★★★★★
Five stars.
I simply adore the Vampire Kisses series. The saga follows sixteen year old Gothic outcast Raven Madison, in a town that seems to be getting stranger by the day. Vampire Kisses: The Beginning includes the first three novels in the series. Their reviews are listed below. I find these books charming, funny, and engaging, and time after time I find myself cheering on Raven, a character that I can relate to, dressing and acting in a similar fashion myself (well, without the vampires.) I recommend this books/series to young teens, or any one who enjoys easy to read vampire romance novels.
Book One: Vampire Kisses
In a small town full of pink sweaters and country clubs, sixteen year old goth Raven Madison definitely stands out. Her love of vampires and her dark choice of dress set her apart from the crowd, and make her the target of ridicule in this town. She has one friend, and she searches for something more. Someone more like her, who shares a love of darkness. But, she's sure there's no way that'll happen Dullsville.
That is, until rumors start flying that the "haunted" old mansion on Benson Hill has a new family moving in. They look creepy, they dress too darkly, and they even say that the son hangs out in a cemetery. It spells trouble in perfect Dullsville, but Raven is ecstatic. Her emotions are only made stronger when a new rumor circulates- that the Sterling family is a family of vampires.
Could she possibly find someone like her in this town, or better yet... Could those rumors be true, and can she join him in eternity?
All in all, I really like this book. It's a young adult novel that's a fast read but entertaining nonetheless. I feel that Raven is a character I could relate to, even if a bit too young. Though modern vampire romance novels seem to all fall under the misconceived "copycat of Twilight" genre, I think this one stands on its own two feet.
Book Two: Kissing Coffins
Kissing Coffins is the second book in the continuation of sixteen year old Raven Madison. At the end of the first book, she is left with the empty mansion of her (was) boyfriend Alexander Sterling and a mysterious note. She's heartbroken and confused- she thought she had found someone whose darkened lifestyle had matched hers, surely he couldn't just leave her like that... Could he?
Hellbent on seeing Alexander again, and with a clue acquired from inside Dullsville, she devises a plan to try and find her Gothic Mate and bring them together once more.
She first finds a mysterious white haired boy, who claims to know Alex, and promises to help her find him, but something doesn't quite seem right about it to Raven.
Unsure about the truth of the Sterling family, and this new, pierced boy Jagger, Raven soon finds that there may be more truth than legend to the town's rumors, and that maybe Alexander isn't the only one who has a constant thirst in Dullsville...
I think this book is a great continuation to the first novel, Vampire Kisses. I thought that this book had more suspense and drama, not to mention more of Alexander and Raven. I found myself grateful that Raven took initiative and decided that just because Alex left, didn't mean she would just give up and sulk about the love she'd lost. She plotted and tried to hunt him down. I didn't like the way that Becky, Raven's best and only friend, came off in this book though. I no longer found her to be an enjoyable character.
Book Three: Vampireville
VampireVille is the third book in the Vampire Kisses series, and I found it to be more engaging than either of the first two.
Once the only goth in Dullsville, Raven Madison is soon finding that the city is earning a darker side. It started with the arrival of her knight in black metal armor, Alexander Sterling, who moved into the haunted, abandoned mansion in town. Then, it was the too skinny inked up boy named Jagger Maxwell, who thirsted for far more than just Raven's attention. And in this installment, Jagger's sister, Luna makes her way to the Dullsville scene. But she has an odd interest in one of the boys in town- Raven's own nemesis, Trevor. It's up to her and Alexander to figure out what Jagger and Luna are really planning, and they better do it quick; there are lives on the line.
Funny, dark, and addictive as always, Raven Madison continues to be a character that I simply adore. This novel didn't disappoint, and made me eager to start the next book almost immediately. However, I did not enjoy that Becky, Raven's best friend, is almost nowhere to be found in this segment of the story.
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