Customer Reviews

The Vampire Memoirs

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the second time I have read this book, I was happy to find it's been reprinted! It has excellent pacing and good character development--and it's REALISTIC; also with humor (very hard to find a quick wit in the average horror novel). The authors obviously studied up to make it accurate, historically and culturally (I hope they don't know from experience! ha ha). I am most impressed with this book! Cheers to Mara and Traci!

I'd say this falls into the category of, summer reading, or when you have nothing better to do. If you are just getting interested in vampire books, there are LOTS better.

The story is disjointed, to some extent. We start out in the 4th century, but not a whole lot of historical details, and questionable accuracy on what's there. If you are used to the finely done historical periods laid out in Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's books, this book is sadly lacking. We skip centuries with no particular explanation as to why our character's powers did not develop over the centuries, the way other vampires' seem to. And our villain pops up again in the 20th century, with absolutely no explanation for how our heroine managed to miss finding him, or how he didn't find her, in all that time. Nor is any plausible explanation offered for WHY he should choose the 20th century to pop up and bother her again.

Our vampire characters are superficial and shallow, no great depth of personality, none of them doing anything terribly interesting. They don't regard lifespans of centuries as being any opportunity to keep learning or to influence things. What is the point of being immortal if all you're going to do is be a waitress or aerobics instructer in the evenings, go to parties, and do NOTHING else? That's about what these characters do.

Some of BunRab's Standard Vampire Classification: - Do our vampires drink blood literally? Yes, usually human blood, doesn't seem to make much difference to them whether willing or not. - Is drinking blood intrinsically tied to sex? No, in fact there's not much sex in the book at all. - Does the vampire hold a job? Yes, but a pointless one; many of the other vampires in the book don't, and a few seem to be of the sort where being an evil creature of darkness is all they do. - Is the book serious, or is there a sense of humor? No noticeable sense of humor, either in the writing, or in the personalities of our characters.

In summary: if you're reading all vampire books, then this won't be the worst you've ever read, but it won't be anything worth re-reading; if you are trying to get a feel for the best the vampire genre has to offer, go elsewhere, such as Tanya Huff, P.N. Elrod, or Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.

I found the character Mara fascinating. I could not put the book down, I was drawn to her. Would love to meet her. I enjoyed the story from a female's point of view. I enjoyed the feelings still alive in her. I can't wait to read the Vampire Journals.

I was somewhat disappointed in this book. Much of it seemed rather corny and there's no doubt that it's superficial. It's a story of a girl, Mara, born in the year 362 who is raised by her father asto be a brutal warrior, just as he was. She knew nothing of being a lady and has a hard time adjusting to other people,especially to a young man, Gaar, who tries to win her affection. Her early life is little more than adjusting from being a mercenary to a woman of the times. As her life appears to be changing, she is transformed into a Vampire against her will and her life after that is never the same. The centuries drag by and her isolated and lonely existence cover much of the rest of the book. Working as a bar wench or a waitress for scraps of money barely enough to get by.....living off of rats and other small animals.. this is the life of someone who's immortal, can change into a wolf or bat whenever she chooses? Surely the author could have been more creative than that.

The ending of the novel seems very out of place, almost as if different person wrote it, or as if the author didn't know where to go with the book and simply came up with a way to end it. The book just didn't have a point, nothing to make you remember it by. I would put this very low on the list of Vampire novels.

I was somewhat disappointed in this book. Much of it seemed rather corny and there's no doubt that it's superficial. It's a story of a girl, Mara, born in the year 362 who is raised by her father asto be a brutal warrior, just as he was. She knew nothing of being a lady and has a hard time adjusting to other people,especially to a young man, Gaar, who tries to win her affection. Her early life is little more than adjusting from being a mercenary to a woman of the times. As her life appears to be changing, she is transformed into a Vampire against her will and her life after that is never the same. The centuries drag by and her isolated and lonely existence cover much of the rest of the book. Working as a bar wench or a waitress for scraps of money barely enough to get by.....living off of rats and other small animals.. this is the life of someone who's immortal, can change into a wolf or bat whenever she chooses? Surely the author could have been more creative than that.

The ending of the novel seems very out of place, almost as if different person wrote it, or as if the author didn't know where to go with the book and simply came up with a way to end it. The book just didn't have a point, nothing to make you remember it by. I would put this very low on the list of Vampire novels.

I was somewhat disappointed in this book. Much of it seemed rather corny and there's no doubt that it's superficial. It's a story of a girl, Mara, born in the year 362 who is raised by her father asto be a brutal warrior, just as he was. She knew nothing of being a lady and has a hard time adjusting to other people,especially to a young man, Gaar, who tries to win her affection. Her early life is little more than adjusting from being a mercenary to a woman of the times. As her life appears to be changing, she is transformed into a Vampire against her will and her life after that is never the same. The centuries drag by and her isolated and lonely existence cover much of the rest of the book. Working as a bar wench or a waitress for scraps of money barely enough to get by.....living off of rats and other small animals.. this is the life of someone who's immortal, can change into a wolf or bat whenever she chooses? Surely the author could have been more creative than that.

The ending of the novel seems very out of place, almost as if different person wrote it, or as if the author didn't know where to go with the book and simply came up with a way to end it. The book just didn't have a point, nothing to make you remember it by. I would put this very low on the list of Vampire novels.

I was somewhat disappointed in this book. Much of it seemed rather corny and there's no doubt that it's superficial. It's a story of a girl, Mara, born in the year 362 who is raised by her father asto be a brutal warrior, just as he was. She knew nothing of being a lady and has a hard time adjusting to other people,especially to a young man, Gaar, who tries to win her affection. Her early life is little more than adjusting from being a mercenary to a woman of the times. As her life appears to be changing, she is transformed into a Vampire against her will and her life after that is never the same. The centuries drag by and her isolated and lonely existence cover much of the rest of the book. Working as a bar wench or a waitress for scraps of money barely enough to get by.....living off of rats and other small animals.. this is the life of someone who's immortal, can change into a wolf or bat whenever she chooses? Surely the author could have been more creative than that.

The ending of the novel seems very out of place, almost as if different person wrote it, or as if the author didn't know where to go with the book and simply came up with a way to end it. The book just didn't have a point, nothing to make you remember it by. I would put this very low on the list of Vampire novels.

I was somewhat disappointed in this book. Much of it seemed rather corny and there's no doubt that it's superficial. It's a story of a girl, Mara, born in the year 362 who is raised by her father asto be a brutal warrior, just as he was. She knew nothing of being a lady and has a hard time adjusting to other people,especially to a young man, Gaar, who tries to win her affection. Her early life is little more than adjusting from being a mercenary to a woman of the times. As her life appears to be changing, she is transformed into a Vampire against her will and her life after that is never the same. The centuries drag by and her isolated and lonely existence cover much of the rest of the book. Working as a bar wench or a waitress for scraps of money barely enough to get by.....living off of rats and other small animals.. this is the life of someone who's immortal, can change into a wolf or bat whenever she chooses? Surely the author could have been more creative than that.

The ending of the novel seems very out of place, almost as if different person wrote it, or as if the author didn't know where to go with the book and simply came up with a way to end it. The book just didn't have a point, nothing to make you remember it by. I would put this very low on the list of Vampire novels.

I was somewhat disappointed in this book. Much of it seemed rather corny and there's no doubt that it's superficial. It's a story of a girl, Mara, born in the year 362 who is raised by her father asto be a brutal warrior, just as he was. She knew nothing of being a lady and has a hard time adjusting to other people,especially to a young man, Gaar, who tries to win her affection. Her early life is little more than adjusting from being a mercenary to a woman of the times. As her life appears to be changing, she is transformed into a Vampire against her will and her life after that is never the same. The centuries drag by and her isolated and lonely existence cover much of the rest of the book. Working as a bar wench or a waitress for scraps of money barely enough to get by.....living off of rats and other small animals.. this is the life of someone who's immortal, can change into a wolf or bat whenever she chooses? Surely the author could have been more creative than that.

The ending of the novel seems very out of place, almost as if different person wrote it, or as if the author didn't know where to go with the book and simply came up with a way to end it. The book just didn't have a point, nothing to make you remember it by. I would put this very low on the list of Vampire novels.

I was somewhat disappointed in this book. Much of it seemed rather corny and there's no doubt that it's superficial. It's a story of a girl, Mara, born in the year 362 who is raised by her father asto be a brutal warrior, just as he was. She knew nothing of being a lady and has a hard time adjusting to other people,especially to a young man, Gaar, who tries to win her affection. Her early life is little more than adjusting from being a mercenary to a woman of the times. As her life appears to be changing, she is transformed into a Vampire against her will and her life after that is never the same. The centuries drag by and her isolated and lonely existence cover much of the rest of the book. Working as a bar wench or a waitress for scraps of money barely enough to get by.....living off of rats and other small animals.. this is the life of someone who's immortal, can change into a wolf or bat whenever she chooses? Surely the author could have been more creative than that.

The ending of the novel seems very out of place, almost as if different person wrote it, or as if the author didn't know where to go with the book and simply came up with a way to end it. The book just didn't have a point, nothing to make you remember it by. I would put this very low on the list of Vampire novels.