Read for the Young Adult Reading Challenge.
This book was a double young adult selection, both by intended audience and by the fact that the author was thirteen when she completed it.
Considering the age the author, this is quite a decent book. The plot is extremely quick; it centers around the vampire Risika and her fight with her blood brother Aubrey, the man who may have killed her human brother back in the 17th century, when she was still mortal. That’s really it to the story, but it’s well developed, and the atmosphere is pretty compelling. I’m not sure I would have gotten past the bare bones plot from an adult author, but knowing the age of the author gave her a certain amount of credit (fairly or unfairly), and helped me overlook that.
I’d never heard of this author, until my mother passed me this book after picking it up at Goodwill, but I did notice at Borders this weekend that she seems to have published a decent number of books since this, her first novel. Quite impressive for a girl who must only be in her mid twenties. I’d be quite willing to try one of her other books, based on this solid debut.