Let me just say that R.L. Stine is the one who sparked my passion for reading several years ago, and for that I thank him! When I was younger I couldn't get enough of his Goosebumps and Fear Street books. So when I bought this book, I was feeling nostalgic and eager to channel my inner twelve-year-old again. I read this book before Halloween, because when I think of this holiday, I think of R.L. Stine. This book is actually two books combined into one. The first book is called "Dangerous Girls" and the second is called "The Taste of Night (Dangerous Girls #2)".

Twin sisters Destiny and Livvy Weller come back from summer camp very different. They have these unexplained bite marks on their necks, things start happening to them that they don't understand, and an attractive boy named Renz is following them. Not to mention, their town is buzzing with rumors of vampires and vampire hunters. Things become even more frightening when Destiny and Livvy's friends start turning up murdered. So, basically in the first part of this book the twins are trying to figure out who they can trust and what they can do to stop their impending transformation into full-fledged vampires. The end of the first book, "Dangerous Girls", leaves us with some surprising revelations and questions. I pretty much saw certain things coming and the plot twists that were intended to be shocking didn't have that exact effect on me, but I still appreciated them and was able to enjoy the story.

"The Taste of Night" picks up where the first book left off. I don't want to give too much away, but I will say that Livvy's character ticked me off more in this part of the story. She's selfish and reckless and I didn't much care for her. Her actions and secrets in the first book that were later revealed proved just how self-involved she is. She pretty much leaves her sister and entire family in the lurch with everything. But in the end, she somewhat redeems herself and she's there when it counts. The ending of the story isn't really a cliffhanger, but it left me wanting just a little more. However, it was still an acceptable ending.

I recommend this book to those who are fans of R.L. Stine and his writing style. He definitely gave an interesting take on vampires and the plot twists are enough to keep you interested.

My reviews can also be found at: http://escapingwithfiction.blogspot.com/ ( )

I love R.L. Stine. I remember when I was little I would always ask the librarian for his books and could not wait till the next one is out. So when I saw this book on the shelf at Target I could not resist and bought it. I was glad that I did because this book rocked!

The first story talks about the sisters becoming vampires. We meet an obsessive vampire who is drawn to the girls because they look like his long lost love. In turn, the girls fight their nature doing whatever it takes to find the restorer and be turned back to human before its too late. Destiny is the one who wants a human life while Livvy is basking in the vampire life. Unlike her sister, Livvy fights with Destiny wanting to stay as a vampire. In the end the two sisters become enemies.

The second story is based on Destiny finding her sister and restoring their relationship. Their mother has died, her little brother is acting like a vampire and their father is drowning himself in his work. Destiny wants Livvy back so that she can restore what family she has left. New enemies are made and Destiny is doing everything she can to get her sister to come back home.

I loved the stories. Both had a lot of emotions and lots of stuff going on. Both sisters are struggling to find themselves and what to do. They both miss each to each other dearly and hate that they are separated. The love interest in both stories are good. We see both sisters having trouble maintaining a relationship because they can't talk to each other about whats going on. I love that their bond is strong. ( )

I have to say, it didn't let me down. R.L. Stine has been one of my favorite childhood authors since I first discovered the goosebumps series so I anticipated that this would have at least one or two shocks in it but it had MANY. Enough to keep me reading and entertained and I even gasped in one of them. So now onto the review!

Characters-
The main characters in Bitten are Destiny and Livvy Weller. They're twin sisters who stick together no matter what. Now, to me there really wasn't anything special or out of the ordinary for these characters. Destiny, is just a normal girl who's stuck in the situation of being a neophyte (Half vampire) and acts like any normal teenager would. Make it completely obvious she's a neophyte. I mean, the girl cant help herself. She risks her friends by hanging around them, NOT being cautious at all and practically sends signals to everyone that somethings up. I'm still surprised she didn't kill anyone by the end of the book. I admire her for that.

Now Livvy, is your normal jealous and self absorbed character. Not only does she hide a HUGE secret from her sister, she has her moments in the book where you really begin to lose sympathy for her. I mean, she goes after Ross, who she knows Destiny LOVES. Now, perhaps it's my lack of sleep that's talking but I guess she really wasn't THAT bad. Other than her getting jealous because a man whore (Ross) is doing what a man whore does. Whore himself around. Not to mention what she does to the poor girl.

Renz, the vampire who's desperately trying to seek for his lost love, Laura. At first, I felt sorry for him. He lost his love, Laura, and 200 years late he finds TWO girls who look similar if not exactly like her. But once you begin to see how mentally and emotionally messed up he is (he even begins to call Destiny 'Laura', not acknowledging that she's a different person) you begin to see that he's not a poor fool in love. He's a crazy vampire with an obsession. He's only in 'Dangerous Girls' which is the first part of the book. (And good riddance too)

Plot- The story is basically twins struggle of being a half vampire or neophyte and how they desperately try to search for a cure before they go crazy and lose their humanity. They face challenges such as the hunger for blood, vampire hunters and they have to make rash decisions as everyone begins to close in on them. Destiny struggles to keep the family together while all this happens. I like the plot, it's short yet entertaining and it kept me reading with the twists and turns that the story began to develop.

Overall decision-
So there were some things I didn't enjoy such as the style of writing. R.L. Stine tends to describe things a little too much for my taste but it's nothing unbearable. I didn't expect the ending of Dangerous girls at all but I liked it. The second part of Bitten wasn't as good as Dangerous girls, I pretty much knew what would happen before it even happened. But it was a good read, a good time filler I guess.

It's not the best vampire book i've read nor the worst. I recommend it to anyone looking for something to read to pass time. ( )