Enchanting Review: Vamps

VAMPS

NANCY A. COLLINS

Paranormal YA

HarperTeen

ISBN# 978-0-06-134917-1

222 Pages

Trade—Available Now

Rating: 4 Enchantments

New Bloods, Old Bloods and Van Helsings populate this tale of privileged vampires in New York City. Lilith Todd is an Old Blood and reigns supreme amongst the privileged sect at Bathory Academy. When one night things go terribly wrong and one of her closest friends is killed by a Van Helsing, Lilith vows revenge on the vamp that she believes caused the situation to go badly in the first place.

Cally Monture is a new blood, and thanks to the legacy of her father is forced to start at the Bathory Academy, a move that instantly makes her the outcast. Its not bad enough being new—not to mention a muchly despised New Blood—but being the reason Lilith lost her best friend instantly puts a target on her back as Lilith makes no bones about letting her know she wants revenge.

I liked Cally a little more than Lilith in this one. Cally, being a New Blood is having tons of problems fitting in to the Bathory Academy, a private school specifically for Old Bloods. But that’s not the only thing; she has to quickly catch up on what she doesn’t know—transformation, pretty much everything. And its not only the students that aren’t exactly welcoming, some of the teachers are more than happy to let her know she isn’t wanted at her new digs. But we soon find out Cally may not be all that she seems, a surprise that has me wondering where the series goes from here.

VAMPS is a fun paranormal read. A lot of vampire myths are twisted in this one, and I especially liked how they were explained away. I really liked Lilith’s secret addiction to her compact mirror so she can look at her reflection while she still has one. The appearance of the Van Helsings and Peter’s inexplicable attraction to Cally, which becomes clearer at a particular point in the book. I liked watching the unusual relationship between Peter and Cally play out. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next installment of the series.

Lisa

Enchanting Reviews

October 2008