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Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side Hardcover – February 1, 2009

by Beth Fantaskey (Author)

321 customer reviews

Book 1 of 2 in the Jessica Series

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The undead can really screw up your senior year . . .

Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit into Jessica Packwood’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth—and he’s her long-lost fiancé. Armed with newfound confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess. But when a devious cheerleader sets her sights on Lucius, Jess finds herself fighting to win back her wayward prince, stop a global vampire war—and save Lucius’s soul from eternal destruction

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. A romance involving a high school girl and a handsome vampire may sound a little too familiar, yet this first novel quickly bursts ahead of the pack of Twilight-wannabes. Down-to-earth mathlete Jessica Packwood is completely horrified when, a few months shy of her 18th birthday, a Romanian named Lucius Vladescu shows up on her doorstep, claiming that he and she are vampire royalty betrothed to each other since infancy—what's worse, her adoptive parents verify the betrothal story and explain that her birth parents identified themselves as vampires, too. Fantaskey makes this premise work by playing up its absurdities without laughing at them, endowing Jessica with a coolly ironic sensibility and Lucius with old-world snobberies that Jessica's girlfriends find irresistible. Jessica's laidback parents serve as foils for imperious Lucius (Can I ever again be happy in our soaring Gothic castle after walking the halls of Woodrow Wilson High School, a literal ode to linoleum? he asks sarcastically); a scene at a steakhouse where the vegan Packwoods meet the carnivorous Vladescus is first-rate comedy. The romance sizzles, the plot develops ingeniously and suspensefully, and the satire sings. Ages 14–up. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up—Jessica Packwood is a normal teen attending Woodrow Wilson High School. Her mathematical nature has even given her a slightly geeky reputation, which is about to change with the arrival of Lucius Vladescu, who seems to be stalking her. She tells her mother about him and learns that she is really a Romanian vampire princess who has been betrothed to Lucius at birth. She knew she was adopted, but this revelation comes as a shock. It is this agreement that has kept rival vampire clans, the Dragomirs and the Vladescus, at an uneasy peace. If the marriage does not take place, war will ensue and threaten the ultimate destruction of Jessica's vampire family. To say that this is a lot for the teen to take in is an understatement. Lucius is gorgeous, old world, tender as well as arrogant, and very overprotective of her. However, she chooses to date Jake, a handsome but rather dull boy. But not all is as it seems in the vampire world, and as the story progresses, circumstances force Jessica and Lucius to take matters into their own hands; in doing so, they examine their true feelings about themselves, family, and duty. Fantaskey's fast-paced story is full of plot twists and turns that keep readers guessing until the very end. The story is highly entertaining with plenty of action, drama, romance, as well as self-discovery.—Donna Rosenblum, Floral Park Memorial High School, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product details

Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (February 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0152063846
ISBN-13: 978-0152063849
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (321 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,311,708 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #838 in Books > Teens > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Paranormal & Urban > Vampires
- #1502 in Books > Self-Help > Relationships > Dating
- #2365 in Books > Teens > Literature & Fiction > Social & Family Issues > Dating & Sex

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Customer Reviews

321

4.3 out of 5 stars

5 star		52%
4 star		29%
3 star		13%
2 star		4%
1 star		2%

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Top Customer Reviews

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

ByAngieon January 22, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side is another one of those books that I had wanted to read for a really long time, but never got to it until now. I love vampires, but I'm kind of the fence about this one. I did enjoy it, but the vampires themselves are a bit disappointing and the ending was rushed and jumpy. Jessica is just a normal girl who doesn't believe in the paranormal. She likes facts and logic (she's a mathlete), but her world is turned upside down when her parents take in a "foreign exchange" student from Romania. Lucius is a vampire, and claims he is Jessica's betrothed. If there's anything more unbelievable to Jessica than vampires, it's her being promised to a stranger before she was born.

I really liked Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side in the beginning. Jessica isn't dazzled by Lucius and she certainly doesn't believe that he's a vampire, even when he flashes his fangs. Her parents are a bit eccentric, so she thinks this is some kind of cult occurrence, even when they show her the scroll with the agreement on it. It isn't until Lucius is gravely injured and her parents bring him back to the house to be seen by a special doctor that Jessica realizes that maybe they're telling the truth. It takes her a bit longer to accept that she herself is also a vampire princess and it's up to her to save her people from an impending war by joining with Lucius.

The story does kind of remind me of The Princess Diaries, but with vampires. And instead of a long lost grandmother appearing to give princess lessons, it's the infuriatingly sexy fiance. There's a lot of humor in the beginning, and Jessica and Lucius bicker a lot. But then the story grows gradually darker as secrets are uncovered. I liked the inclusion of letters from Lucius to his uncle. This gave us some behind the scenes info that Jessica doesn't have, as well as a lot of funny bits as Lucius ruminates on American culture.

My disappointments came in the form of the vampires and the ending. The vampires really aren't all that interesting, and in fact, Jessica asks what's so great about being one since apparently all of the myths are false. They're really not that different at all, except they can only be killed by a stake to the heart, have fangs, and occasionally drink blood. Great. As for the ending, the last 15% or so just seemed to skip ahead too much at a time, and Lucius got a personality transplant, then went back. It was like flipping a switch a few times, with nothing in between. I also don't get how he did his disappearing act.

In the end, I did like Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side. I do wish the vampires had been more interesting and special. Not necessarily into sparkling territory, but something other than just drinking blood. The conclusion does make me curious about what comes next though, since I don't think Jessica has fixed this problem so easily.

0Comment 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Better than Twilight

ByIonia FromentTOP 1000 REVIEWERon December 24, 2012

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I really liked this book a lot. In the beginning I was prepared for another teen vampire romance that would undoubtedly make me cringe and stop reading after a chapter or two. What I got instead, was a fully realized reading experience. I love the main character in this book. Jessica "Anastasia" starts out as more of an average teen and soon realizes that simply going to high school and living the life of the normal American teen is not her destiny. I found that this author had an excellent way with dialogue and yet, was able to express what the character was thinking and feeling without even having to use words. She was so adept at giving her characters unique emotions, that I never had to guess what the character was feeling.

I was particularly impressed with the dialogue when it came to Lucius. Although he made an attempt to assimilate to the modern high school ways, he never lost his princely qualities and his formal, proper way of speaking never wavered throughout the course of the book. I liked the romance in this book because it was complicated. At times the characters were frustrating and resistant to the forces at work around them, and I felt like this really added to the quality of the tension and romance between them. This book was fun to read from beginning to end and I thoroughly recommend it.

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I enjoyed it

ByBook Crazy Ladyon July 15, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is a romance story involving a high school girl and a handsome vampire prince. The down to earth, Jessica, is horrified when Lucius shows up on her front porch claiming that they have been set up for an arranged marriage since birth. The worst part is when her adoptive patents verify the arranged marriage and then explained that her parents are also vampires. The romance sizzles, the plot develops suspenseful lay, and the satire sings.

This is definitely a good read! If you don't want to read the second book, you really can stop with the first. Honestly I was not crazy over the second book but I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

so this is super cheesy and there are a lot of issues with ...

Okay, so this is super cheesy and there are a lot of issues with the world-building, but I have to say there's something about this story that really entertained me.Read more

Published 1 month ago by alaskanchick

SUCH a good book!!!

This is my favorite book, I lost the copy I had so I'm glad I bought it again here!!!Read more

Published 8 months ago by Ariana

A Different Sort of Vampires

From the title, cover, and synopsis, I expected Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side to be a light, fluff, read. Well, I was mistaken on that call.Read more

Published 8 months ago by Amanda Marie

Awesome page Turner

Didn't want to put the book down.. Kept wanting more.. Still want more lots lots more more more more please Read more

Published 10 months ago by Valerie Patton

i loved it. kept me reading till the end

i loved it. kept me reading till the end. and when i wasnt reading it i was thinking about reading it. had to buy the second book.Read more

Published 10 months ago by Amazon Customer

Fun read.

Simplistic, fun. Certainly not deep literature but a good beach book.Read more

Published 1 year ago by CatB

Loved it!!

I greatly enjoyed this book it was full of heart-stopping suspense, thrilling romance and wonderful writing. I finished the book in one day if that suggests anything.Read more

Published 1 year ago by Andrew J Boone

Very good YA read

I don't usually read YA; I like my romance to have more mature content. When I was attacking my TBR list and saw this, I thought I must have seen it on sale and hit the...Read more

Published 1 year ago by AvidRomanceReader

The lead female isn't a stereotypical damsel in distress and toes the line often which is fun to read

The book starts out slow but it's well worth getting through. I read it over the course of a day and it held my attention well.Read more

Published 1 year ago by Jessy

This was great! So why only 4 stars

This was great! So why only 4 stars? Because the title is not quite right. Jessica does not teach us anything about "dating the dark side.Read more

Published 1 year ago by Amazon Customer

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