Sunday, July 22, 2012

Bookish Sundays: All the Vampire Novels in One Post

If you've been around long enough, you know that I'm not a Twilight fan, or any other vampire story fan for that matter.  Yes, I've probably read most of them.  No, I don't like very many of them.  But, they're a trending style in today's secular book world [not to be confused with literature world], so here are all the ones I know of in one easy to find post.  If you click on the captions below each photo, will take you to the Barnes & Noble site with overviews of each one.

1.  Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
Do I even need to cover this one?  If you haven't read the books, chances are you've seen the movies.
And while reading about a 16 year old fall in love with someone is not exactly fun in my opinion, it's at least better than watching Kristen Stewart act.  Sorry, but true.  The books cover a little more detail than the movies, and help the reader dive a little more thoroughly into Bella's thoughts.  If you're a fan, read the books.  It would be worth it, and they're even decently written.

c/o Barnes & Noble
2.  House of Night Series by Kristin Cast
Another teenage drama filled with high emotions, angst, and the ability of one girl to get into more trouble than anyone I know.  Not very well written, definitely aimed toward the pre-teen age group.  Has the tendency to repeat the same catch phrases on almost every page.  Got to book three, don't think I'll be reading the rest.

c/o Barnes & Noble
3.  Immortal Series by Alyson Noël
Okay, not really a vampire series.  But have you seen Vampire Diaries on WB?  I swear they stole some ideas from these books.  While they have no vampire characters, there is a different sense of immortality.  I'd be giving a lot a way if I tell you more, though, so I'm going to leave you in suspense.  However, it does parallel quite a bit between Vampire Diaries and Twilight.  Young girl, falls in love, must make some desperate choices regarding her fate, gets into tons of trouble, losing virginity a big deal. You know the story already, I suppose.  Decently well written, and pretty intriguing story line; not original, but still unique.

c/o Barnes & Noble
4. Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead
Out of all the vampire novels I've read, this has to be my favorite series.  Main character isn't a vampire, but her world is linked to them out of mutual survival instincts.  Young adult novel, still manages to get into tons of trouble, but at least this main character is capable of fighting back.  Contains more than just drinking blood and staying out of sunlight; also involves a tad bit of magic [which I'm a sucker for], a little love, and general badassery action.  Definite recommendation if you like vampires.

c/o Barnes & Noble
5.  Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris
Also known as the Sookie Stackhouse Series.  Everyone knows True Blood, right?  Highly inappropriate yet riveting HBO series?  These books are what the TV show is based off of.  And if I'm going to be completely honest, you're much better off sticking with the show instead of reading these novels.  Not a fan at all of the writing, and each novel ends as though it's the last in the set...and it's not. Harris doesn't seem to know how to quit while she's ahead.  The books are quite a bit different than the show, but no where near as good; for instance, Lafayette sticks around all 5 seasons.  He doesn't quite make it that far in the books.  And he's one of the best characters!  It's completely up to you, but I wouldn't waste my time with these ones.

c/o Barnes & Noble
6.  Black Dagger Brotherhood Series by J.R. Ward
Did you like Twilight?  How about Fifty Shades of Grey?  This could possibly be the next series for you.  Black Dagger is a cross between Fifty and any other vampire novel out there.  Sexy, racy, and actually has some action in it as well.  Each novel covers one of the main characters, and each character has their own style...in the bedroom.  So while Fifty leans toward the more racy, this series has absolutely everything you can think of in it.  It does tend to drag a little, especially as Ward adds more books, but decently written and well diverse in all aspects.  Can be cheesy though, especially as she covers the historical periods of some of the characters.  There are battles against enemies, battles against internal demons, overcoming odds, ghosts, gods, etc.  But an okay set of novels.  Definitely NOT a young adult book...this one is related at least R, if not higher.

c/o Barnes & Noble
There you have it.  All the vampire novels in one easy to find post.  Have any others to contribute to the collection?

1 comment:

  1. Congrats for making it through all of them without falling asleep ;-) Did you actually read all the books of the series or just the first one? Because, trust me, I didn't make it through more than the first forty pages of Twilight! heh heh

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