I’ve recently read, well, perhaps devoured would be a more appropriate word, two YA vampire books. While quite different in almost every way, both were incredibly fun to read. Especially since both have sequels that are already out. Hehe. What were these two books? Twilight by Stephanie Meyer and Marked by P.C. and Kristin Cast (a mother-daughter team).

I was quite hesitant to read the former, since I’ve seen a lot of not-too-enthusiastic reviews of the sequels in the series. But, since my library has all three, and it’s almost Halloween, and I’m in a YA mood, I thought: why not? In Meyer’s world, the existence of vampires isn’t known to the population at large. They sneak around, and they tend to congregate in the North, especially the Northwest of North America, because it has the fewest sunny days of any climate. Not that they can’t come out during the day; they’re just a bit conspicuous. Vampires are also very good looking, with pale skin and dark eyes that change colour, and oh yeah-the ultimate predators. Most feed on people, but there’s a family of “vegetarian” vampires that just happen to live in Forks, the small Washington town to which Bella has just moved to live with her father (the sheriff, Charlie).

In the Cast’s world, vampires are well known; it’s caused by a genetic mutation that appears when people are teenagers. Another vampire will show up and ‘mark’ the fledgling with the outline of a half moon, and then the fledgling has to go to vampire boarding school or face death. However, in this world vampires are also very attractive and talented at the arts, which is why most A-list celebrities are also blood-suckers. I believe that most vampires in this world feed off of blood donations (though I may be imagining that), kinda like a bloodbank. However, before the fledglings can become adult ‘vamps,’ they must attend school and go through the Change. It’s pretty common for fledglings to die, instead of making the Change, but the reason why remains mysterious. Oh-and vampires have a religion: a goddess-focused version of Wicca (well, it has all the trappings of Wicca, and if it quacks like a duck…) So, Zooey Redfeather (fledglings get to pick a new name when they arrive at school) arrives in the midst of this, at the vampire branch in Tulsa, OK. She’s different, though; soon after being marked, she experiences a vision of the Goddess, and when she wakes up the mark is filled in (like it would be on an adult vamp). Thus, upon her arrival at a special boarding school, she’s concerned about covering the mark on her forehead. Sound familiar?

Both books deal with teens trying to adjust to new schools, make new friends, etc. Both main characters develop relationships with really hot vampires. However, in Bella’s case the conflict of the book is driven by the fact that she’s human, which makes being with a vampire dangerous. Zooey, on the other hand, must deal with a group of Mean Girls, led by Aphrodite who’s being groomed to become a High Priestess one day. Fortunately, Zooey has the goddess on her side and Bella has the insanely serious and deep (perhaps eternal?) love of a vampire to protect her.

The Meyer book is much longer (500+ pages v. 300), but both are pretty engrossing. I felt no urge to set the books down until I’d finished them. That said, they both have their flaws. In the case of Marked, the constant pop references got old quickly (apparently, Shania Twain is a vampire)-they seemed to interfere with the story. Fortunately, the references slowed down in the second half of the book. Also, while I have no problem with Wicca or paganism, if you have a problem with goddess-worship, this book might annoy you. I found it fun, although it felt more artificial than, say, Mists of Avalon, but be warned. My huge annoyance with Twilight is that Bella is seventeen, she’s never dated anyone before, and suddenly she’s consumed in this soul-shattering love. She’s willing to give up everything in her life for her boyfriend, and that’s never really explained. Meyer seems to hint at Destiny, but it still annoyed me. Nevertheless, despite these flaws, I highly recommend both books if you’re in the market for some fluffy vampire reads!

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Paper Spine
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