Vamped (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: Thing One, Team Alpha, Team Beta (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"Vamped is a total delight! Diver delivers a delightful cast of undead characters and a fresh, fast take on the vampire mythos. Next installment, please!"
—Rachel Caine, New York Times bestselling author of the Morganville Vampires series

Gina Covello's Perks and Pitfalls
of Vamp Life
1. Hello?! Eternal youth and beauty!

2. Free. Designer. Clothes.

3. My hot new boyfriend Bobby went from chess dud to vamp stud.

4. No reflection! First order of business: turn my own stylist to stop the downward spiral from chic to eek.

5. Vampire vixen Mellisande has taken an interest in my boyfriend, and is now transforming the entire high school into her own personal vampire army. If anyone's going to start their own undead entourage it should be me.

I guess I'll just have to save everyone from fashion disasters and other fates worse than death.

About the Author

Lucienne Diver is a literary agent by day and a writer by night. A graduate of SUNY, Potsdam, New York, she is the author of the novel Playing Nice, and her fiction, The Problem with Piskies, has been serialized in Quantum Gothic magazine. The author lives in Florida. Find out more by visiting www.luciennediver.com.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Flux; 1 edition (May 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738714747
• ISBN-13: 978-0738714745
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #457,284 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cute, May 26, 2009

By	Jamagan - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

I was hoping for so much with this book. It looked cute, silly and fun. Instead it felt a bit awkward and tried really hard to be cute and light.
I would still read further work by this author, as I liked her overall style.

4.0 out of 5 stars Rated "4 Bran Stars", November 9, 2009

By	Brandi Schmidt (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

****spoiler alert***

The story begins catching; digging out of your own grave is always interesting. The lighthearted story is about a teenage vampire socialite. She loves, hates, and fears as all teens do. Fighting to keep her fashion sense and save the group of newly vamped teens, she battles stronger, older and sometimes scarier vamps.

Here what I liked about the book. The main character, Gina Covello, was quick witted and had an air of superiority. She was a great teen drama queen, which could hold her own in a battle. I loved the language and point of view of the book. The writing was an easy read. The author left a lot of loose ends, creating the need for a second book.

Here is what I didn't like. The story began at her death, that's fine, but it lost her humanity. Because I, the reader, never saw her as human, it was hard for me to relate on that level (my level). It was strange to me that she automatically loved the boy that turned her, but not because he turned her. It was an awkward transition. I would have liked to see more relationship development between the two of them. Maybe it's because it's a teen book, it just seemed too shallow. The story was good, although it happened so fast. Bam, she's a vamp, bam, she's in trouble, bam, she saves the day (all in about a week). I like a story that evolves into something. I think it was too unreal for me to be entirely sucked in.

I give Vamped four Bran Stars! It's a good easy read that will make you laugh and remember you outrageous teenage drama. If you are a teen, you will love it. This would be a great gift for any girl that's in love with vamps.

Go see my website to learn what a Bran Star is and the rating scale--- [...]

4.0 out of 5 stars Hip, perky teenage vampires are comfortably familiar in this literary agent's first YA novel, June 18, 2009

By	Inanna Arthen (Pepperell, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

*Vamped* is like watching an 8th season of *Buffy the Vampire Slayer.* I could almost hear the soundtrack music in the background. The fashion-obsessed Cosmo Girl `tude of the heroine, the perfectly coifed and gowned Evil Villainess in designer spike heels, the creepy cannibal guy with the weird speech patterns, the geek who turns out to be amazingly cool...it's all so strangely familiar.
This YA novel is written in the first person, and the narration has all the usual disadvantages of that limited voice. Protagonist Gina Covella is so hip, flippant, and self-involved, we never get a detailed sense of who she is as a character (except that there's not much to her). Most of the supporting cast are little more than cardboard cutouts, not even blessed with names--Gina refers to them by various nicknames of her own. A vampire second-in-command is actually named Connor, but he's such a cipher, I couldn't remember who he was when he put in a second appearance, and had to page back through the book to check. All of this makes the action hard to follow, and that's a problem because the book has a lot of action. The story is fast-paced and zips along like telephone poles past a commuter train window.
I can't help wondering if the target audience for this story will really find it that amusing. The young women I know who are high school age have far more serious concerns than what their hair and clothes look like, and their eyes don't glaze over at the sight of a Macy's bag. *Vamped* is completely devoid of the crushing adolescent angst that gave *Buffy the Vampire Slayer* such melodramatic authenticity. Isn't this Valley Girl thing like, just so 1990s? Well...given the explosion of "vampire chick-lit" for adult readers, maybe not.
Lucienne Diver is a literary agent, and *Vamped* isn't a bad book. It lacks originality, but it's nicely written. I look forward to seeing Diver do something a little less trendy. If you enjoy light satirical fantasy like Mary Janice Davidson's "Queen Betsy" series, you'll probably appreciate *Vamped.*