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A review by cjyu
Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey
4.0
4.25 stars
You know those books that are irrational for you to like? Like it so badly flawed in so many places YET you enjoyed/loved it to pieces?
Yeah, Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side is one of them.
There are a million things I could pick out about this book that was flawed, annoying, shallow, ridiculous, etc. I could say Lucius completely changed character to a point so ridiculous that it was annoying. I could say Jessica was so irrational and shallow at one or more points of this story. I could even pick at the romantic bits at the end and call it downright cliche and cheesy, and the vampire lore in this book is downright stupid. I could say it was boring, the action unnecessary.
But I don't want to pick apart these details- they are what made the book what so unbelievably good. It's the flawedness (I'm probably making up a word again.) in the book that entertained me, that made me appreciate and love these characters.
Yes, the vampire thing, and the cheesy romance was incredibly cliche- But it was all so enjoyable. The alternating POV from Lucius's stiff and posh attitude while watching him changing into a more normal teen (not that we're calling vampires normal here.) and Jessica's transition from nerd to vampire royalty? SUCKED ME IN WITHOUT ANOTHER THOUGHT. (Excuse the really bad pun.)
There was this addictive quality to this book, that I really enjoyed, that just kind of made up for all those flaws. Sure I didn't go all "OMG I MUST READ AND FINISH THIS BOOK OMG." but it wasn't exactly terrible for me to read it either. I liked it, the pacing and writing worked for me, the little humourous bits here and there, even some of that cheesy clicheness, I enjoyed it all. The characters NORMALLY might have pissed me off, but I just.. went through it without a care. I LIKED Jessica and Lucius as couple. They entertained me, made me sigh for them, and laughed along while watching them. (The part where Jessica tries to cook him a hare? Hilarious and a little heartbreaking at the same time.)
To finish it off, Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side is a hilarious somewhat heartwarming book with a weird funky twist on vampires that may not be for everyone, but it sure got through to me.
* I could just be completely crazy and babbling though.
You know those books that are irrational for you to like? Like it so badly flawed in so many places YET you enjoyed/loved it to pieces?
Yeah, Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side is one of them.
There are a million things I could pick out about this book that was flawed, annoying, shallow, ridiculous, etc. I could say Lucius completely changed character to a point so ridiculous that it was annoying. I could say Jessica was so irrational and shallow at one or more points of this story. I could even pick at the romantic bits at the end and call it downright cliche and cheesy, and the vampire lore in this book is downright stupid. I could say it was boring, the action unnecessary.
But I don't want to pick apart these details- they are what made the book what so unbelievably good. It's the flawedness (I'm probably making up a word again.) in the book that entertained me, that made me appreciate and love these characters.
Yes, the vampire thing, and the cheesy romance was incredibly cliche- But it was all so enjoyable. The alternating POV from Lucius's stiff and posh attitude while watching him changing into a more normal teen (not that we're calling vampires normal here.) and Jessica's transition from nerd to vampire royalty? SUCKED ME IN WITHOUT ANOTHER THOUGHT. (Excuse the really bad pun.)
There was this addictive quality to this book, that I really enjoyed, that just kind of made up for all those flaws. Sure I didn't go all "OMG I MUST READ AND FINISH THIS BOOK OMG." but it wasn't exactly terrible for me to read it either. I liked it, the pacing and writing worked for me, the little humourous bits here and there, even some of that cheesy clicheness, I enjoyed it all. The characters NORMALLY might have pissed me off, but I just.. went through it without a care. I LIKED Jessica and Lucius as couple. They entertained me, made me sigh for them, and laughed along while watching them. (The part where Jessica tries to cook him a hare? Hilarious and a little heartbreaking at the same time.)
To finish it off, Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side is a hilarious somewhat heartwarming book with a weird funky twist on vampires that may not be for everyone, but it sure got through to me.
* I could just be completely crazy and babbling though.