Insatiable by Meg Cabot

“We have to face difficulties to find out what our true strengths are. How we come back from a failure is a very valuable test.” – Insatiable, Meg Cabot

Insatiable by Meg Cabot is a modern retelling of Dracula. Meena is a soap opera writer with a special gift – she can predict when and how someone is going to die. Although facing supernatural powers in her everyday life, she does not believe in the other supernatural beings – especially not Vampires! In fact she hates vampires. But when she meets the mysterious Lucien Antonescu, Romanian nobility, she may have to reconsider everything.

Did I like this book? Of course I did! It’s Meg Cabot for goodness’ sake! Mediator is one of my favourite book series, and I was eager to read another supernatural romance by Cabot. I think Cabot really has a talent. By the end of the book, I was rooting for Lucien and Meena to be together, even though, like Meena, I find the idea of vampires kind of repulsive. (I like to read about them, but I would not like them if they were real…) I mean, he bit Meena even after she specifically said, “No biting”. And after the meeting, I could see he loved her but at the same time he was a very violent creature and would mean trouble for Meena. Despite all of this, whilst I was reading I was upset with Meena for not just running away with Lucien. That is what some good writing does – gets you to go against your beliefs and fall in love with whatever the author wants.

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

“Life, unfortunately, doesn't seem to care what we want.” 

-        - Richelle Mead, Last Sacrifice

Vampire academy follows the story of Rosemarie Hathway. Rose is a ‘dhampir’ – dhampir’s genetics are half human and half vampire. Her job is to protect the Moroi, a form of vampires. The story begins when Rose is taken back to St. Vladimir's Academy, after having fled in order to protect her best friend and Moroi, Vasilisa Dragomir. Vasilisa is the last of the Dragomir line, and is in line for the throne. As they return to the academy, there are still many mysteries and dangers that hunt Vasilisa.

There is not much I want to write, except recommend anyone who likes fantasy and young adult novels. I think that this is one of the better young-adult paranormal novels. I literally spent a whole day reading series, only stopping to eat. This is how entranced by the story I was. This is mainly because of the protagonist. Rosemarie is strong and loyal. She is unlikely many female characters in novels of the same genre.

Richelle Mead is really able to transport the reader onto a journey. The story starts slow, and with every book in the series the story becomes darker, with more action, adventure and more complex story lines. The series is a whirlwind of emotions.

Again, this is really short… Especially because I read this so fast, that it's just a blur. I can't really examine it book by book. What I can say is that the overall series is light, entertaining and very enjoyable.  Kind of sad that they're not making any film sequels...

READ IT! :) Every book gets better

Solace & Grief by Foz Meadows

Solace and Grief follows the story of a 17 year old girl called Solace. She was raised in a foster care, but when she finds out she is a vampire she is compelled to run away. Soon, she finds herself within a group of other strange young adults. They are part of ‘the Rare’ and each one of them has a ‘Trick’, which is a superpower or a supernatural ability. For example, Jess is a psychic reader, and Solace is a vampire. But soon things start to get a little weird... A Faceless man is stalking her and Professor Lukin is a bit too interested in their ‘Trick’...

This is the first book of a series called The Rare. It is set in Sydney, Australia and I found it interesting that Foz Meadows has used real places in the city but added twists to make them supernatural. At the beginning of the book, the story seemed to be droning on to nowhere. However, some things that seemed irrelevant at the start actually ended up being important towards the end. I didn’t like how Solace and her friends went to the Gadfly and got drunk, then stayed home all day. This seemed to happen several times, and I think it stalled the story a bit. Nevertheless I continued reading, and I’m glad I did.

I loved the variety of characters in the book. They all have different ‘Tricks’ and personalities. I found it a bit hard to remember who was who at the start, because a lot of characters are introduced all at the same time.

The Chronicles of Vladimir Todd by Heather Brewer

“If citizens followed their leaders' example throughout history, the human race would have died out centuries ago.”― Ninth Grade Slays

The Chronicles of Vladimir Todd by Heather Brewer follows the story of Vladimir Todd from eighth grade through to twelfth grade. Vlad goes to school like a normal boy and encounters all the problems of a normal boy, from bullying to stress from homework; however he is not normal at all. Vladimir has a big secret, he is a vampire. His parents died and so he lives in the care of Nelly, his mother's best friend. Although he doesn't  want to hurt anyone he can't help being who he is, not even him knows the full extent of his powers. When a substitute teacher comes into the scene he thinks his cover will be blown. Even worse he thinks that the teacher knows more than he should and was connected to his parents' death.