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A review by kristid
Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey
4.0
This novel wasn’t exactly what I was expecting! With a line like... “The undead can really screw up your senior year...” I was thinking more a more fluffy, funny, entertaining, just generally a cute novel. I was wrong.
Honestly... when I started this novel and read about the first ten pages... I was skeptical. I started having a little bit of deja vu... which really isn’t that big of a surprise considering the volume of vampire novels I read. And it is not necessarily a bad thing, but the feeling of deja vu was quickly replaced with awe. Kudos to Fantaskey for reinventing the genre with this one. I think I should start rating my books according to how frequently I put them down. During my duration of reading Jessica’s Guide, I only put it down when I absolutely had to. Which I think only happened once or twice, I was that into the story. I started it and finished it in the same day. This is definitely one of those novels I will be revisiting.
The main conflict, referring to the transition to vampire princess, is minimal compared to the real conflicting themes, of identity, independence, and self discovery. Jessica’s character is adopted but, she never fully accepts that part of her life, but you see that change throughout the novel, it is a very powerful thing.
I was very skeptical of the supposed ‘love’ aspect of this novel. Jessica’s account is very realistic and it wasn’t hard for the author to portray that when the novel is told mainly through her observations. She doesn’t immediately fall into his arms, her feelings gradually change. Lucius was the one I was worried about. He is motivated by duty and not love. As a reader I needed to see this radical transformation, I needed to see him switch that mode of duty to genuine feelings. And Fantaskey masterfully displays Lucian through his first-person letters to his uncle. You witness the change in his letters, and that’s what made the love story for me. I believed it. Had the author not included that insight to Lucian, the story would have been inadequate.
The writing was also exceptional. The minor characters really made the story that much more enthralling. It was just perfect. Perfectly entertaining, perfectly masterful. An impressive addition to the genre.
While the ending of the novel is satisfying ( I believe it is a stand alone novel, but I hope I’m wrong), I would love to see a continuation of this story.
Honestly... when I started this novel and read about the first ten pages... I was skeptical. I started having a little bit of deja vu... which really isn’t that big of a surprise considering the volume of vampire novels I read. And it is not necessarily a bad thing, but the feeling of deja vu was quickly replaced with awe. Kudos to Fantaskey for reinventing the genre with this one. I think I should start rating my books according to how frequently I put them down. During my duration of reading Jessica’s Guide, I only put it down when I absolutely had to. Which I think only happened once or twice, I was that into the story. I started it and finished it in the same day. This is definitely one of those novels I will be revisiting.
The main conflict, referring to the transition to vampire princess, is minimal compared to the real conflicting themes, of identity, independence, and self discovery. Jessica’s character is adopted but, she never fully accepts that part of her life, but you see that change throughout the novel, it is a very powerful thing.
I was very skeptical of the supposed ‘love’ aspect of this novel. Jessica’s account is very realistic and it wasn’t hard for the author to portray that when the novel is told mainly through her observations. She doesn’t immediately fall into his arms, her feelings gradually change. Lucius was the one I was worried about. He is motivated by duty and not love. As a reader I needed to see this radical transformation, I needed to see him switch that mode of duty to genuine feelings. And Fantaskey masterfully displays Lucian through his first-person letters to his uncle. You witness the change in his letters, and that’s what made the love story for me. I believed it. Had the author not included that insight to Lucian, the story would have been inadequate.
The writing was also exceptional. The minor characters really made the story that much more enthralling. It was just perfect. Perfectly entertaining, perfectly masterful. An impressive addition to the genre.
While the ending of the novel is satisfying ( I believe it is a stand alone novel, but I hope I’m wrong), I would love to see a continuation of this story.