This book may have just made my best YA of the year. Its hard to say just how appreciative I am that Maizel crafted a story that didn't just say it was 'unique' in a genre that is saturated, but was truly refreshing. The vampires in this book are brutal, merciless and live to quench the despair they feel through violence and bloodshed. And Lenah was one of the worst.

Even Lenah as a human was intriguing. She didn't feel guilt over what she did exactly, or remorse that she was no longer part of that world. She was a Vampire Queen, she was very good at what she was and that was the order of things. She felt regret that she lost a part of herself that she couldn't so easily replace--her family. She missed the camaraderie and shared knowledge that came from a close knit group of people who understood each other and cared for each other. Though perhaps its better to say that there was obsession on all their sides--Lenah was obsessed with protection, with finding a way to fill the emptiness that Rhode left within her when he disappeared. She wanted an unbreakable bond--and in doing so created 4 men who would kill her to save her from herself.

The story would flash between the 'present' (Lenah as a human) to memories of her past. Meeting Rhode for the first time, forming her new family, meeting Vicken and needing him...becoming human. We see snippets of her life as a Vampire Queen and she was ruthless. Cold. Merciless in her quest to fight the pain she felt. But through it all her love, her affection for Rhode was clear and present. He was her everything, her world and she never forgave him for leaving her alone.

Lenah as a human finds it hard to adjust at first. Used to being the top dog in any given situation she finds it bemusing to be considered part of the lowest rank as she tries to 'fit in' and acclimate. She's given limited time, 2 months, to adjust to her human life before her coven will come to find her and take her back. So she does what any young girl does--she studies, she lusts after a certain guy, makes friends with a quirky art student.

I admit at first I thought he stalker attitude towards Justin was...unsettling. But then for 500 years this is what she did, what she admits to be old practice for her; learning her prey and then setting to make the prey hers. I can't say I'd be as cool with it if she had been human, but it made sense from her viewpoint.

I won't go further without spoiling things so I'll leave the last half of the book at this: I felt so bad for Lenah. So very bad. The choices she is forced to make, the actions she has to take...some of it is because she feels so indebted to Rhode for the gift he gave her, but some is for Justin. I'll give Maizel credit, helping another vampire become human is almost, but not quite, a paradox and it transfers nicely into the changes that Lenah faces later on.

The ending is...almost but not quite ambiguous. Its not what I expected at all and that makes it wonderful. ( )

So, I find vampires interesting. But I love things like Interview with the Vampire, and Let the Right One In, not like the romance teen Twilight style. I am not going to bash Twilight because I do like it for what it is, a fun read. But that being said, the whole teen falls in love with a sparkly, moody, abusive, pedophile vampire is only something you can read once before your tired of it. But I do find vampire mythology and such interesting and this one seemed to be a bit different.

It was and it wasn't.

The things I liked about this novel: the main character Lenah was an evil vampire who found a way to turn herself human. But in her vamp days she was ruthless, she killed for fun, she was a monster, all normal vamp things. I liked the flashbacks to her vamp days, honestly I wish there had been more of them....

It was well written, a quick read and fun. All things I was looking for at the moment.

No my problems with it: The human stuff was total typical teen romance angst crap. The romance was you know, 'oh I just meet this boy and there is some mysterious aura about him, and I think he is so handsome and he loves me too and now were dating and totally in love and we've known each other for two whole months!!'

It wasn't bad, it just wasn't special. Its apparently going to be a series, or at least a few more books, I probably won't go out of my way to read it, but if I happen to come across it I would be interested to see where it goes. ( )

Ahem. Look at the cover. It does say 'a novel' does it not?
Call me crazy, but I was under the impression that a Novel meant one. As in one book. As in, there is a complete story contained within these pages. No sequels. No series. just this one.
And see, it WAS a complete story. The ending was an ending that was satisfactory. Maybe it didn't end the way I would have wanted it to, but there was an end, the story was complete. But I my mom was shopping. I was just sitting there in the store. I hadn't brought another book with me. So I went to read the last couple pages at the back. Which were what?
A PREVIEW FOR THE SEQUEL!!!!!
GRR.
(Note: I DO have the sequel on hold at the library now)

The Plot: 4/5
Interesting enough. There were two halves of the plot, which could pretty well divided if you put a marker in the halfway point of this book.
The first half was all about our MC, Lenah, adjusting to human life and falling in love (with the WRONG person, I might add) The second half involved the other vampires coming after her.
I liked the second half better, suffice to say, but overall, it was good.

The Characters: 4/5
Rhode: I really wish we’d seen more of him in this book. So I’m glad that we’ll supposedly see more of him in the second book But for the five pages we saw of him, and Lenah’s flashbacks of him, he seemed like a really actually decent guy.
Lenah: Well, what can I say? She made some bad choices. Those choices have led her to where she is. She was an evil vampire, she coerced her BFF/Brother/lover figure to turn her into a human. Then she made some (in my opinion) pretty lousy choices as a human. You get what you got. Too bad.
Justin: there was one point in this book, where I believe he was paraphrasing Lenah, and he used ‘reprehensible.’ I just chuckled. “That’s a rather large word for a jock, don’t you think?” I said. Yes, I know that’s stereotypical. No, I don’t care. Because I still don’t think I like him. There was one point when I THOUGHT I might like him, but then he ruined it the very next page, so there you have it.
Tony: Oh, Tony! HE figured it out! He figured it out, Lenah!!! And then you just—you just—Ah! I an’t believe you, Lenah! (I obviously liked Tony) And let me tell you, if this turns out to be another Penn situation for me, then I’ll—I’ll—I’ll implode, I will!

The Romance: 3/5
As I said, I didn’t really like Justin. I did, however, like Rhode. And I enjoyed Vicken’s particular character development. He reminded me in some ways of Incy from Immortal Beloved.

Overall Grade: 11/15
( )

I really liked this book until the end, the end completely sucked :). I didn't know it was a series so maybe the second book will fix the ending I so hated. ( )

I won this book in the early readers. I loved it! They are 'teens' and there is a little bit of high school drama to it. But I truly feel it is a storyline that can be enjoyed by teens and adults (as I am 33). These are not sparkly vampires! I really enjoyed the return to the traditional vampire rules. And it is complete with a story twist at the end. Looking forward to book #2!! ( )