Vampire Kisses 8: Cryptic Cravings [Hardcover]

Ellen Schreiber (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 17, 2011 | Series: Vampire Kisses (Book 8)

The morbidly monotonous Dullsville has finally become the most exciting place on earth now that Raven is madly in love with her hot vampire boyfriend, Alexander, and a crew of vampires has taken residence in Dullsville's old mill. Raven discovers Jagger's plan to open a new club, the Crypt, right here in Dullsville. But is it her dream come true or her worst nightmare? Raven and Alexander have to figure out what the nefarious vampire has in store for Dullsville's teen and vampire population. Can Raven convince Jagger to listen to her plans to make the Crypt the morbidly magnificent dance club it could be? Will it be safe for mortals and vampires alike?

And as Sebastian and Luna's relationship heats up, Raven wonders about her own amorous fate: Will Alexander ever turn her? Does he crave her and does he want to spend eternity together? And what does she really want?

With cryptic secrets and cravings, this eighth installment in the Vampire Kisses series is a romantic and mysterious thrill ride.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ellen Schreiber was an actress and a stand-up comedienne before becoming a writer. She is the author of the other books about Celeste and Brandon, Once in a Full Moon and Magic of the Moonlight, as well as Teenage Mermaid, Comedy Girl, and the bestselling Vampire Kisses series, which includes Vampire Kisses, Vampire Kisses 2: Kissing Coffins, Vampire Kisses 3: Vampireville, Vampire Kisses 4: Dance With a Vampire, Vampire Kisses 5: The Coffin Club, Vampire Kisses 6: Royal Blood, Vampire Kisses 7: Love Bites, Vampire Kisses 8: Cryptic Cravings, and vampire kisses 9: immortal hearts. She is also the author of the fully illustrated manga series about Raven and Alexander, Vampire Kisses: Blood Relatives and Vampire Kisses: Graveyard Games.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books; First Edition edition (May 17, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061689459
• ISBN-13: 978-0061689451
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #338,673 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ellen Schreiber was an actress and a stand-up comedienne before becoming a writer and moving to her own Dullsville. She is the author of Teenage Mermaid, Comedy Girl, and all of the books in the Vampire Kisses series. Vampire Kisses is an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, and an IRA/CBC Young Adults' Choice.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars A slow, painful descent May 30, 2011

By Rayne from My Cute Bookshelf

Format:Hardcover

I've been reading this series since they first came out. Year after year, I pre-order a hardcover version, not because the writing is amazing or because the storyline is riveting, not even because the characters are deep and round. No, I like this series because is fun and kind of silly, besides the fact that in high school I used to be the outcast goth chick wishing for my Alexander to come. But, as hard as I try not to take Vampire Kisses seriously, I simply can't ignore all the things that are, not wrong, but simply absent from this story.

We could begin with the fact that the author is not really good at writing. Seriously, 'His grip was strong, like that of as handsome athlete"? My 11 year old cousin who has never picked up a book in his life can write better similes and metaphors than that. And someone really needs to find Schreiber a thesaurus. The word 'nefarious' is not the only one in the dictionary that defines something bad. She used it more than 30 times and 5 of them were in the exact same page. The story is just one repetitive journey. This time around at least she tried to steer away from the `someone new in town', but instead she dwelled on a ridiculous story about a new club opening and how Raven wanted to try being an interior designer. Is not about the story not making sense or falling in line with the previous ones, is about it being completely stupid and there being no reason why I should care.

The characters are even worse. I used to see myself in Raven, now I'm kind of embarrassed I ever saw similarities. She is immature, selfish and, honestly, kind of dumb. The rest of the cast has no personality and are as flat as this novel's storyline.... Alexander, the only character that has saved this series for me in the last couple of installments, sort of fell from grace with this new novel, not because he did anything wrong, but because he was more of a shadow than an actual presence in the story; he had no weight, no role, he simply was just there and his confession in the last page came out of nowhere and simply serves as foundation for yet another story based on someone new, totally goth for no reason at all, coming into town and threatening his vampire secret. And Trevor. The story might've been passable if it wasn't for this particular annoyance. He is, by far, the most ridiculous of all characters. I understand the author's attempt at a love triangle, since they have become the rule in young adult fiction these past few years, but at least in other novels the characters involved are interesting, attractive and have something going for them. Trevor is stupid, a ridiculous stereotype with even more ridiculous dialog. Is not because he is the antagonist, is simply because he makes the reading experience painful.

In the end, nothing really happens and gives the reader more questions than answers.

I wish I could say I'm done with these series just like I did with House of Night when it started to feel like an insult to the reader, but I can't, simply because they have become a part of me as a reader due to all the years awaiting its release and devouring it in one sitting - which is not hard to do considering they are incredibly short and so not worth close to 20 dollars. But, installment after installment, it just gets worse and, by the looks of it, it's not going to get better. Read more ›

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Another fluffy installment in the series that changed my life May 21, 2011

By Ashleigh VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Also appears on The Screaming Nitpicker.

Jagger and Luna are back and this time, they want to open a club in Dullsville called the Crypt. Raven, seeing a place where she can finally belong in Dullsville, is excited about it and yet cautious; if Jagger makes the club a place for humans and vampires both, all the vampires coming to Dullsville could cause trouble and put Alexander's secret in danger. Raven and Alexander work to find out what Jagger has planned for the Crypt in case he's up to no good yet again. Meanwhile, Luna and Sebastian's relationship is blooming and Raven wishes more than once that Alexander would just turn her already. But is she ready to give everything up for her love?

I may as well admit now that this review is totally biased. The Vampire Kisses series changed my life and made me love reading, which led me to reviewing books and aspiring to become an author. I couldn't be critical of something so meaningful, beloved, and fluffy even if I tried.

Raven and Alexander's romance takes a little bit of a backseat in this installment to plans for the Crypt and Raven's slight introspection on whether or not she's prepared to give everything up, but they still have their moments together, including a half-gross, half-romantic birthday surprise for Alexander from Raven. These two may be cliches, but they make a cute couple when they're put together. It may not be completely healthy (Raven has insomnia from staying up late to be with Alexander), but it's better than some of what else is on the market (see Hush, Hush and Fallen, among others). They never manipulate and abuse each other, at least. I shouldn't have to settle, but with young adult trend as they are now......

One thing I do like about the books is that while Raven constantly thinks and says she would be willing to give up her world to be in Alexander's, she can't do it as easily as she thinks she can. All these vampires telling her that it isn't as romantic as she thinks and those moments with friends and family that she'll never have once she's a vampire are getting through to her! You know what would make this series legendary for me? If Raven decides her love for Alexander, not matter how true, isn't worth giving up her friends, family, and human life and she stays human. It's a shame it won't happen. I know Schreiber's books too well.

I also had some fun laughing at Raven. I don't think I've ever met such a dense character in my life. So there are seven books' worth of evidence that Trevor is in love with Raven, including buying a painting of her at auction, multiple people telling her he likes her, a guy who can read blood telling Raven that Trevor wished he were having a covenant ceremony with Raven instead of his then-girlfriend (long story, see the end of book three Vampireville), but it takes her all the way until now for her to figure it out? Her thickness is so impossible that it would cause the world to end if she were real. At least she recognizes by the end of it that if Alexander weren't there, she could have easily started dating Trevor.

Very few major events happen in Cryptic Cravings. There isn't much action and I can count on one hand how many events seem like they'll have importance in the future. Those few events are the reason I'm not going to call it filler that the author is using to make more money. I would love for Schreiber to write a larger Vampire Kisses book one day because the longest one is the first one at a short 253 pages, made shorter by how easy the books are to read. All the others barely extend past 200 pages.

The ending is all sorts of messy (and I should say that beyond this point are SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING OMG I'M WARNING YOU!). What happened to Jagger and Luna? The plan to trick Sebastian into a covenant ceremony is a bust, so do they leave Dullsville again? Do they hide in the coffin room? Do they just leave the building? I have no idea. I would have liked some resolution on that end.

And then all of a sudden, we learn Alexander has a sister: Athena, or Stormy. This and Alexander's excuse of "oh, she never came up because I was too busy snogging you" are both huge buttpulls. It's been eight books and a year inside the bookverse! This is the kind of stuff that comes up! And Raven is barely concerned with him never mentioning a sister. Does she not wonder what else could he be hiding besides a sister? The only reason I can think of that he wouldn't mention his sister is that he doesn't like her, but he likes her enough to convince her to come to Dullsville, so that can't be it.

Bonus: It appears that "nefarious" is the word of Cryptic Cravings, just as "chagrin" was a common word in Twilight and "engage" was common in Abandon by Meg Cabot. I'm going to go through this book one day and count how many times the word appeared. I swear it must have been at least once per chapter.

If I were capable of looking at this series critically, this would surely be a two-star due to the stereotyping, lack of complexity and depth in its characters, subpar writing, and having very little happen. However, I love it too much to do that. These books keep me smiling and going when everything sucks and even I need fluffy, cheesy reads every now and then. Even if those fluffy reads cost eighteen dollars for barely two hundred pages and next to no progression. I honestly don't think the book is worth that much money. Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Review: Cryptic Cravings August 2, 2011

By P. Eberhardt

Format:Hardcover

This series really is a guilty pleasure for. For a teen vampire book, it's really very immature at times. I doubt it has very much cross over appeal and think it better fits pre-teens, etc.

I was really hoping that Raven would begin to act her age after the events of the last book. Within the first couple pages, I saw that I was wrong. I think no matter what her age, Raven will always been immature. It's how the author wrote her. In this installment, she really made me roll my eyes a lot. She was so wishy-washy on the idea of the club. It was like it was really hard for her to see all sides of the equation. I was also amazed that it's book 8 and it's just now being voiced that Trevor might actually like her. Really...I've know this since book 1.

I like Alexander, and actually won't mind a book (or even a couple chapters) told from his point of view. I still wonder how it's possible that there are things that Raven doesn't know about him. He also extremely patient with her flighty ways. The rest of the characters are an interesting mix. Scarlett and Onyx seem a little shallow and I hope that Raven doesn't count on them to much. Jagger and Luna are up to something, just like always. Although, I admit, I didn't see that one coming. And poor Sebastien...I think he needs to stop falling in love with every girl that walks by.
I'm really at the point that I think the story needs to conclude. I won this one, but I would have borrowed it from the library. I will continue to do so until I get completely feed up. Hopefully the series comes to a close before then.