You know it, I know it, everybody knows it. Vampire books have been “in fashion” for quite a while. Most of them, admittingly, are light reading, but there is something about this branch of fantasy books that has made a large portion of bookworms interested in them. Serious and heavy reading is fine and it’s great, but at some points you need to unwind and read a little something that doesn’t necessarily have deeper meanings.These are some popular vampire books, complete with summaries and my humble reviews of them. Enjoy!
Vampire Diaries
We are, of course, talking about the books, and (THANK GOD!) not the series. So Elena, an ordinary human being, finds herself in between the love of two vampire brothers, and trouble begins! This is so classic, it could be called a cliché, yet for some reason it actually works! There’s no vamp book without love, bloodlust, and violence. But when it comes to vampires with a dark past, well, sign me up! Should you read this? Hey, it’s a very famous book series, so who am I to judge? It’s fun, at least along the first couple of books (why does it always have to be more than one book??), and quite well written. Needless to say, it is much much better than the TV series.
Twilight Saga
Again, much better than the movie adaptation (isn’t that always the case?). Bella is an ordinary human teenager (wow, I see that pattern never gets old) that moves to Washington State to live in a small town with her father. Her life is about to change when she meets the Cullen brothers and sisters, who attend her highschool. This is a book series most teenagers and young adults will appreciate, since it comes to terms with teen angst, the fear of not being unique, and finding the One True Love. Other than that, I cannot really say it is well written (how many times do I have to read that Bella sighed and Edward whispered, seriously?) , the second book is really, really boring (like the essays that have to be 2000 words long, but you have only come up with around 500, so you put irrelevant words in- like sighed, or whispered…), and I have started feeling a bit like a nagging old lady, so let’s go to the next book, please!
True Blood Novels ( original title: Sookie Stackhouse novels)
Remember True Blood? Guess what! Yes, that is a book series, originally titled the Sookie Stackhouse novels. Now I can finally write about a vamp series I liked (yay!). Sookie is a normal human being (wow…) who works as a waitress in a small American town. We are currently in an alternate universe, where vampires have come to the surface and made themselves known to the world, and since us human beings are not particularly tolerant (does racism ring any bells?), our vampire friends and their human supporters have a hard time trying to lead a normal life. Sookie’s normal life will come to an end when she meets Vampire Bill ( I know, the name could have been better) who comes to the town in order to lead a normal life..or so he says. This is a different kind of vampire story, since it introduces deeper issues, such as intolerance, politics, trust. Should you read this? Yes, I think you should. But mind you, there are some really violent scenes in it. It is, however, a very good series.
Casa Dracula
This is light reading. Just reminding you. Milagros de Los Santos (which translates in “miracle of the saints”, so points for creativity) meets a family with a strange health issue that resembles vampirism. Craving for blood, needing special sunblock in the sun and healing very fast are some of the characteristics of the so called virus. Milagros soon realizes that she was infected and her life changes rapidly. This is quite well written and very funny. The author has used huge amounts of humor on building her hero’s character, and the result is hilarious. Should you read this? If you need a good laugh, definitely. If you’re looking for deeper meanings…well, the author has tried, it’s just not very obvious. Nevertheless, it’s a good reading material for a night of unwinding after a long day.
