Title: Jessica's Guide To Dating on the Dark Side
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books
Publication Date: 2009
Hardback: 336 pages
Genre: YA Paranormal
Summery from Goodreads:
On the first day of her senior year, Jessica finds out that she is a vampire princess betrothed since infancy to a prince, and their marriage is supposed to unite their warring clans. Of course Jessica thinks that Lucius is nuts and her birth parents part of a crazy cult. She wants nothing more than to return to hr normal world of 4H horse jumping, the mathlete club, and her potential romance with her classmate, Jake. Lucius, on the other hand, has much to lose if he and Jessica do not marry. He is very determined to win her to him, just as Jessica is determined that it will never happen. In order to advance his cause, Lucius enrolls in Jessica's high school, going to school with humans for the first time:
Both Jessica and Lucius were understandable and likable characters. Jessica doesn't throw herself onto the hot new exchange student (delusions of vampirism not withstanding) and she struggle to maintain her life despite being a betrothed vampire princess. Lucius was a prince and raised to unite and rule two large clans, so he took himself very seriously , but he wasn't oppressively dark and brooding about it. He was humorous and his letters to his uncle were wonderfully sarcastic. One of my favorite quotes regarding the Packard's decorating tastes:
I liked this book, it was fun and light. While not the best book I ever read, it was so different from the typical I'm-in-love-with-a-vampire books out today. I really wanted the characters to work things out and liked that this story did not take itself too seriously. I loved that Lucius had a since of humor, but Jessica did get a bit predictable toward the end. I really liked that this was not a super heavy, dramatic, woe-is-me type book. The fact that Jessica's adoptive parents (an anthropologist and yoga instructor) were vegans with a live in vampire just added to the fun.
Author Extras:
For those that enjoy the book and need more Lucius and Jessica (in my case, just more Lucius) the author has put up their wedding story on her site. I must admit that I like the book were it ended, and the wedding story was a bit corny, but fans enjoy the extras.
Summery from Goodreads:
The undead can really screw up your senior year ...Review:
Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit into Jessica Packwood’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth—and he’s her long-lost fiancé. Armed with newfound confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess. But when a devious cheerleader sets her sights on Lucius, Jess finds herself fighting to win back her wayward prince, stop a global vampire war—and save Lucius’s soul from eternal destruction.
On the first day of her senior year, Jessica finds out that she is a vampire princess betrothed since infancy to a prince, and their marriage is supposed to unite their warring clans. Of course Jessica thinks that Lucius is nuts and her birth parents part of a crazy cult. She wants nothing more than to return to hr normal world of 4H horse jumping, the mathlete club, and her potential romance with her classmate, Jake. Lucius, on the other hand, has much to lose if he and Jessica do not marry. He is very determined to win her to him, just as Jessica is determined that it will never happen. In order to advance his cause, Lucius enrolls in Jessica's high school, going to school with humans for the first time:
"Can I ever again be happy in our soaring Gothic castle after walking the halls of Woodrow Wilson High School, a literal ode to linoleum?"...
"I have always been curious about..how it would feel to live on and on through time...I need speculate no longer. I have sampled eternity in Miss Campbell's fifth period "social studies" class. Three days on the concept of "manifest destiny". THREE DAYS. I yearned to stand up, rip her lecture notes from her pallid hands, and scream, "Yes, America expanded westward! Is that not logical, give that Europeans settled on the eastern shore? What else were they to do? Advance vainly into the sea?"Through the course of the story, Jessica and Lucius come to know each other better, but their pasts, the way they were raised, their hopes for the future, and Lucius realization of his family's plan are stumbling blocks. Lucius takes drastic measures to safeguard Jessica, and she fights to save his life.
Both Jessica and Lucius were understandable and likable characters. Jessica doesn't throw herself onto the hot new exchange student (delusions of vampirism not withstanding) and she struggle to maintain her life despite being a betrothed vampire princess. Lucius was a prince and raised to unite and rule two large clans, so he took himself very seriously , but he wasn't oppressively dark and brooding about it. He was humorous and his letters to his uncle were wonderfully sarcastic. One of my favorite quotes regarding the Packard's decorating tastes:
"I fear I couldn't have endured one more day with those doe-eyed "folk" dolls staring at me from every cheerful, plaid-covered corner of this room. It was like be surrounded by a multicultural army of midgets, all waiting to attack some night as I slept"Verdict:
I liked this book, it was fun and light. While not the best book I ever read, it was so different from the typical I'm-in-love-with-a-vampire books out today. I really wanted the characters to work things out and liked that this story did not take itself too seriously. I loved that Lucius had a since of humor, but Jessica did get a bit predictable toward the end. I really liked that this was not a super heavy, dramatic, woe-is-me type book. The fact that Jessica's adoptive parents (an anthropologist and yoga instructor) were vegans with a live in vampire just added to the fun.
Author Extras:
For those that enjoy the book and need more Lucius and Jessica (in my case, just more Lucius) the author has put up their wedding story on her site. I must admit that I like the book were it ended, and the wedding story was a bit corny, but fans enjoy the extras.
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1 comments:
I read it! So nice and funny;-)
February 9, 2013 at 3:44 PMwww.madeforbooks.blogspot.it
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