Zoe is wary when, in the dead of night, the beautiful yet frightening Simon comes to her house. Simon seems to understand the pain of loneliness and death and Zoe's brooding thoughts of her dying mother.
Simon is one of the undead, a vampire, seeking revenge for the gruesome death of his mother three hundred years before. Does Simon dare ask Zoe to help free him from this lifeless chase and its insufferable loneliness?
Full disclosure: This wasn't my kind of book in the first place, and I knew that going in. From the synopsis, this sounded like the typical paranormal romance, which just isn't my jam anymore. However, this book and Annette Curtis Klause are considered classics of YA, so I thought I should at least give it a shot. I was disappointed, but I wasn't surprised by my disappointment.
Zoe's mother is dying, and there is nothing she could do about it. In fact, Zoe feels like her mother is already dead. She already feels the loneliness. She's restricted from visiting her mother in the hospital, her father is rarely home anymore, and no one around her wants to talk about it. It is when she is wandering around at night that she meets Simon. Simon is a vampire, but now he hunting for the one who killed his mother centuries before. This same person has been brutally killing women in Zoe's town, and Zoe may be able to put a stop to him.
I listened to this book on audio. The edition I listened to included two short stories, one that takes place before, and one after. I went ahead and started listening to the first one, but I couldn't get through it. It seemed to be based around an animal death, and since I listened to this audiobook just days after my dog died, I really didn't want to continue that story. I didn't bother listening to the second story.
There were plenty of moments throughout this book where I was tempted to give up, but then there would be one good scene so I kept going. Then I was so far in that I figured I should just keep going. This book has two different plot-points carrying the book. There's the plot-point of Zoe's mother dying of cancer, and there's the vampire plot-point. I liked how there was the other, more realistic, plot-point balancing the book. It made Zoe's character feel more real. It helped us understand her mindset, and it set the mood for the book.
As for the vampire plot-point, I have mixed feelings. I liked that the vampires were not shown in a positive light. They don't sparkle. Even with Simon, we see him in monstrous states. What gives me mixed feelings, is that I'm not sure if I was supposed to find Simon monstrous at times. He is often romanticized in Zoe's eyes, but I couldn't help but find him creepy. I do think the mystery was fairly interesting. There is a slight murder mystery plot that starts solely in the background. Though, I felt like the thrilling aspects were put on the backburner, which I found disappointing. Most of the latter plot focused on Simon's backstory (which was quite lengthy) and creepy love scenes between Simon and Zoe.
I really couldn't stand the romance in this book. I found Simon to be creepy. I actually found everything interaction between Zoe and Simon incredibly disturbing, and I felt uncomfortable during these scenes. There were many times when I said "Yuck!" out loud. The romance between them happens really quickly and didn't make sense. It also made me like Zoe less because she wasn't using her brain. I think the book would have benefitted without the romance. I wish it focused on the mystery more.
IN CONCLUSION
Overall, this book disappointed me. It had some interesting ideas, but I found the romance kind of gross and the writing was clunky. I can see how this book influenced other paranormal YA, and I'm glad that it helped form YA, but I was not a fan. I own a copy of Blood and Chocolate by Klause as well, but I'm going to donate it. I don't think these books are for me (and I like werewolves even less than vampires).
I hereby give this book
2 Stars
Meaning: It was okay
No comments :
Post a Comment