony... Let's see, if 1 book = one day, and they are in the fall, Coronation is in the spring, are we going to get over 90 books before we get to the end of the story? Because it sure seems that way based on the pacing of this book.

There were some things that made me raise my eyebrows while I was reading it. Like calling someone who is 6ft tall a behemoth... Um... for the record 6ft tall is not a behemoth, maybe in Japan it is, but not in USA. Also, one of the contestants entered the contest pretty much knowing she will die, because she was desperate for attention. I find it hard to believe that someone would take a most likely death all for attention. By definition these girls are already famous just because of their parents, media probably follows their every step. And it's not that hard to act obnoxious to get even more attention from the media. What other attention does she want that she is willing to die young? Not only that, but if EVERYONE already knows who's going to win, what's the point of entering to begin with? It's not like 2nd place gets any kind of reward anyways.

Then the book also rubbed me the wrong way because it pretty much said that EVERYONE in this world is corrupt... can you say depressing? The only way you're safe is if you're rich and powerful, which The Homecoming Masquerade made sure to remind me at least every other page. Many times I just wanted to scream "I got it, they are filthy rich, can we get to some action now?". Vampires control everything in the world, be afraid, be very afraid! I might be wrong, but at one point I believe it said that USA tribe was the largest, and other tribes were so small that they didn't even deserve to be called tribe (or whatever they are called). But they can be killed, so why haven't everyone got together and killed them?!

My final question is why are girls the only ones who can become immortal? Is there some kind of girls rule club thing going on? Sure those girls can bond with a man and turn him into vampire, but that doesn't explain why guys don't have an equivalent of this contest.

Overall, it wasn't a bad book. It held my attention, and I wanted to know what's going to happen next, but I don't think I will pick up the next installment. I believe this is the book for anyone who loves politics and intrigue, and lots of talking, but not a lot of action. If you're one of those people, then you will love this book. I, on the other hand, will move on to books that have characters that actually do stuff.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Really enjoyable read. October 26, 2012

By fidds

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I generally read 4 or 5 books a week and I love a good vampire story.
This series is the best new vampire series I have read this year.

I got the first book free and I bought the second book in the series as soon as I finished the first. I can't wait for the 3rd book.

I strongly recommend reading this book if you have any interest at all in vampire books. You won't be disappointed.

I am now going to read everything else by this author.

More About the Author

Spencer Baum's first novel, One Fall, was selected as an official textbook for the fall 2011 semester at Harvard's Institute for English Language Programs. His second novel, The Demon Queen and The Locksmith, was a semi-finalist for the 2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. He is currently at work on the third book of his paranormal series, Girls Wearing Black. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with his wife and three children.