Series Review: Vampire Beach

         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title: Vampire Beach

 

Series Review : Book one: Bloodlust ; Book two: Initiation ; Book three: Ritual ; Book four: Legacy

 

Author: Alex Duvall

 

Publisher: Released in 2006 by

 

Genre: Young adult paranormal

 

Format: Paperback

 

 

 

Jason Freeman is completely stoked when his family moves from cold and frosty Michigan to the exclusive DeVere Heights neighborhood in Malibu, California.

 

He is even happier when his new classmates are friendly and welcoming. Soon he is on the school swim team and going to the best parties and surfing the waves like a native.

 

But not everything is as perfect as it seems in DeVere Heights. There is something different about the A-list people that have befriended him. At first, he tried to ignore it, but when things start happening – like when one of his classmates body washed up on the beach – he realizes that he can’t hide his head in the sand anymore – no matter how beautiful it might be.

 

 

 

This series was published back in 2006, so it’s an older series, but one that I am just now finding and reading. So let’s blow the dust off the covers and take a peek at this vampire world.

 

I found this book when my local Books-A-Million was going out of business. They were having a big sale and I wandered in to see what I could score. I saw Vampire Beach for around three bucks and I remember hearing a bit about it, so I snagged it up.

 

And keeping it real here doesn’t the title just sound like an easy, kind of trashy beach read? Well, to me that’s the way it seemed. I was looking forward to a good ole gossipy tale of those among us that bite. J

 

The book that I bought had the first two books in one and when I finished reading it I went and found the last two books also published together as one book.

 

So were they as trashy and gossipy as I hoped? No. But I still liked them. 😉 They were a nice, light read and they were entertaining enough that I kept reading to find out what happened with all the characters.

 

I can tell you that as I read, they reminded me SO much of 90210. You know the show back in the day with Donna and Brandon and Dylan? Lol. So it was kind of a blast from the past for me. I mean they were set in sunny, gorgeous Cali and it centered around a group of friends that a brother (Jason) and a sister (Dani) fell into after they moved there from Michigan…. It’s pretty much 90210 re – created right? Oh, and yes, I liked that show back then.

 

The story lines were fairly simple, but still enjoyable. Basically the series is told from the POV of Jason. It was interesting reading it from a teen guy’s perspective. Sometimes, I admit, I found him a little more wholesome than the teenage guys I have met, but hey, this was wayyyy back in 2006. LOL.

 

I liked all the characters, even the mysterious ones like Zach. I really liked Jason’s younger sister Dani and her flare for the dramatic and her fashion sense.

 

I think my favorite book in the series was the third book, Ritual, which was centered around a crossbow killer. It was an original idea that kept me guessing and I liked the way it played out.

 

I also enjoyed the setting – Malibu. I liked the pretense that even in the most perfect and beautiful of places that things weren’t always what they seemed. Reading about the characters on the beach was also fun and relaxing. I just pretended I was lying in the sand among them and it was a great escape.

 

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read something that will entertain and be a fun, light read. It’s also actually a great blast from the past.  If you enjoyed the old TV show 90210 you will like this… except remember the characters of this Cali show bite.

 

So there you have it. My opinion.