Vampire Kisses (Vampire Kisses) by Ellen Schreiber
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Book Reviews of Vampire Kisses (Vampire Kisses)
Book Review: Goth Girls and Vampires
Summary: 4 Stars
Raven is a 16-year-old goth girl social pariah who becomes obsessed with the weird new family who have just moved into Dullsville - and who are rumored to be vampires. She is especially fascinated by the handsome teenage son Alexander, who she hopes will transform her into a vampire. He, in turn, becomes fascinated by Raven, but is he or isn't he a vampire?
I liked this book - and I really liked the character of Raven, even though she had plenty of goth cliches built into her character. I found the book to be well-written with a good deal of humor, and it dealt realistically with the idea of being different and being a high-school misfit.
Book Review: Adorable book, quick, fun and easy read
Summary: 4 Stars
My husband brought this home to me while I was pregnant and I was quite skeptical. I thought, another vampire book, great. But it was a really fun read. It's not bleak and dreary, it's fairly realistic and it's just a fun little romp, even for adults.Book Review: Shallow and poorly developed
Summary: 2 Stars
I have an idea that Schreiber was trying to accomplish something witty, maybe even ironic, by telling a first-person narrative from the perspective of a self-proclaimed Goth girl in a white bread small town. I don't think the attempt was successful, however.
As a heroine, narrator, and our eyes to the world, Raven leaves much to be desired. If you have any experience with fanfiction, you will recognize her as a particular brand of Mary Sue - calling herself Goth with a kind of self-righteous arrogance, giving us detailed descriptions of her totally non-conventional appearance, always getting in the winning stroke (verbally or violently) against blond and boring snobs in ways that are often not as funny as they are presented as being. She falls all over herself for Alexander mainly because she thinks he's a vampire and apparently has been wishing and wishing to be one herself since she was five. She screeches and storms and whines and obsesses her way through page after page, and I was left with the distinct impression that I was supposed to be finding her brave and sassy. I'm afraid I wasn't.
The "romance" is tepid, mainly because Alexander - her "Gothic Mate" (not kidding) - is bland. We are given loads of descriptive terms about him ("dark, deep, lovely, calming, lonely, adoring, intelligent, dreamy, soulful...") but very little evidence to support them save for cliches. He wears black! He stares out the window! He paints! OMG! His "love" for Raven seems entirely based on the fact that she dresses up as a tennis player for Halloween and must therefore be "different." She wears black, like him. She hates the town, like him. But that's as far as it goes. There's no time for more depth than that.
And part of the reason for that is because you spend a great deal of the book dealing with Raven vs. Trevor, her childhood nemesis who also totally wants her Goth bod, yo. Here cometh a villain who is such a ridiculous cardboard cutout and such a dolt that anyone with a modicum of intelligence wouldn't even give him the time of day. His obsession with Raven is contrived, and for a guy who's so worried about his rep, you'd think he'd get it into his head that following the "outcast" girl around all day and bothering her in the way he does may make his buddies start to wonder. The entire situation is made worse by the fact that Raven, though constantly mentioning what an a**hat he is, has no problems making out with him.
I found the most sympathy for Raven's best friend, Becky, a poor girl from the wrong side of town with a crush on a popular guy and the dubious honor of playing second fiddle to her BFF's schemes and general brattiness.
The town itself is unbelievable. I understand that we see it all from Raven's point of view, but am I to understand that she is absolutely the ONLY edgy rebel in town? That EVERYONE else is blond and country-club-ready? Um, no. Sorry. Even small towns have depth and more than one rebel. This Goth!Lite movement that Raven is a part of really isn't THAT rare.
The writing was, quite frankly, a bit juvenile, and the only reason I can see why this book gets slotted in YA is because of some of the subject matter that crops up during Raven and Trevor's bickering. Not that this book even qualifies as edgy. Far too many exclamation points. Far too many instances where Raven "screamed" something that had no business being "screamed".
I was gratified to see that Raven did learn before the end that she needs to like someone for who they actually are and not just who she wants them to be, although this lesson felt rushed and not well-developed enough. It was also ruined by the fluffy, bonding-heavy, party-with-the-Ewoks ending where everyone "good" is patted on the head and everyone "bad" gets their comeuppance with no surprises whatsoever, no character development, and it's all because of Raven and her Gothic awesomeness. Seriously, I could practically see the montage of hugs and handshakes and cheesy grins.