Well, well, well.I haven't read such a truly awful book in a SERIOUSLY long time.
In some ways it is unfair to shaft this book, because the natural thing to do whilst reading it is to compare it to the vampire book of the (extremely extended) moment: Twilight. I decided I wasn't cutting the book enough slack and realised I was probably on par with those Anne Rice fans who hated Twilight because it was so different to Lestat et al (read: supremely superficial in comparison but the sexual tension bridges the gap).
Then I had another think and came to the conclusion that, NO, this book was just plain rubbish.
Mother and daughter team wrote this together and in the credits P.C. thanks her daughter for ensuring the protagonist actually sounded like a teenager. First of all, if this is what the kids sound like nowadays I vote we let the zombie war occur and write them all off. Zoey Redbird is the most annoying, whining, forced, prudish, pathetically moral character I have had the displeasure of reading about in yonks. This would be fine if she had some interesting or unique qualities to redeem her, but she doesn't (apart from a more prominent vampire mark on her forehead than her peers, which marks her out as special. The Goddess has approached her and.... oh wait, I don't care.) Secondly, I would never in a million years sit down with my mother and write a book like this. How were both of them not wincing and cowering in humiliation when they had to pen the oral sex incident?
The plot moves extremely quickly and everything is explained in asides. Unlike in other novels of the vampire genre, the basic human population knows that vampires exist in this series, which is quite handy for the authors as it makes it much easier for them to churn out the story quickly. The book feels like it was written with the final chapter in sight and the authors thought to themselves: What is the absolute quickest way we can get to the last chapter, with minimal effort on our part concerning plot or character development?
I know this is a YA book but in my mind this does not excuse the travesty of writing that has occurred here. This was absolutely terrible and NOT in a good way. I will most definitely not be traipsing off to buy the other two in the series and I might try and sue Waterstones for stocking it in the first place. It has actually decreased my IQ by 25 points.
Rating: 2/10.
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