Fiction - General & Miscellaneous, Teen Fiction - Horror & Suspense

Vamped

Name: Vamped
Author: Lucienne Diver
ISBN: 9780738714745

by Lucienne Diver

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Overview

"Vamped is a total delight! Lucienne Diver delivers a delightful cast of undead characters and a fresh, fast take on the vampire mythos. Next installment, please!"
—Rachel Caine, New York Times bestselling author of the Morganville Vampires series

Gina Covello's Perks and Pitfalls
of Vamp Life
1. Hello?! Eternal youth and beauty!

2. Free. Designer. Clothes.

3. My hot new boyfriend Bobby went from chess dud to vamp stud.

4. No reflection! First order of business: turn my own stylist to stop the downward spiral from chic to eek.

5. Vampire vixen Mellisande has taken an interest in my boyfriend, and is now transforming the entire high school into her own personal vampire army. If anyone's going to start their own undead entourage it should be me.

I guess I'll just have to save everyone from fashion disasters and other fates worse than death.

Synopsis

"Vamped is a total delight! Diver delivers a delightful cast of undead characters and a fresh, fast take on the vampire mythos. Next installment, please!"
—Rachel Caine, New York Times bestselling author of the Morganville Vampires series

Gina Covello's Perks and Pitfalls
of Vamp Life
1. Hello?! Eternal youth and beauty!

2. Free. Designer. Clothes.

3. My hot new boyfriend Bobby went from chess dud to vamp stud.

4. No reflection! First order of business: turn my own stylist to stop the downward spiral from chic to eek.

I guess I'll just have to save everyone from fashion disasters and other fates worse than death.

Publishers Weekly

Teenagers will likely bite at the fun premise of Diver's YA debut, first in a planned series. When Gina awakens in a grave and discovers she's a vampire-her senior prom didn't end well-one of her first concerns is facing "an all-liquid diet, a life without tanning options." She continues to focus on fashion (and to deliver feisty insults) even as she finds herself embroiled in (and eventually leading) a vampire war, which involves a mysterious prophecy-and many of her former classmates. The story's appeal lies in Gina's snarky narration, though readers may have trouble tracking all of the characters. The plot takes a while to arrive at its gory action scenes, complete with severed limbs and garlic bombs. Readers will be entertained by some great one-liners ("Yup, just a day in the life of a typical teen... only instead of dodging gossip and pop quizzes, it was stakes and [holy water] spritzing") and a nascent romance for Gina, though the open-ended finale leaves answers about the prophecy and other questions until a later volume. Ages 14-up. (May)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author, Lucienne Diver

Lucienne Diver is a literary agent by day and a writer by night. A graduate of SUNY, Potsdam, New York, she is the author of the novel Playing Nice, and her fiction, The Problem with Piskies, has been serialized in Quantum Gothic magazine. The author lives in Florida. Find out more by visiting www.luciennediver.com.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

VOYA - Robyn Guedel

High school student Gina Covello is about to find out what is it like to be a vampire, or vamp. When Gina wakes up to find she is not only a vampire but also possesses many other skills, her world is about to change. When rival vampire Mellisende tries to start a new vampire army in the high school, things get ugly really fast. Gina and her new boyfriend, Bobby do their best to save everyone while keeping things light and funny. Diver uses wit and adventure to hook readers with this teen vampire story. Although not as dramatic as Stephanie Myers's Twilight (Little, Brown, 2005/VOYA October 2005), the novel gives teen girls plenty of romance. The book can be confusing at times with so many characters, but the advanced reader will enjoy it. Reviewer: Robyn Guedel

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up—When Gina makes out with newly hot Bobby after prom, she gets more than she bargained for. Later, her boyfriend Chaz crashes his car and Gina finds out the hard way why the teen death rate is up in her Ohio town. She wakes up and claws her way out of the grave, adjusting quickly to the fact that she is now undead. Bobby meets her at the cemetery and they end up back at her house before sunrise. They are then captured and taken to a secret hideout where they meet Mellisande, a rogue vampire who seeks to build her own army and to fulfill a prophecy. She has turned a group of teens into vampires, but Bobby has special powers, including telekinesis, that the other vamps do not possess. Chaz and Gina's friend Marcy are among the new vamps who are training in combat skills to take on the vampire council, and Gina must step up to save her friends. This quick read is filled with teen slang and fashion consciousness; it's a lighthearted, action-packed, vampire romance story following in the vein of Julie Kenner's "Good Ghouls" (Berkley), Marlene Perez's "Dead" (Harcourt), and Rachel Caine's "The Morganville Vampires" (Signet) series. A sequel is in the works.—Corinda J. Humphrey, Los Angeles Public Library

Kirkus Reviews

Gina Covello's senior prom doesn't go exactly as planned. First, she's tempted by the previously geeky (but now quite hot) head of the chess club. Then she gets involved in a fatal car crash only to wake up in her coffin, courtesy of her new boyfriend, Bobby. Thank goodness he's the sensitive type who totally understands the importance of having a new wardrobe on hand when she finally climbs out of her grave. But it's not all eternal youth and high spirits-this couple has to contend with a raging vampire queen who's more than willing to dispose of excess females in order to control Bobby's special talents. Gina's not one to be disposed of lightly, however . . . and she certainly isn't about to let anyone else trespass on her turf! Those who enjoy a good giggle will respond eagerly to this brassy, campy romp. The tone is kept intentionally light, with little of the gore often found in the now-ubiquitous vampire novel. Romance is also kept to a minimum-Gina's heart clearly belongs to Bobby, as his does to her. A light read, probably quickly forgotten but fun going down. (Fiction. YA)