Confession: I’ve never read (or watched) Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. And honestly, I’m not mad about it. Vampires have never been that interesting to me. They’re all just sort of…broody and tortured, angsting about how many people they’ve killed. But that hasn’t stopped me from reading a fair number of vampire books. Check out my thoughts on some below:
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Hex Hall trilogy by Rachel Hawkins- (4/5 stars) This is a YA series that had a lot of fun tropes. Supernatural/paranormal boarding schools are so much fun as a setting. The main character is a witch, with a vampire best friend, whose vampire-ism is really relevant to the story. Also features a creepy secret society, which is another fun trope. All three books received four stars from me.
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The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black- (3/5 stars) If you’re looking for something a little more bloody, gory, and classically vampirical, here it is. In the heart of Coldtown, vampires and humans mingle in bloody, morally confusing tangle. When the protagonist is forced to journey there, things get messy fast. I don’t love the ex-boyfriend characters, but the character relationships in this one were interesting because of the strain they were under.
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Stoker and Holmes series by Colleen Gleason- (3/5 stars) Vampires are not the main focus of this series, at least in books one and two, but they have an important role to play. This is a fun, steampunk spin on Sherlock Holmes and Bram Stoker, but with a focus on female friendship. I definitely want to continue this series of paranormal mysteries to see what happens to Mina and Evaline next.
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A Discovery of Witches (A Discovery of Witches #1) by Deborah Harkness- (2/5 stars) This adult urban fantasy was such a disappointment. Based on the blurb, I was expecting something a bit like The Da Vinci Code, but with alchemy, magic, and a female protagonist. What I actually got was a broody, domineering vampire romance, a protagonist who just kept one-upping herself in magical power, and way too many super-specific descriptions of wine. Will not be finishing this trilogy.
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Evernight series by Claudia Gray- (2/5 stars) This is another YA boarding school series, but with a heavier romance focus featuring forbidden love. I finished out this series, but all four books only got two stars. The main character was never that interesting or sympathetic to me, and neither was her love interest, and I remember feeling that the writing was pretty juvenile. But if you’re a big fan of the forbidden romance, maybe give it a try.
Bonus: To Be Read
I don’t have anything officially on my TBR list about vampires, but I have heard a lot of good things about Rachel Mead’s Vampire Academy series. Got any other vampire recs for me?