bitten

What's up with the vampire mania? It is all just a hype or it is something better? I guess we can blame it on Edward. The same Edward that everyone fell in love with in Twilight. But why the hype and all the attention? My guess is, Edward embodies all the qualities that we would want in a guy (drop DEAD gorgeous and all). Pun intended.

Now let me share my fanaticism with the vamps. I frequent NBS all the time. It always makes me happy to be around books. As far as I can remember, I love them. Their smell and the way it takes you to a different place and time. It's a sweet escape. Anyway, that time (early 2008) Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse were in heavy rotation in every entrance of NBS in preparation of Breaking Dawn's release in August 2008. They immediate captured my attention since I've heard a few good feedback about it, not to mention that they look so good. As I've mentioned on an earlier post, black and red is a great-looking and startling combination. I have some money with me, so I bought all 3 books. I haven't had the time to read them yet since I was hooked with chic lits then and I was saving the series for our long flight here in US. The paperback version of Breaking Dawn was not yet released here in the US (is still currently unreleased) so I had to ask my Nanay to send one to me so that all 4 books are in paperback. The OC-ness strikes again.

Of all 4 books, I have to say that I love Eclipse the most. Then Twilight, Breaking Dawn and New Moon. I hated don't like Bella in New Moon. The only saving grace on the book was when she "rescued" Edward in Italy. I also felt like the ending of the series was pilitIt was a good ending but it seemed like everything was forced to have a happy ending. No one even died! :p

I am fond of reading forums and it was a good thing that there are many bookworms who loves vamps as well. There was this thread under Books in Girltalk, where they recommend good vamp books. This was where I get my recos of what vamp book to read next. I found the following series almost as good as Twilight if not better:

Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris. Dead in the Family is the 10th book on the Sookie Stackhouse series. It will be released on May 4, 2010. And this is the same series where True Blood (of HBO)was based. I love that all of the books' title has the word DEAD in it. As always, the books are much much better, although I must admit that Alan Ball (of the 6 Feet Under fame) did a great job of writing the screenplay. There are many differences between the book and the TV series and I must say I look forward on how they will show the war scenes in the TV series.

 

Black Dagger Brotherhood by JR Ward. Lover Mine is the 8th book in the series and this one is about JM (John Matthew aka reincarnated Darius). The book will be released in April 27, 2010 and I am excited! This series is not for Young Adults and not for the faint of heart. It's an erotic paranormal romance series where swearing, booze, drugs, S&M are covered. The series is basically about the brotherhood of warriors and their shellan (lady love) on how they protect the vampire world. Among all the brothers, I love Zhadist and Bella (again?)'s story. The love-hate relationship that they have for one another is something else.

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. Spirit Bound is the 5th installment in this series and it's in the league of Twilight in terms of audience (YA) and content. SB will be released in May 18, 2010 and I will definitely buy this! The premise of the series is that there are 2 types of vampires, the Moroi and the Strigoi. Moroi are the good vamps who have affinity to the 5 elements (earth, fire, wind, water and spirit) while Strigoi are the bad vamps. Dhampir are offsprings of Moroi and humans, often acts as guardians of the Moroi. Vampire Academy is where the Moroi and Dhampir learns on how to use their powers and learns to guard Moroi and kill Strigoi, respectively. The story is focused on Rose (a Dhampir) and Dmitri (also a Dhampir). Recent events turned for the worst when Dmitri became the very person that he hated, he was turned to a Strogoi and Rose must kill him.

House of Night by PC and Kristin Cast. This series is like the Harry Potter for vamps. Burned is the 7th installment in the series and will be released sometime in April 2010. The premise is like this, if a person becamed Marked, he/she must go to the House of Night and learn on how to be a vampire. They are basically students and teachers who are guided by Nyx (The Goddess). I love this series since it really is like Harry Potter but the lead character is a girl named Zoey Redbird and she has the Nyx within her. For the YA genre and a true must-read!

Blood Coven by Mari Macusi. This one is a funny and short series. Bad Blood is the 4th book and this is about twins Sunshine and Raine who are different like Day and Night. Raine was into the vampire way of life and Sunny got sucked into the madness as well which she did NOT appreciate at all!

There was one series that I did NOT like at all. The first two books are ok, but as the story went on, it became dragging, complicated and boring! It's Vampire Diaries by LJ Smith. It is a really good thing that the TV series only based on the beginning part of the series. The TV series is so much better!

There are still several Vamp series that I have yet to read. Blue Bloods by Melissa Dela Cruz (yes she's a Filipina), Morganville series,  Cirque de Freak, Undead etc. I'll find the time to read them but at the meantime I'm on a break from vamp books. I guess it's safe to say that I've really been bitten. :p