Pretty Dead: Francesca Lia Block

Everyone has one author whom they crave. That one writer who speaks to your soul. The author whose work you wait upon with bated breath. For me, that author is Francesca Lia Block (FLB). Her amazing language skills take me away to a surreal universe where everything is intense and technicolor. FLB has the ability to make the grittiest, most disgusting places on earth seem magical and beautiful. These are all sentiments used to describe her newest novel, Pretty Dead, but I'm afraid I have to disagree.

Oh Francesca, how could you?! The woman who was writing about fairies and magic and angels long before they were part of a young adult genre has succumbed. I can only assume her publisher offered her lots and lots of dollars to use her incredible skill for the insipid writing of a vampire novel. The story goes something like this... Charlotte is a beautiful twin. She and her brother are living happily, going about life apparently carefree. And then her brother dies and Charlotte is understandably devestated. So of course, the obvious choice is to choose immortality so that she can live forever without her brother. Wait--what?! Sure enough, she begs a vampire to turn her, and they proceed to spend countless years, wandering the world, sucking the life out of people. How romantic. At some point she leaves her maker and decides to go it alone. She goes to high school. She makes some new friends. And when tragedy strikes, Charlotte's world is turned upside down and she begins to feel differently than she has in about a hundred years.

I will admit that FLB gives this vamp novel a sweet little twist. But ultimately, it is a tired romance about a vampire and a human. What's worse is that Block doesn't even utilise her best writing skills. The eras pass as clothing descriptions. There is a flood of narration and very little dialogue or action. And while it's not entirely predictable, it's not very palatable either. I still adore Francesca Lia Block and will continue to read everything she writes. I'm hoping we can just put this one under the bed and forget it ever happened.

Rating: $

Let The Right One In: John Ajvide Lindqvist

Let The Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist is a Swedish vampire story. For some reason, that alone captured my interest. This quiet little book was made into a Swedish movie that swept the Tribeca Film Festival and started to pop up in conversations. When I finally picked up my own copy of the book, I was captured by the sentiments of others before me, such as “Absolutely Chilling” (L.A. Banks), and “Sweden’s Stephen King…a classic tale of horror” (Tucson Citizen). With acclaim like that, I knew I was in for a treat!

I have to admit that Let The Right One In is slow to start. There’s a lot of exposition and character development. Which I appreciate, but I kept anticipating the action. The first half of the book is spent developing the characters of Oskar and Eli and fostering their friendship. Oskar is an outcast who is constantly teased by the schoolyard bullies. Eli is the strange new girl who moved in next door, who only comes out at night. While they are becoming friends, there is a “ritual murderer” on the loose, capturing children around twelve years old, and draining their blood. Before too long, Oskar finally figures out what the reader already knew—that the ritual murderer is linked to Eli. There are also an array of other characters (some that never appear in the movie), who pepper the plot with intricate crossovers and relations.

As an English Literature major, I couldn’t help but read the many themes that arise in this novel. I don’t know if Lindqvist was writing an allegory, but it isn’t hard to find one. There are thematic elements of family crisis, effects of ostracism and bullying, the good and bad in everyone. All of this murder and mayhem takes place in a small Stockholm suburb, where the streets and buildings were erected with the purpose of fostering a community and a sense of safety. And of course, all Eli wants is a home where she can stay put, and all Oskar wants is a friend.

There are some truly terrifying scenes described, including the scene in which Eli’s biggest fan, Hakan, returns to her as a disfigured monster and attempts to rape her. Also, when Eli shares with Oskar her memory of becoming vampire, it is gruesome and horrifying and absolutely terrifying that anyone could imagine such a thing. There are also sweet and poignant moments, shared by Eli and Oskar. Theirs is a truly unconditional love, which may well be the entire point to this story. After all, isn’t everyone in this world looking to be loved not for who they are, but in spite of who they are?

Living Dead In Dallas: Charlaine Harris

The second book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, Living Dead In Dallas refers to the nest of vampires living in Dallas, Texas where Sookie and Bill are sent to investigate the disappearance of a vampire. While staying in Dallas, Sookie encounters some new supernatural beings as well The Fellowship of The Sun—a group of anti-vampire extremists who want to see the entire race of vampires and their supporters eradicated.

Charlaine Harris is a brilliant writer, in that she has created characters that readers latch on to. Sookie and Bill, as well as the less significant characters are all very real and relatable, despite their being vampires and shape shifters. I have now read two of the Sookie Stackhouse books, and I admit that I am hooked! I want to know what happens to Sookie in the same way that I would want to know what happens to my friends. Will she become a vampire and get to live all of eternity with Bill? Is she really in love with him, or does she just love that she can’t read his mind? And now that the oldest vampire around—Eric—has taken a shine to Sookie, will she enter into a relationship with him?

Living Dead In Dallas is not a wonderful story; in fact I think I preferred the first Sookie Stackhouse novel (though that may just be my own personal aversion to all things Texan). However, this book is filled with new characters and Harris has expanded her vampire-friendly society, which makes it kind of exciting. There isn’t a lot of deep thought required for these novels; they’re just for fun, and that’s exactly what I’m getting from them!

Dead Until Dark: Charlaine Harris

Charlaine Harris is the author of the Sookie Stackhouse series—the books on which HBO’s True Blood is based. As a resident of the deep south, Harris writes the Stackhouse novels with authority, bringing Bon Temps, Louisiana alive with dark, foreign descriptions. While her story and descriptions are vivid, her characters sometimes lack dimension. I find Sookie Stackhouse to be the weakest of all Harris’ characters; she is a telepathic waitress who falls in love with a vampire (and has all the personality of Twilight’s Bella Swan).

Harris’ greatest achievement in Dead Until Dark is not the descriptions of Louisiana, or the lackluster characters, but the society she has created in her books. In her world, vampires have “come out of the coffin” (a charming turn of phrase that reminds the reader that vampires are a minority), and are living amongst general population. They feed off of “fang-bangers” who are essentially blood prostitutes who allow themselves to be bitten, but not drained. Vampires who choose to “mainstream” may choose to live on the synthetic bottled blood, made available in most bars and restaurants (the stuff even comes in flavors—A negative, O positive, etc).

Dead Until Dark introduces the reader to the protagonist, Sookie Stackhouse—a pretty young woman who is uneducated, but not stupid. She was born telepathic and that talent has caused her no end of grief all her life, so she has chosen to live as simple a life as possible. She has learned, over time, to control her mind. She is able to put up her guard and block everyone’s thoughts, but it takes a lot of energy. Sookie lives with her Gran, and has ever since her parents died. Her older brother, the charming (and fairly sleazy) Jason, lives in their old house and works at a non-descript hillbilly job. He spends his time chasing skirts and getting drunk. Overall, the characters and town of Bon Temps are about as interesting as any four-way stop called a town.

In walks Bill. Bill Compton, also known as Bill the Vampire. After the vampires gained public freedom, he chose to return to his old homestead in Bon Temps. In about 24 hours, he meets and falls in love with Sookie, who finds herself equally enamored. However, as with any small town, bigotry still exists in Bon Temps, and when people start showing up dead, all eyes turn to Bill. Just because vampires have been given rights, doesn’t mean everyone likes them. This is where Harris reeled me in. She has taken a fairly innocuous fad—vampires—and created a beautiful analogy for bigotry. We live in a society that claims to accept all people and wants to give all people fair and equal rights. But the reality is that fear exists, and that fear turns into hatred. That’s when the lynch mobs show up. Which is exactly what happens in Bon Temps.

The real murderer is not a vampire at all. Harris wraps up her story by solving the mystery and allowing Sookie and her vampire to ride off into the sunset. Well, into the next book, anyway. I have to mention that the first season of True Blood is taken almost exactly from this first book, save a few minor characters and unimportant events.

Twilight Hunger: Maggie Shayne

This may be the hardest review I've ever written. What do I write about a book that should never have been written? About a cliched plotline, poor writing, and transparent characters? What do I write about monotonous and tired dialogue, weak "surprise" twists, and thinly veiled erotica? To critique this book would mean to find something valid about it, which seems utterly impossible. Still, I will try.

Twilight Hunger is, predictably, a story about vampires. Morgan De Silva is a screenwriter with a bad childhood (shocker!). She hermits herself away in an ancient old New England house where she finds the journals of a vampire named Dante. Using those journals, she churns out three screenplays that make it big on the Silver Screen. Of course she thinks they are the mad rantings of an old inhabitant of the house, but Dante is in fact one of the undead. When members of the secret Government agency dedicated to finding vampires follow the leads offered in Morgan's movies, Dante's non-life is threatened. Suddenly his secrets are made public, forcing him to seek out the writer who is revealing his methods. What ensues is a predictable living/un-dead romance filled with the terror of being hunted. As if loving a vampire would bring anything less.

Maggie Shayne has written 393 pages of what reads like fanfiction meets vampire erotica. The characters all speak alike, beginning sentences with "God" as an exclamation like "Gawd", which is just offensive: especially coming from a vampire. Shayne spends more time describing the sexual relations than the characters.

This book was a pleasant reminder that, in general, I really don't like vampire fiction.