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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Somebody get me a stake, March 16, 2004
Let's start on a positive note. This is the best of Atwater-Rhodes's first four books. Unfortunately, that really isn't saying too much. Sarah Tigress Vida (TIGRESS?!) is a vampire hunter and the youngest in a long line of powerful witches. A constant disappointment to her mother and older sister, Sarah wants desperately to please them. However, that would involve having to lock away any and all emotion she possesses, something Sarah can't seem to do. Actually, the only emotion Sarah displays for nearly the entire book is a kind of pouty-punk 'look at how much of a brave and misunderstood tough girl I am' attitude. Oy. Then she meets the new vampires at school. Despite her initial feelings of 'get away from me', Sarah grows to like them. These vampires are gentle, peaceful, so weak most witches wouldn't identify them as vampires. They don't kill to feed. The boy Christopher soon starts sending her roses and poetry. Note: I still don't buy the whole vampires going to high school thing. Yeah, they say they have to remember humanity, but there are other ways. Trust me, it just takes a calculus class at eight in the morning to reveal the darker side of human nature. Then Sarah's sister finds out about the vamps, it's suddenly revealed that Christopher's twin brother is Nikolas, the most feared vampire in history (I have no idea how he got that title, since he only shows kindness to his followers), and there's a ridiculous and useless subplot about a kid whose sister is under Nikolas's spell, except she was really hypnotized by another vamp. The book ends in typical Atwater-Rhodes fashion. I can't tell you exactly what happens, but it seems vampires are the favorite creatures in Atwater- Rhodes's world, and that's what makes this so ludicrous. The author provides us with heavy- handed metaphors about the lack of black or white, good or evil in the world, but from what I've seen she loves her vampires and apparently dislikes her witches. Dominique, Sarah's mother, is a one-note, robot like character who comes in a couple of times to basically tell Sarah she hates her, and all the vampires, except for the 'real' villain (a cackling stereotype) are really sweet. If nothing is black or white, that 'profound' idea should apply to every character in a book, as opposed to a handful of main characters. My other gripes: all vampires are teenagers. Why? The dialogue ranges from wooden to puzzling to being outright absurd. (I remember some bit when Nikolas offers Christopher blood; he criticizes Christopher's desire for blood and his refusal thus: ' Would a starving man refuse a chicken dinner, simply because he was vegetarian?' We know when dialogue sounds right. This bombs.) The story is neither forward nor enthralling. And everyone looks like a freaking supermodel. This IS Atwater-Rhodes's best of the first four books, since she creates a fairly credible love story built upon something more than looks and hormones. However, that doesn't keep it from being a ridiculous and tedious book.
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by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
