Review: Dracula, My Love by Syrie James
Goodreads: Many have read and loved Bram Stoker’s Dracula. But questions remain. What is the true story of Dracula’s origin? What if Mina could not bring herself to record the true story of their scandalous affair—until now?
In Dracula, My Love: The Secret Journals of Mina Harker, Syrie James explores these questions and more. A vibrant dramatization, told from Mina’s point of view, brings to life the crucial parts of Stoker’s story while showcasing Mina’s sexual awakening and evolution as a woman, and revealing a secret that could destroy her life. Torn between two men—a loving husband and a dangerous lover—Mina struggles to hang on to the deep love she’s found within her marriage, even as she is inexorably drawn to Dracula himself—the vampire that everyone she knows is determined to destroy.
I read Dracula at a young age. Probably younger than I should have. Bram Stoker instilled a love of the paranormal in me at this tender young age and for that I am very thankful. I moved on to Frankenstein, then Let the Right One In, and I have always enjoyed a good vampire horror over sparkly emo vampires any day.
James takes us back to the simplicity of horror from Mina’s point of view. The story follows closely to the original novel while giving us new info to work with. New explanations to things that Stoker never gave us. I fell in love with Dracula instead of fearing him but a slight bit of unease was always present.
The only criticism I can offer is the use of van Helsing’s foreignness. James wanted to show that since he was Dutch he would not speak English correctly and I applaud her for that, however the broken English she had him speak through-out the novel was not equivalent to how a Dutch person would speak English. It was more Eastern European, like how a Romanian would speak the language.
James made me feel sympathy for Dracula even in the end. If you have loved Dracula, or any of the horror classics you should read Syrie James. She breathed new life into a favorite book. It was like reading it again for the first time.
FTC Disclosure (lame): I received this book for review from the publisher.
Fragment Friday: Dracula, My Love by Syrie James
Fragment Friday is hosted by James at Book Chic Club and we want you to play to!
Review: Insatiable by Meg Cabot
From Goodreads: Sick of vampires? So is Meena Harper.
But her boss is making her write about them anyway, even though Meena doesn’t believe in them.
Not that Meena isn’t familiar with the supernatural. See, Meena Harper knows how you’re going to die (not that you’re going to believe her; no one ever does).
But not even Meena’s precognition can prepare her for what happens when she meets—then makes the mistake of falling in love with—Lucien Antonescu, a modern-day prince with a bit of a dark side . . . a dark side a lot of people, like an ancient society of vampire-hunters, would prefer to see him dead for.
The problem is, he already is dead. Maybe that’s why he’s the first guy Meena’s ever met that she could see herself having a future with. See, while Meena’s always been able to see everyone else’s future, she’s never been able look into her own.
And while Lucien seems like everything Meena has ever dreamed of in a boyfriend, he might turn out to be more like a nightmare.
Now might be a good time for Meena to start learning to predict her own future . . .
If she even has one.
Meg Cabot bursts into the adult arena armed with fantastic prose, mystery, romance, and hilarity. I had no idea what to expect from an adult vampire novel written by Cabot but am over joyed Harper offered to send a copy to me. It was a fantastic supernatural romp through the streets of New York City.
Meena is a fantastically fleshed out character that I didn’t agree with all of the time. That alone made her interesting. To be annoyed with the main character but still want to know what she is going to do next because she is so unpredictable. Lucien is kind of to die for, literally. One of the oldest vamps on the planet and from Romanian descent he knows how to rock a suit in that old fashioned ‘rake’ kind of way. A vampire hunter with great abs and a personal vendetta against Lucien creates a love triangle of epic proportions.
There are loads of secondary characters which are all very fun. Meena’s job is fantastically hilarious, who doesn’t want to write lines for a Soap Opera? Days of Our Lives anyone?
This is a fun romp through vampire land and a perfect summer read. I cannot wait to see what trouble the walking disaster main character Meena gets herself into next!
If you like Charlaine Harris then you will love Insatiable.
Fangtastic Fiction Challenge
So we all know I have a secret love of pun filled vampire fiction novels, novellas, movies. series, the list could go on and on. So when I saw Catherine from on the Nightstand was thinking about doing a vampire fiction challenge I jumped on her like white on rice and yay Fangtastic Fiction was born. There are several categories, and it’s very easy to participate, read 4 vamp books in the whole year! (or more). So click the image go over and sign up oh please oh please.
My planned reads:
Carmilla, Let the Right One In, Thirst no. 2, and Morganville Vampires Series latest 2.
