Saturday, October 31, 2009

The Tear Collector by Patrick Jones


Definitely a different spin on the vampire idea. Instead of living off of people's blood, Cassandra survives by feeding off of people's pain. Being the shoulder for everyone to cry on certainly comes with some perks if you're like her. I really liked the somewhat clean, sparse writing style of the author because it really let the character's emotions come through. I also liked this idea of a vampire that feeds off of emotions, and how Cassandra felt conflicted at times about what she was. I did think the ending was a little predictable, but maybe that's just me. Overall, good book. I'll definitely be recommending this one to readers who have read their way through a lot of vampire books and are looking for something new.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Hatter M


Ok -- found something new to love...... I found mention of Volume 2 of this graphic novel, so I went looking for Volume 1. Now, I'm not only putting Volume 1 and 2 on my "to buy" list, but I'm also going to read Frank Beddor's books. As soon as I opened Volume 1, I was hooked. The art here is beautiful and the story is fascinating. I loved how there would be blurry images, conveying quick action --- and simply put, I was completely captivated by this book.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Pretty Dead by Francesca Lia Block

I just returned Pretty Dead by Francesca Lia Block -- I had ordered it for our Teen Section, and snagged it as soon as I saw it had hit the shelf...

Nutshell summary: 17 year-old Charlotte is a vampire (or "V" word) who is alone, even though she has Emily, a human friend she likes. It seems like she is leading the perfect life of being brilliant, gorgeous, and having the most wonderful clothes ... but is she happy? She was transformed into a vampire right after her brother's death, and while it seemed nice at first, the allure of being immortal (and alone) is wearing thin. However, as Charlotte starts to develop symptoms of being human (zits!), her maker shows up, forcing her to face up to something horrible from her own past.

And what did I think? Let's try a few words: Complex. Original. Poignant. Charlotte really made me consider what eternal life would be like, especially if you had all that time to consider (and reconsider again and again) all your mistakes. I thought Black's writing was very evocative of what Charlotte was feeling, and yet I never felt like it was over-dramatic. This is certainly not your typical romantic vampire teen novel -- Black really makes the reader think hard about what it can be like to live (or un-live) with difficult choices.
 
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