Scan barcode
smiley7245's review against another edition
3.0
More like 3.5* Got this for $1 at a Half Price Books clearance sale and it was a great buy. It was fun and fast paced. I really enjoyed the relationship between Magnus and Sunny. The epilogue did not make any sense, though. I am looking forward to the next one, and hoping that it will address the unanswered questions left by the epilogue. I am very curious as to what will happen with Sunny and Magnus; will she decide to become a vampire later? And what about Rayne, now that she is the Slayer? I am definitely looking forward to more in this series.
ashleysue14's review against another edition
5.0
Love this book
This book is amazing great characters and an interesting plot I ant wait to read the next book in the series I recommend this book to anyone who loves vampire romance books.
This book is amazing great characters and an interesting plot I ant wait to read the next book in the series I recommend this book to anyone who loves vampire romance books.
hannah_decock's review against another edition
4.0
I really adored this book. It was funny. And the growing romance between Sunny and Mag was so cute. But the end was not what I suspected. I mean I was like. No..... Why Magnus why ...... But it was a good book. And it's very fun and easy to read.
hikereadbeer's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't like this until the last chapter. I felt like it just made fun of the whole vampire lore. And how Sunny had to describe every boy in detail? Very annoying! Quick read, though.
briarsreviews's review against another edition
5.0
Book Title: Boys that Bite (Blood Coven Vampire #1)
Book Author: Mari Mancusi
Introduction: I read this book WAAAAAAAAY back when (like, way back when I was probably in early high school way back) and I absolutely loved it back then. I remember reading this book on the way to a swim meet on a bus filled with athletes who didn't want to talk to me (I was a minor niner who was a great swimmer so I got to go with the grade twelves who were also great swimmers to a meet) so I decided to let my inner book worm come out. Long story short, I read four books of the series there, and was incredibly upset that I left the rest of the series at home.
So, Mari Mancusi rebooted the book from my understanding so of course I wanted to reread it. Out of all the vampire books I obsessed over in my high school years, Mari Mancusi's Blood Coven Vampires was one of my favourite (Alongside Vladimir Todd and Vampire Kisses) so I wanted to get my hands on a copy! And guess what happened? I wiggled my way into a group that reads this very series so I got a copy sent to me!
My review is simply a review - it was not requested to be nice, it was simply provide a review and we'll continue throwing this series at you. So how could I argue? I loved this series and I had been meaning to pick it back up as some point anyways! It's my guilty pleasure!
Now off to the super spoiler-y review...
Review:
Rayne and Sunny are adorable. While the names are a tad silly (has anyone actually named their children like this? Please, leave me a link for proof. Maybe I live in too small of a town to see this being common), they are fantastic characters. Re-reading the series makes me wonder why having their names Rayne and Sunny was so important - was it for dramatic effect? Was it to show they are opposites? Was it just for comedy?
When Magnus appears, it still makes my heart pound. He was one of my book crushes, and I still adore him. How can you not? He's super hot and a great ying to our Sunny's yang. He's introduced as dark and sexy, which is how you want a YA/teen heart throb to be introduced. Mari does an incredible job expanding on his character -he's not just tall, dark, handsome and brooding. Slowly over the course of this series she delves deeper into this. Now as an adult, I really appreciate that. As a teenie bopper, YA-teenage addict back in the day, I wasn't as appreciative of the hard work she put in.
Bonus Marks: Shout out to Emma Stone!!
Cheesey factor aside, I really did enjoy the entire Sunny accidentally stepping in for Rayne portion of this novel. It's early on, and you can see it coming if you love your soap operas (like I do...), but it's still a great way to get this series started. It starts the series off with a bang and makes the entire potential plot flip upside down. What do you do if you accidentally step in and become a vampire instead of your sister? It's a great start! I still enjoy it, despite the slight cheesiness that goes along with it.
Mari is also the queen of vampire comedy. Random comments fly left and right (sarcastically, insultingly, and many other forms of comedy) and it makes this book better. Does it make it cheesey? Probably. Is this supposed to be a Shakespearean YA novel? Nope!! So it fits in perfectly! This book has a splash of comedy in it! That's one of the great aspects of it!
Bonus Marks: "Vamps-R-Us.com" and the Batman reference. Mari knows the way to my heart...
Overall, this book still holds up for me. When I was a teenager it was a lot "cooler" - the tone definitely fits a YA audience. Since I'm an adult now, I really do enjoy it. It's funny, slightly cheesey, and has the perfect amounts of romance, drama and comedy to make a really great book.
This book won't be for everyone, but as a throwback for me it's excellent. I definitely suggest this book to those who like the YA genre, who want just a splash of cheesey, soap opera-y drama or who want to read a different take on the vampire genre.
Forewarning: This book sounds like it's written by a teenager (isn't that kind of the point? The narrators are sixteen years old?). I have seen many, many, many, many complaints about this but you need to understand: THE NARRATORS ARE SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. If you have a problem with that, you need to see that this book is a YA novel. It's not a steamy, EL James Fifty Shades of Grey or Shakespearean novel. It's a YA vampire novel. That is all.
Five out of five stars!
Book Author: Mari Mancusi
Introduction: I read this book WAAAAAAAAY back when (like, way back when I was probably in early high school way back) and I absolutely loved it back then. I remember reading this book on the way to a swim meet on a bus filled with athletes who didn't want to talk to me (I was a minor niner who was a great swimmer so I got to go with the grade twelves who were also great swimmers to a meet) so I decided to let my inner book worm come out. Long story short, I read four books of the series there, and was incredibly upset that I left the rest of the series at home.
So, Mari Mancusi rebooted the book from my understanding so of course I wanted to reread it. Out of all the vampire books I obsessed over in my high school years, Mari Mancusi's Blood Coven Vampires was one of my favourite (Alongside Vladimir Todd and Vampire Kisses) so I wanted to get my hands on a copy! And guess what happened? I wiggled my way into a group that reads this very series so I got a copy sent to me!
My review is simply a review - it was not requested to be nice, it was simply provide a review and we'll continue throwing this series at you. So how could I argue? I loved this series and I had been meaning to pick it back up as some point anyways! It's my guilty pleasure!
Now off to the super spoiler-y review...
Review:
Rayne and Sunny are adorable. While the names are a tad silly (has anyone actually named their children like this? Please, leave me a link for proof. Maybe I live in too small of a town to see this being common), they are fantastic characters. Re-reading the series makes me wonder why having their names Rayne and Sunny was so important - was it for dramatic effect? Was it to show they are opposites? Was it just for comedy?
When Magnus appears, it still makes my heart pound. He was one of my book crushes, and I still adore him. How can you not? He's super hot and a great ying to our Sunny's yang. He's introduced as dark and sexy, which is how you want a YA/teen heart throb to be introduced. Mari does an incredible job expanding on his character -he's not just tall, dark, handsome and brooding. Slowly over the course of this series she delves deeper into this. Now as an adult, I really appreciate that. As a teenie bopper, YA-teenage addict back in the day, I wasn't as appreciative of the hard work she put in.
Bonus Marks: Shout out to Emma Stone!!
Cheesey factor aside, I really did enjoy the entire Sunny accidentally stepping in for Rayne portion of this novel. It's early on, and you can see it coming if you love your soap operas (like I do...), but it's still a great way to get this series started. It starts the series off with a bang and makes the entire potential plot flip upside down. What do you do if you accidentally step in and become a vampire instead of your sister? It's a great start! I still enjoy it, despite the slight cheesiness that goes along with it.
Mari is also the queen of vampire comedy. Random comments fly left and right (sarcastically, insultingly, and many other forms of comedy) and it makes this book better. Does it make it cheesey? Probably. Is this supposed to be a Shakespearean YA novel? Nope!! So it fits in perfectly! This book has a splash of comedy in it! That's one of the great aspects of it!
Bonus Marks: "Vamps-R-Us.com" and the Batman reference. Mari knows the way to my heart...
Overall, this book still holds up for me. When I was a teenager it was a lot "cooler" - the tone definitely fits a YA audience. Since I'm an adult now, I really do enjoy it. It's funny, slightly cheesey, and has the perfect amounts of romance, drama and comedy to make a really great book.
This book won't be for everyone, but as a throwback for me it's excellent. I definitely suggest this book to those who like the YA genre, who want just a splash of cheesey, soap opera-y drama or who want to read a different take on the vampire genre.
Forewarning: This book sounds like it's written by a teenager (isn't that kind of the point? The narrators are sixteen years old?). I have seen many, many, many, many complaints about this but you need to understand: THE NARRATORS ARE SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. If you have a problem with that, you need to see that this book is a YA novel. It's not a steamy, EL James Fifty Shades of Grey or Shakespearean novel. It's a YA vampire novel. That is all.
Five out of five stars!
abookishstar's review against another edition
4.0
What I liked....I enjoyed that it was a simple, easy read, that quickly got your attention. It's a page turner and will leave readers wanting more by the end of the book. Mari Mancusi brings out the old vampire myths in a new way, that will definitely have you laughing. The humor kind of reminded me of the, Vampire Kisses Series by Ellen Schreiber. I also enjoyed that Sunny was a type of character who really resisted becoming a vampire, even if she was a bit closed-minded, which put a spin on most YA vampire genre books. Also the vampire was the type of character who wasn't like: "Don't become a vampire! Live your human life!!" Instead he was a bit self-centered and lonely and wanted Sunny to become a vampire. I would think, if I were a vampire, that after living a million-bajillion years that you be a bit self-centered and greedy. Are the characters relate able? To me, not really. But can you imagine them and understand them? Of course. The authors makes a simple plot into a 272 page book, that's interesting, fast paste, and you don't have to really think a lot while reading it. It's not complex, which is nice. So I definitely recommend this to anyone, even if you hate the vampire-genre.
What I didn't like..... I found the main protagonist, Sunny, thoughts to be really annoying at times. I don't like to label people/characters, but I found Sunny to be way to preppy. Also in the book the word: "vampire" was brought up like every page. I understand that she doesn't want to become a vampire, but do we really need to hear about it every second? Though these two things that I disliked are rather my complaints then stuff that would be wrong with the book. But also, it would make sense for the main character to be thinking about it a lot because if I were in this situation I'd probably do the same thing. But I just wished, the word: "vampire", was toned down a bit.
Also, at the end of the bok you get to see Rayne's POV. Basically she narrates the ending, and I found from her thoughts that she's identically like Sunny. Like I understand that they're twins, but for moments on end I felt like I was listening to Sunny not Rayne. Was that suppose to be that way? I don't know. When Rayne talks, she sounds different from Sunny.
In All... it was a great book that anyone would love to read and I definitely recommend the book. I didn't really find anything wrong with book, just one person complaints.
What I didn't like..... I found the main protagonist, Sunny, thoughts to be really annoying at times. I don't like to label people/characters, but I found Sunny to be way to preppy. Also in the book the word: "vampire" was brought up like every page. I understand that she doesn't want to become a vampire, but do we really need to hear about it every second? Though these two things that I disliked are rather my complaints then stuff that would be wrong with the book. But also, it would make sense for the main character to be thinking about it a lot because if I were in this situation I'd probably do the same thing. But I just wished, the word: "vampire", was toned down a bit.
Also, at the end of the bok you get to see Rayne's POV. Basically she narrates the ending, and I found from her thoughts that she's identically like Sunny. Like I understand that they're twins, but for moments on end I felt like I was listening to Sunny not Rayne. Was that suppose to be that way? I don't know. When Rayne talks, she sounds different from Sunny.
In All... it was a great book that anyone would love to read and I definitely recommend the book. I didn't really find anything wrong with book, just one person complaints.
rayne's review against another edition
3.0
This moved along at a nice pace - sometimes too quick. The storyline was interesting and the characters likeable though frustrating at times. Feels like it needed more guts at times as I didn't totally feel vested in the main characters issues. Neat little ending to open up for the next instalment.
leakelley's review against another edition
4.0
Although Sunshine McDonald and her sister Rayne are identical twins, their personalities and interests couldn't be more different. It's only under protest that Sunny agrees to accompany Rayne to Club Fang, a goth club. Sunny is more field hockey and drama club than black vinyl and pierced tongues, so Club Fang is not her thing. Her night gets even worse when the hot guy that she thought was going to kiss her instead turns her into a vampire when he mistakes her for Rayne, who has secretly entered the training program for vampire recruits. Now Sunny and her new sire, Magnus, have one week to undo that bite or Sunny can say goodbye to daylight for the rest of her (eternal) life/undeath.
This book, more than anything else, reminds me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which makes sense as Mari Mancusi mentions both the show and its creator in the acknowledgments. There is a lot of irreverent humor and witty banter here, and an easy acceptance that vampires can and do exist even though it is unknown to the rest of the world. Personally I think it's disingenuous to write about vampires post-Buffy without acknowledging the contribution made by Joss Whedon, and the fact that Mancusi so clearly absorbs that version of vampire mythology into her story makes me like it even more that I already did.
This book is not perfect. At times the references to name brands took me out of the story, and sometimes Mancusi tries a little too hard to sound like a teenager. Readers also don't learn much about the vampire world in this first book. Of course, the story ends with the words "To be continued", so we can assume that there is more world building to come.
What redeems this book, and had me walking to the bookstore in some nasty weather to buy the second book in the series, is the characters. Unlike some teen female heroines today, Sunny is not going to surrender her humanity willingly. And in that she comes closest to Buffy, a girl who would sacrifice her greatest love to save the world. Hopefully Sunny won't be faced with a decision like that.
This book, more than anything else, reminds me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which makes sense as Mari Mancusi mentions both the show and its creator in the acknowledgments. There is a lot of irreverent humor and witty banter here, and an easy acceptance that vampires can and do exist even though it is unknown to the rest of the world. Personally I think it's disingenuous to write about vampires post-Buffy without acknowledging the contribution made by Joss Whedon, and the fact that Mancusi so clearly absorbs that version of vampire mythology into her story makes me like it even more that I already did.
This book is not perfect. At times the references to name brands took me out of the story, and sometimes Mancusi tries a little too hard to sound like a teenager. Readers also don't learn much about the vampire world in this first book. Of course, the story ends with the words "To be continued", so we can assume that there is more world building to come.
What redeems this book, and had me walking to the bookstore in some nasty weather to buy the second book in the series, is the characters. Unlike some teen female heroines today, Sunny is not going to surrender her humanity willingly. And in that she comes closest to Buffy, a girl who would sacrifice her greatest love to save the world. Hopefully Sunny won't be faced with a decision like that.
dtaylorbooks's review against another edition
3.0
My trustworthy Canadian friend who heads up the YA section at her local Chapters recommended this series to me for one reason - the Lost Boys reference in, I believe, it's the second book (Ok, I told you people I had a problem, didn't I? A loooooooong time ago.). And because we have really similar tastes in reading material so I pretty much take her recommendations to heart since we're pretty much the same person in that regard. I figured I'd read the entire series since I didn't want to start in the middle and she warned me about this one.
And she was right.
It's Clueless with fangs. I was waiting for 'gag me with a spoon' to make an appearance. Sunny was such a vapid, unrelatable character for most of the book that I couldn't care one way or another what happened to her. The whole valley girl thing really grated on me, as did the constant brand whoring. One of the constant pieces of advice I've heard from agents is not to name drop or label drop in your story too much because it'll end up dating your book, which is not necessarily a good thing. I have a feeling that this was supposed to be Sunny's personality but holy crap. Enough is enough already. There was nothing but Prada and Gucci and Diesel in that air head of hers. And that moron Jake that she kept going on about.
The whole teen voice, to me anyway, sounded just this side of contrived. I don't want to say it was forced because that's going a little too far but it wasn't natural-sounding either. It felt like the author was trying just a little too hard to make her sound like a "typical" teenager and it kept splashing over the brim. I know girls can really talk like that but I hope that they're deeper than what Sunny was. And I was in her head the entire time and only went ankle deep.
I have to say, though, I liked the end. Sunny redeemed herself a bit when she broke out of her whole dumbass shell and started acting like a normal human being instead of a superficial peabrain that she was throughout most of the book. She showed depth and caring and sacrifice and I only wish more of that side of her was present in the book because I probably would have liked it more. I mean, I can watch Heathers and they all talk like that but there's depth. Talk like a valley girl all you want so long as you're deeper than a puddle. Because of that I was all around disinterested with Sunny up until the last few chapters.
I actually liked Magnus. Out of all of them, he was probably my favorite character if for nothing more than his adamance to put the welfare of other people ahead of his own despite the fact that other person was completely selfish for most of the time. He seemed like a pretty cool guy and I liked the fact that he's not really into the whole Goth scene but just plays the part. Puts a twist on the character and doesn't make him a stereotype within Mancusi's world. I still don't understand why he fell for Sunny outside of the whole DNA thing (blood mates are made based on DNA, identical twins have identical DNA, thus switching Sunny and Rayne wouldn't mean much in the mates department). Her personality just sucked most of the time and being behind Sunny's eyes and knowing her every thought and action, I really didn't see what was so appealing about her. Thus is the enigma of guys.
The whole Vampire Scent thing got to be a bit much, though. The secretary? Come on. I think that was supposed to be funny but I just saw that as really forced. And the whole thing with Jake? Um, yeah. So apparently the Vampire Scent can make a guy want to hump your leg. Awesome. Again, a bit much.
Overall, I mean, it's not bad but it's definitely not something to write home about. I'd recommend it just for the ending, maybe the last 1/3 or 1/4 of the book or so. The rest of it I could have done without.
And she was right.
It's Clueless with fangs. I was waiting for 'gag me with a spoon' to make an appearance. Sunny was such a vapid, unrelatable character for most of the book that I couldn't care one way or another what happened to her. The whole valley girl thing really grated on me, as did the constant brand whoring. One of the constant pieces of advice I've heard from agents is not to name drop or label drop in your story too much because it'll end up dating your book, which is not necessarily a good thing. I have a feeling that this was supposed to be Sunny's personality but holy crap. Enough is enough already. There was nothing but Prada and Gucci and Diesel in that air head of hers. And that moron Jake that she kept going on about.
The whole teen voice, to me anyway, sounded just this side of contrived. I don't want to say it was forced because that's going a little too far but it wasn't natural-sounding either. It felt like the author was trying just a little too hard to make her sound like a "typical" teenager and it kept splashing over the brim. I know girls can really talk like that but I hope that they're deeper than what Sunny was. And I was in her head the entire time and only went ankle deep.
I have to say, though, I liked the end. Sunny redeemed herself a bit when she broke out of her whole dumbass shell and started acting like a normal human being instead of a superficial peabrain that she was throughout most of the book. She showed depth and caring and sacrifice and I only wish more of that side of her was present in the book because I probably would have liked it more. I mean, I can watch Heathers and they all talk like that but there's depth. Talk like a valley girl all you want so long as you're deeper than a puddle. Because of that I was all around disinterested with Sunny up until the last few chapters.
I actually liked Magnus. Out of all of them, he was probably my favorite character if for nothing more than his adamance to put the welfare of other people ahead of his own despite the fact that other person was completely selfish for most of the time. He seemed like a pretty cool guy and I liked the fact that he's not really into the whole Goth scene but just plays the part. Puts a twist on the character and doesn't make him a stereotype within Mancusi's world. I still don't understand why he fell for Sunny outside of the whole DNA thing (blood mates are made based on DNA, identical twins have identical DNA, thus switching Sunny and Rayne wouldn't mean much in the mates department). Her personality just sucked most of the time and being behind Sunny's eyes and knowing her every thought and action, I really didn't see what was so appealing about her. Thus is the enigma of guys.
The whole Vampire Scent thing got to be a bit much, though. The secretary? Come on. I think that was supposed to be funny but I just saw that as really forced. And the whole thing with Jake? Um, yeah. So apparently the Vampire Scent can make a guy want to hump your leg. Awesome. Again, a bit much.
Overall, I mean, it's not bad but it's definitely not something to write home about. I'd recommend it just for the ending, maybe the last 1/3 or 1/4 of the book or so. The rest of it I could have done without.