Vamped by Lucienne Diver

Review of: Vamped
Author – Lucienne Diver
Genre(s) – Urban Fantasy/Paranormal
Pages - 240
Publisher – Flux
Publication Date - May 1, 2009

Rating -

Plot - 24/30
Writing – 18/20
Characters - 19/20
Creativity - 18/20
The *Wow* Factor - 8/10
Grand Total - 87/100

Grade – B+

Summary (From Amazon) -

Gina Covello's Perks and Pitfalls of Vamp Life

1. Hello?! Eternal youth and beauty!

2. Free. Designer. Clothes.

3. My hot new boyfriend Bobby went from chess dud to vamp stud.

4. No reflection! First order of business: turn my own stylist to stop the downward spiral from chic to eek.

5. Vampire vixen Mellisande has taken an interest in my boyfriend, and is now transforming the entire high school into her own personal vampire army. If anyone's going to start their own undead entourage it should be me. I guess I'll just have to save everyone from fashion disasters and other fates worse than death.

Review -

First of all, Vamped was not what I expected it to be. I was expecting it to be set in a high school with a “mean girls” vs. protagonist plot, but with vampires. That has been done before, but Vamped definitely hasn’t. It mixes a lot of more traditional fantasy themes (such as prophecies) with the modern urban vampire story. This book and its upcoming sequel have a lot of potential to be a great vampire series, but there is some room for improvement.

The plot of Vamped where I had the most problems, but none were unforgivable, and loose ends can definitely be tied up in a future book. I was immediately drawn into Gina’s story and her emotions, but I also found myself feeling confused, especially since so many things about the different vampires and their motives were never fully explained. Everything seemed a bit rushed, and there was a distinct feeling that there was a lot going on in the background. My problem isn’t with the complicated world of vampires, which I actually found fascinating, but with the fact that, for the most part, Gina was cloistered away from it. I think Vamped could have been much better if Gina’s could have seen more than just a few locations in her town and Mellisande’s hideout, and if the book had been a bit longer than 240 pages. I would like to see more of the hidden vampire society in future books, as well as have some secrets revealed about Gina and Bobby’s fate. There is a prophecy and glowing stone involved, so this could get epic!

My favorite things about Vamped were the characters and writing style of the book. Gina narrated the novel, and I loved her voice and funny commentary. I often found myself laughing out loud at her thoughts and words. She was a lot of fun, and was a very original character. I also loved her habit of nicknaming people. And Mellisande was definitely a character I loved to hate. Besides being evil, she was also annoying because she was never generous when it came to revealing information about her plans, and those of other vampires. Bobby was also an interesting character; very kind, but somehow a part of Mellisande’s scheme. And the man-eating psychic completely creeped me out, and was definitely something I’d never seen before. Some minor characters seemed less developed and more disposable, but the main characters were very well done!

In conclusion, Vamped was a fun beginning to a promising series, and I can’t wait for the next book, which I believe will be called Revamped. I think that any lover of vampire stories or urban fantasy will love Vamped, as well as those who love reading about a snarky heroine. And isn’t the cover awesome?!

Book From (Review Group, Bought, Library, Publisher, Author, Contest, Etc.) - Author

*Paradox*