Taking Some Vacation Time

Dear readers,

As you may have noticed, this blog has been lacking in posts recently. This is due to two reasons:

1. Burnout. Recently, reviewing and posting have begun to feel like homework. Blogging has lost the fun it used to have for me so I'll be taking a step back from my blog and giving myself a rest. I think this is what's best for me and my readers.

2. I am currently helping a friend who is in charge of many book clubs and this has taken up more of my time. That sounds like a complaint, but it's not. It's fun. And I like being helpful. Anyway, this has led to a drop in the number of YA titles I'm currently able to read.

What does all of this mean? I'm taking a vacation. I'm not stopping, I'm just taking a break. Do I know when I'll be back? No. But I'll still be visiting blogs, interacting on Twitter, and posting here when I feel inspired. So I'll still be around!! I'm not disappearing for forevers! I appreciate your patience and hope I don't lose the support of the followers, readers, and friends that I have made since I began blogging.

I LOVE YOU! <--creepy on purpose

-Angie

Review: ReVamped

ReVamped by Ada Adams
Publication date: February 20, 2012
Publisher: Copy provided by the author

Nineteen-year-old vampire Dawn has led a sheltered life within the confines of her father’s presidential headquarters. Upon being sent on a mission to revamp four goofy misfits into guardians of a peaceful little town of Angel Creek, Dawn believes that all her dreams have finally come true. What starts off as a simple task, turns into something unexpected, changing Dawn’s life forever and leading the action-loving, thrill-seeking vampire teen on a path of mystery, danger and intrigue. When a human girl is kidnapped by a group of rogue vamps, Dawn discovers that there is more going on in Angel Creek than meets the eye. And it all connects to Ethan, the cute newcomer who seems too perfect to be true, Sebastian, the mysterious vampire with a turbulent past, and even Dawn herself. Dawn must not only succeed in revamping the troubled recruits, but must also prevent the vampire race from being overtaken by a malevolent villain who has a strange and obsessive fascination with her. As threat escalates, romance blooms, and ghosts from her past begin to surface, Dawn is sure of only one thing: her life will never be the same.

Tired of emo vampires? Ada Adams takes the vampire genre and turns it on its head. ReVamped is funny, lighter in style, and I found myself laughing out loud at moments. Is Ada the first to change it up? No. I can think of other vampire titles that take on the lighter side, but it's a nice addition to the minority.

For a self-published book, it's one of the best ones that I have read. It was the synopsis that originally drew me to ReVamped. I'll also admit that the cover did too. Gorgeous! I didn't know what to expect and, honestly, was a little worried but it all turned out wonderfully! I really like the world that Ada built: humans know that vampires exist and love them. It also has its own mythology which I enjoyed. The story, itself, I found to be a bit predictable but I couldn't guess the how or why, so I was pleasantly surprised by the twists.

The characters in ReVamped came across as a bit stereotypical to me, minus Hunter who is not a vampire I've read about before. Even for the small part he plays, I found him fascinating. The book has quite a few characters, so putting a lot of back story for EVERYONE into one book would make it pretty long and boring, right? Good thing there's going to be a second one! I want to learn more about these people. Particularly, Sophie. I like her. And of course, it wouldn't be a YA supernatural novel or vampire book without some swoon-worthy gentlemen. Legal-age gentlemen, might I add, that I don't feel so guilty swooning over! Yay!

Read ReVamped for the well-written action scenes, the snarky and kind-hearted kick-butt heroine, the boys (Team Sebastian), the funny, and definitely if you're looking for something different in your vampires.