The Coffin Club (book) by Ellen Schreiber

This is the fifth book in Schreiber's Vampire Kisses series. It's a series that mostly gets a "meh" response from me, but I keep reading it because the books are short and easy to get through, and because I keep hoping that Alexander will get to do something interesting. For the most part, this book gets my usual "meh" response, but there were a few things about it that got a fangirl squeal of approval from me.

I should mention that my reading of this book was colored by what I learned when I indulged my bad habit of skipping to the last few pages shortly after beginning the book. Alexander keeps a secret from Raven throughout most of this book, and knowing this secret allowed me to enjoy certain parts of the book in ways I don't think I would have otherwise.

Synopsis:

Desperate to see Alexander again, Raven decides to surprise him by going to see him in Hipsterville once her summer vacation starts. He'd gone there to take care of some vampire business (something involving Valentine and Jagger - I can't quite remember what that business was), but something is delaying his return to Dullsville. While Alexander is as happy to see Raven as Raven is to see him, he can't go back to Dullsville with her yet. He also doesn't want Raven going to the Coffin Club on her own, something which frustrates her, since this is one of the few places where she can meet lots of people who dress and think like she does.

Looking for something to pass the time one evening while she waits for her Aunt Libby, Raven decides to go to the Coffin Club. Things have changed since the last time she was there - the line to get in is a lot longer, and there are now two sides to the club, the public side and the secret side. Raven stumbles upon and talks her way into the secret side of the club, which caters to vampires rather than humans. This secret part of the Coffin Club has become a place where vampires can go and be themselves, partying with and flirting with others of their kind and having drinks made with blood.

The Coffin Club is going through an upheaval, however. There are two sides, the side that wants the vampires to go public and take over Hipsterville, and the side that wants the club to continue to be a secret haven for vampires and a relatively benign presence in Hipsterville. From what others in the club tell Raven, it looks like Jagger is on the side that wants vampires to stay secret, while a new, somewhat frightening vampire named Phoenix is on the side that wants vampires to go public. Although Raven doesn't trust Jagger, she at least knows him, and she doesn't know anything about Phoenix other than that he may be even more dangerous than Jagger. Something about Phoenix draws her, however, and the feeling seems to be mutual, because he always seems to be watching her.

Raven gets to visit the Coffin Club a few more times after this, even going there with Alexander once, although she can't bring herself to tell him that she's already gone there on her own. While lost and trying to find the public side of the club again, Raven ends up at Jagger's place in the club. Recently, local crop circles have been making the news - Raven had theorized that vampires were responsible, because a witness reported seeing bats, and in Jagger's apartment Raven spots all the tools necessary for creating crop circles. Both Phoenix and Jagger find her in the apartment, and Raven chooses to go with Jagger, the devil she knows. Thankfully, Alexander's recent reconciliation with Jagger seems to extend to her as well, and Jagger leads her safely out of the vampire part of the Coffin Club.

The day after a nice double date (Raven and Alexander, plus Aunt Libby and her new boyfriend Devon), Raven decides to do a little more investigating. She knows that Jagger and Phoenix are confronting each other at the site of one of the crop circles, and Raven wants to be there to listen in on what they have to say to each other. To her shock, Raven discovers that she's had it all wrong - it's Jagger who wants the vampires to take over Hipsterville and Phoenix who wants them to remain a secret.

After that bombshell, Raven goes on a date with Alexander and still can't bring herself to tell him everything she's done and learned about the Coffin Club, Jagger, and Phoenix. Alexander gives Raven a gift, a one-way ticket back to Dullsville with the promise that they'll both be leaving together soon. However, Raven has one last thing she wants to do. She goes back to the club, despite an ominous warning from Phoenix, and tells the vampire friends she's made (who don't know that she's human) what she's learned about Phoenix and Jagger. Finally, everything comes down to a vote for either Phoenix or Jagger - whoever wins gets the Master Key to the Coffin Club and gets to determine how things will be for vampires in Hipsterville. Phoenix wins by a large margin and decides to give his new power over the the clubgoers, but Jagger tries to invalidate the vote by bringing attention to Raven's vote.

Suddenly, Raven finds herself very much the only human among a large group of angry vampires. Raven's friends stand by her, but even they almost can't prevent the crowd from forcibly turning her into a vampire. Crying out for Alexander, Raven is instead saved by Phoenix. Although still not quite sure she can trust him, Raven allows Phoenix to take her to safety. All the secrecy has become too much for her, and Raven rushes to Alexander's place, determined to tell him everything that's been going on - only to discover that he already knows everything, because he was Phoenix all along. He had disguised himself because he knew he had to stop Jagger but also didn't want to mess up his recent reconciliation with Jagger. Now that everything has been resolved, it's time for Alexander and Raven to return to Dullsville together.

Commentary:

Raven is still conflicted about whether or not she wants to become a vampire. On the one hand, she kind of does, because the vampire world is attractive and exhilarating to her. On the other hand, she knows that Alexander feels like an outsider in the vampire world, and she knows that the vampire life is not what he wants for her. Some aspects of it kind of frighten her, as well. She had a nightmare about forcibly being turned into a vampire (amusingly enough, knowing how the book ends, Phoenix was the scary one in her nightmare), and, when she's almost forcibly turned into one for real, it's Alexander that she calls out for. Even if she does decide to become a vampire, she wants to become one on her terms - she wants Alexander to be the one who does it.

I don't think I would've guessed that Alexander was Phoenix, because Raven and Alexander pass by Phoenix's motorcycle on their way into the Coffin Club, creating the impression that Phoenix is already in the club somewhere when they get there. Had Schreiber taken it too far, Alexander pretending to be Phoenix might have pissed me off. As it was, however, I found it amusing, a little cute, and a little sexy. Raven got to see Alexander not as sweet, safe Alexander, but as a scary, somewhat sinister vampire, and it both drew her and frightened her. Alexander sort of tested her twice - the first time he talked to her as Phoenix, he flirted with her a bit, and she didn't bite, telling him that she already had a boyfriend. Near the end of the book, he flirted with her some more, and again she told him that she already had a boyfriend, although Raven noted that he didn't really seem to want her to accept any of his flirtations. I chose to interpret all of this as a way for Alexander to test whether Raven really wanted him or would go after any sexy vampire who showed an interest in her - and the answer was that she wouldn't. It's kind of cute, and Alexander didn't carry it to jealous extremes. It's also kind of cute that he kept trying to watch out for her while disguised as Phoenix (unfortunately making her fear Phoenix even more, since, to her, it seemed like he was stalking her or something).

I'm glad I already knew that Phoenix was really Alexander, because otherwise this book probably would've annoyed me. Throughout the whole series, I've felt that Schreiber doesn't do enough with Alexander and the romance between him and Raven - Alexander has a tendency to feel like Raven's token sexy vampire boyfriend, loved only because he's both sweet and a vampire. Alexander hardly shows up at all in this book as himself, and, when he does show up, Raven spends the whole time hiding things from him. It's not exactly the ideal situation.

I really hope that Schreiber eventually gives Alexander a bigger, better part, or at least focuses more on the relationship between him and Raven. By this point in the series, I shouldn't still find myself wishing for their relationship to get more development, and yet I am. I know this series is aimed at "reluctant readers" who are probably in a slightly younger age group than the audiences of any of the other young adult books I've read lately, but does that really mean the romance has to be so bare bones? Somehow, even Raven and Alexander's dates end up being unsatisfying.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

• Got Fangs? (book) by Katie Maxwell - This is the first book in Maxwell's Goth Series. Fran is tagging along with her mother, who's part of a Goth faire traveling in Europe. Fran has the ability to read people with her touch, but she hates her ability and feels like a freak because of it. A young man shows up and tells her that he's a vampire and she's his Beloved, the only person who can lift his curse. Although Benedikt is sexy, Fran's a bit resistant. Readers who enjoyed the vampires, romance, mystery, and action in The Coffin Club might like this book.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer (live action TV series) - Pretty, blond, cheerleader-material Buffy moves to a new school and discovers that she, as the Slayer, must forget any chance she might have at becoming a normal, popular girl and fight demons, vampires, and other supernatural horrors in order to keep the oblivious residents of Sunnydale safe. Like Raven, Buffy eventually finds herself with a brooding, socially awkward, romantic vampire boyfriend. Readers who enjoyed Raven's investigations, her outsider status, the vampires, and the cluelessness of everyone in Dullsville might like this TV series. Readers who'd rather try another book should look into some of the many books based on this series - I don't, at the moment, have a particular book to recommend.
• The Wallflower (manga) by Tomoko Hayakawa - When Sunako finally gathered up the courage to tell the boy she liked how she felt about him, he crushed her by telling her that he doesn't like ugly people. Ever since then, Sunako has surrounded herself with dark and scary things and stopped putting any effort into how she looks. She watches bloody horror movies, she's ghostly pale and dresses in dark clothing, and her room is filled with skulls, coffins, and other gruesome things. She lives alone in her aunt's house, which, unfortunately for her, is invaded by four beautiful guys who were promised free rent by her aunt if they could only turn Sunako into a lady. Readers who like the way Raven dresses and her obsession with dark things may like this series. Also, there are many light-hearted, sweet, and funny moments throughout this series, as well as hints of romance (which will have to stay hints until Sunako gets over her fear of romance, dating, and love).
• Chibi Vampire (manga) by Yuna Kagesaki - Karin is a misfit in a family of vampires - rather than taking blood, she must give it (she really has to or she gets the most horrifying nosebleeds of all time), and she is unable to mind-wipe humans, can go out in the sun, and can tolerate garlic. A new boy named Kenta comes to her school and suddenly Karin's body is reacting to him, producing blood much faster than normal - what's going on? Those who'd like another vampire romance that would work well for a YA audience might want to try this.
  

Teenage Mermaid (book) by Ellen Schreiber

Spencer almost drowns in a surfing accident but is rescued and saved with a kiss of life given by someone he thought looked like a mermaid. Whatever she is, she's the girl of his dreams, and Spencer is determined to find her. The only clue he's got is the silver heart locket he accidentally took from her.

Lily is a mermaid who's fascinated by humans, beings which most mermaids view as lesser creatures. One day, she breaks her own people's rules and reveals herself in order to rescue a human boy. Unfortunately, she loses her heirloom locket in the process. When she spots the signs asking for the "golden-haired beauty who saved my life" to come to Seaside High Stadium for a thank you, she knows she has to go see this boy in order to get her locket back. Lily and her friend Waverly manage to get hold of a potion that will give a mermaid legs for a few hours - the catch is that if the mermaid stays out too long, he or she will be stuck on land forever, having forgotten how to breathe in the water.

In Schreiber's world, life as a mermaid is exactly like life as a human, only underwater with a few things named differently (and pet dolphins instead of pet dogs). I would've preferred it if things had been a little different, but I suppose it was funny how much mermaids looked down on beings who are exactly like them. Lily was so much like the super-confident, popular type that it wasn't really surprising that Spencer thought she'd end up dating one of the school jocks after she got her locket back from him. Actually, I thought that Spencer was more interesting than Lily, despite the fact that the book focused slightly more on her than it did on him (the book alternated between chapters from Spencer's perspective and chapters from Lily's perspective). I liked how he changed his hair color every week or so, and I liked his somewhat shaky confidence when it came to life outside of surfing (he's not one of the popular kids), which was balanced by his determination.

The "fish out of water" aspect was interesting, too, and often funny. Despite Lily's obsession with all things human, she (and mermaids in general) doesn't actually know much about them, so it's difficult for her to blend in properly in the high school classes she accidentally finds herself a part of. Luckily, others assume that she's just a bit weird or trying to be funny, so they don't think anything of it when her answers to class questions are strange. Even Spencer rationalizes anything she does that doesn't quite fit, so he doesn't realize that she's really a mermaid until nearly the end of the book.

Although this was a fun, fast-paced (and short) read, it was very predictable. I'm not just talking about the "you know Lily and Spencer will end up together" aspect - it's a romance, of course they're going to end up together. No, I mean that it was fairly obvious that the potion would be part of the climactic moment (readers are told what can go wrong with it - a mermaid can end up drowning, unable to breathe water), and it's just as obvious what will happen to make everything turn out okay (early on, it's explained that a kiss of love from an Earthee - a human - can save a mermaid and turn that Earthee into a merperson). Yes, right there on page 34, with another 120 or so pages to go, the reader pretty much knows what to expect by the end of the book. It's not very subtle.

Still, the characters are bubbly and likable, the story's lighthearted, and there's a nice mix of fantasy and a high school setting. As long as readers don't expect too much and don't mind a book that doesn't expect them to do much thinking, this isn't too bad of a read. Just as a warning, though, it does end rather abruptly.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

• The Little Mermaid (non-Japanese animation, movie) - In this Disney movie loosely based on a story by Hans Christian Andersen, Ariel, a mermaid and the youngest daughter of King Triton, dreams of going on land and being among humans. One day, she makes a deal with a sea witch - in exchange for her voice, she'll be able to walk on land and try to win the heart of the human prince she's fallen in love with. Unfortunately, the sea witch has terrible plans of her own. Those who'd like another story in which a mermaid falls in love with a human and magically acquires legs in order to see him might like this movie.
• Pichi Pichi Pitch (manga) by Michiko Yokote (story) and Pink Hanamori (art); Mermaid Melody: Pichi Pichi Pitch (anime TV series) - Luchia, a young mermaid, once saved an orphan boy her age from drowning by giving him a magical pearl. Years later, she takes on human form in order to get her pearl back from the boy, but she has to be careful, because she'll turn into foam if she tells him that she was the mermaid who saved him. Those who'd like another story that mixes comedy, magic, and romance between a mermaid and a human boy might like this manga/anime series.
• Diary of a Radical Mermaid (book) by Deborah Smith - The story focuses on Juna Lee, a spoiled (but not malicious) mer-woman, and Molly Revere, a children's author who doesn't know she has mermaid ancestry. The two fall in love with a couple mer-men and deal with an oil company's plot to ruin the ocean as we know it. Those who'd like another light-hearted story with merfolk, adventure, romance, and humor might like this book. Be aware, however, that this book was written for an adult audience. Also, this is actually book 2 of Smith's Waterlilies series, which began with Alice at Heart (the tone of the first book is very different from this one).
• Sleeping With the Fishes (book) by MaryJanice Davidson - Fred isn't your average mermaid - she's not blond, she's not buxom, and she has a tendency towards crankiness. Even though she can't swim when she's not in her mermaid form, she works at an aquarium, trying to convince the fish to eat their food. Fred, a marine biologist who goes all fanboy when mermaids are mentioned, and Prince Artur, a merman and the High Prince of the Black Sea, join forces in an attempt to figure out what's causing the high levels of toxins in the local seawater. Of course, the marine biologist and the prince are also interested in seducing Fred. Those who'd like another story featuring humor, romance, and mermaids might like this book. Be aware, however, that this book was written for an adult audience.
• Dancing With an Alien (book) by Mary Logue - Tonia, a 17-year-old, saves a young man named Branko from drowning and finds out that he comes from another planet, one where the entire female population has been wiped out. Branko was sent to Earth to find a female willing to go back with him and repopulate his planet, but he didn't anticipate falling in love with the one he finds. No matter what choice Branko makes, whether to take Tonia with him to his planet so that she can become a baby factory or leave her on her own planet so that she can live a normal life, he will have to give up his love for her. Those who'd like another story involving a watery rescue and romance between a human and a non-human might like this book. This book is a great deal less light-hearted than Schreiber's story.

Vampire Kisses series by Ellen Schreiber

This series focuses on the adventures of Raven Madison, the only Goth in the small town she calls Dullsville. She's got an odd sort of love/hate relationship going on with one of her school's jocks, her only friend is a girl named Becky who's nice but not Goth, and her family doesn't understand her. Then one day someone moves into the old abandoned mansion in Dullsville, and all Raven's wishes come true, because the new guy, Alexander, is hot, dresses in black just like her, and may be a vampire.

Every book in this series is short, under 200 pages (or at least not much over 200 pages), and probably won't be too daunting for those who don't generally enjoy reading. Readers who like vampires, a smidgen of romance, and adventure of the sneaking-around and clue-finding sort might like this series. Some readers may identify with Raven, who doesn't really feel like she fits in anywhere in her small town - don't worry, though, Raven may dress in black, but she's not the moping sort. She's energetic, determined, and curious, and she loves all things dark and creepy. Raven and Alexander occasionally end up in danger, but things always work out all right in the end.

If you'd like specifics about the storylines of each book and what I thought each book's strengths and weaknesses were, you'll have to click on the links below to get to the original posts I published.

I'm not going to mark down which of these read-alikes and watch-alikes apply to the series as a whole, since I think they all apply. If you're curious about specific information for these books, manga, and shows, click on the links - they'll take you to the posts I wrote for each of Ellen Schreiber's books. At the end of each of these posts are the read-alike/watch-alike lists, with more information about the recommendations and why I chose them.

Book 3 - Vampireville

• Got Fangs? (book) by Katie Maxwell
• Chibi Vampire (manga) by Yuna Kagesaki
• Daughters of Darkness (book) by L.J. Smith
• Secret Vampire (book) by L.J. Smith

Book 4 - Dance With a Vampire

• Daughters of Darkness (book) by L.J. Smith
• Got Fangs? (book) by Katie Maxwell
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer (live action TV series)
• The Wallflower (manga) by Tomoko Hayakawa

Dance With a Vampire (book) by Ellen Schreiber

Young goth-girl Raven has a lot going on in her life right now. In addition to getting ready for her very first prom (Raven's school is so small all grades are allowed to attend), she and her vampire boyfriend, Alexander, must track down Valentine, the younger sibling of the two vampires she and Alexander drove out of Dullsville in the previous book. Unfortunately, Valentine has befriended Billy, Raven's younger brother, and Raven is terrified that Valentine's plan is to get back at her and Alexander by hurting her family. Not only that, but Valentine knows one of Raven's biggest secrets, the one thing that could be most damaging for her and Alexander's relationship: as much as she has always insisted she wants to become a vampire and be with Alexander, she is actually very conflicted about the thought of turning into one.

This is the fourth book in Schreiber's Vampire Kisses Series, and I think it's the best yet. I didn't much like the previous book, Vampireville, because I felt it relied too much on convenient coincidences and the stupidity of the adults around Raven. Also, as an avid reader of romance novels, I've found the romance in this series to be lacking - Raven loves gushing over Alexander, but Schreiber rarely takes the time to give her readers scenes that show them getting to know each other or doing romantic things. If there are any such scenes, Schreiber usually skims over them quickly. Although I think there's still a lot of room for improvement, many of these issues were not as much of a problem in this latest book. Raven's parents and teachers still had a habit of falling for Raven's lies, but her investigations managed to stay within the realm of what's believable for a girl her age. Raven actually did a little thinking about her relationship with Alexander that wasn't all sparkles and roses - her realization that she might not actually want to become a vampire put her through a bit of an emotional wringer, since she now had to worry about whether or not Alexander would still want to be with her if he knew the truth (despite the fact that he's repeatedly said that he doesn't want her to become a vampire). Also, there were a few nicely romantic scenes that Schreiber, for once, chose to actually show us, rather than summarize later on. I particularly liked the bit where Alexander shows Raven the surprise he put in her locker. It's very sweet and fits his character.

Raven's brother, Billy, gets a bit more developed in this book, and the result is pretty sweet. In an earlier book, Billy made it clear that he wanted Raven to respect him more and not call him Nerd Boy. In this book, Schreiber continues this storyline with little details that show how much he respects Raven's opinion of him. She also shows this aspect of Billy by having him befriend and defend a boy who's much like Raven. For that alone, I liked Valentine more than I liked Jagger or Luna - Valentine actually served a larger purpose than just being a new vampiric bad guy (besides which, he didn't turn out to be as bad as Alexander and Raven feared).

I have a feeling that in a future book Raven is going to have to deal more actively with her outcast status. Although she's good at befriending others, if they'll just give her a chance and take a little time to get to know her, there are also indications that her world is getting a little shaken up. For instance, her friend Becky is becoming more and more like one of the popular girls, and the secrets Raven must keep about Alexander (that he's a vampire and everything that goes with that) mean that there's very little she can actually confide to her friend, something that allows them to drift further apart. This, with Raven's realization that she doesn't want to fully become part of Alexander's world, means that Raven's becoming more and more isolated. I also have a feeling that future books might have to deal more with Raven's somewhat ambiguous relationship with Trevor, one of Dullsville High's jocks. In some books more than others, Raven and Trevor have had varying degrees of flirtation, and there are hints, even in this book, that Raven might be more attracted to him than she'd like to admit. I can see Alexander forcing the issue more in later books.

Overall, Dance With a Vampire renewed my affection for this series, and I'm looking forward to the next book. I still wish that Schreiber would do a better job with the romantic aspects of the series, but she's come a long way from the unsatisfying scenes in her earlier books. Raven's over-the-top silly mental love notes to Halloween imagery (she has a habit of invoking spiders, bats, and dark or creepy things during some of her descriptions) has been toned down a little for this book, although that sort of thing is still present.

Finally, I'd like to add that I loved Raven's goth version of a prom dress - it sounded gorgeous, and it thankfully didn't reference some sort of trademarked character or band in order to reassure readers of its goth-iness.

Read-alikes and Watch-alikes:

• Daughters of Darkness (book) by L. J. Smith - This is the second book in Smith's Night World Series - the first book gives readers a little more information about the world and includes an appearance of one of the main characters in this book, but it should still be easy enough to follow along with the second if you haven't read the first. Mary-Lynette and her brother Mark are curious about the new girls who've moved to their town. They see something that lead them to believe the girls might've killed someone. Things get even more complicated when Ash, a relative of the girls, comes to town. The three new girls are actually vampires and fugitives from the Night World, and Ash is determined to bring them back. Unfortunately, Ash and Mary-Lynette turn out to be soulmates (very forbidden in the Night World), and there's also still a murderer to deal with in town. Despite the fact that this series was never concluded, I love it and this book in particular. Readers who enjoyed Dance With a Vampire's romantic aspects and vampires might like this book. As in Dance With a Vampire, Mary-Lynette, Ash, and others must hunt down and stop someone who is a danger to the residents of their small town. Mary-Lynette, like Raven, must decide how she feels about becoming a vampire for her boyfriend. The romantic aspects are stronger in this book than in Dance With a Vampire, and people aren't just in danger, they're being killed, so this book might be better for slightly older readers than Dance With a Vampire, but, no matter their age, reluctant readers will appreciate that this book, like Schreiber's, is short.
• Got Fangs? (book) by Katie Maxwell - This is the first book in Maxwell's Goth Series. Fran is tagging along with her mother, who's part of a Goth faire traveling in Europe. Fran has the ability to read people with her touch, but she hates her ability and feels like a freak because of it. A young man shows up and tells her that he's a vampire and she's his Beloved, the only person who can lift his curse. Although Benedikt is sexy, Fran's a bit resistant. Readers who enjoyed the vampires, romance, mystery, and action in Dance With a Vampire might like this book.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer (live action TV series) - Pretty, blond, cheerleader-material Buffy moves to a new school and discovers that she, as the Slayer, must forget any chance she might have at becoming a normal, popular girl and fight demons, vampires, and other supernatural horrors in order to keep the oblivious residents of Sunnydale safe. Like Raven, Buffy eventually finds herself with a brooding, socially awkward, romantic vampire boyfriend. Readers who enjoyed Raven's investigations, her outsider status, the vampires, and the cluelessness of everyone in Dullsville might like this TV series. Readers who'd rather try another book should look into some of the many books based on this series - I don't, at the moment, have a particular book to recommend.
• The Wallflower (manga) by Tomoko Hayakawa - When Sunako finally gathered up the courage to tell the boy she liked how she felt about him, he crushed her by telling her that he doesn't like ugly people. Ever since then, Sunako has surrounded herself with dark and scary things and stopped putting any effort into how she looks. She watches bloody horror movies, she's ghostly pale and dresses in dark clothing, and her room is filled with skulls, coffins, and other gruesome things. She lives alone in her aunt's house, which, unfortunately for her, is invaded by four beautiful guys who were promised free rent by her aunt if they could only turn Sunako into a lady. Readers who like the way Raven dresses and her obsession with dark things may like this series. Also, there are many light-hearted, sweet, and funny moments throughout this series, as well as hints of romance (which will have to stay hints until Sunako gets over her fear of romance, dating, and love).

Vampireville (book) by Ellen Schreiber

Originally posted May 2, 2008 at A Library Girl's Outlet:

I just finished Ellen Schreiber's Vampireville, the third book in her YA Vampire Kisses series. I've requested the next book in the series, Dance With a Vampire, and I'm not exactly sure why. It's not that these books are very good - they're just short, fast reads. I guess part of the reason why I'm getting the next book is that there aren't enough reasons not to get it. They're free, since I'm getting them all from the library, they're each under 200 pages, and it's not like I'm lacking in time to read them.

Before I start talking about the books, I'm putting in a SPOILER ALERT. I'm not sure how much of what I'll be talking about will actually end up giving away important plots points, but, just in case, you are warned.

The main character is a girl named Raven, the only Goth in a town she refers to only as Dullsville. Raven is actually a bit of ditsy goth. She gets fan girl excited over anything others call dark and spooky. The books frequently reference band names, movie titles, and more, anything that the author thought a typical young Goth girl might like. During the first book, after some serious flirting with an arrogant jock character, a new boy named Alexander moves into town and Raven decides he is the guy of her dreams. He dresses like she does and acts in ways that make her think he's a vampire. The author tries to make it seem like Raven is wrong and Alexander is just a regular Goth guy who just happens to never be seen during the day, but fails miserably. It shouldn't be a surprise to anybody that he actually does turn out to be a vampire.

In the next couple books, Raven tries to track down Alexander, who leaves at the end of the first book, and then, when she finds him, help him stop a couple dangerous teen vampires. In order to keep the plot fast-paced, people conveniently leave and arrive at times that would be best for Raven and for the plot (either moving things along quickly or mucking things up in just the right way that it doesn't take too many pages to resolve the issues and still keep the ending from happening even quicker than it already does). For instance, when Raven goes to the travel agency where she was once forced to work and is denied information when she asks for it, she comes up with a lie about someone needing keys at another location. Without hardly batting an eyelash, the person at the travel agency leaves to bring that person their keys, allowing Raven to briefly watch out for the travel agency and conveniently giving her access to the information she was just told she could not have for confidentially reasons. Later on, there is never any mention made of this incident, despite the fact that the person who supposedly needed the keys would not have been there to receive them.

This sort of thing happens frequently and is one of the things that bugs me about this series. I know the series is probably intended either for students in junior high or early high school, but that's still doesn't excuse the sheer number of coincidences and the general stupidity/blindness of anyone not Raven or Alexander.

That doesn't mean the series doesn't have its good points, though. Here's a list:

• Romantic elements - The romance between Alexander and Raven is one of the main reasons I started the series. I do love vampire-human romance, and the romance in this book is the sweet, kisses-only kind.
• Fast pace - Whatever I might think about the way Schreiber achieves such a fast pace, the fact is, it really is a fast-paced series. This series might be perfect for anyone who is reluctant to start a book because it takes them forever to finish. With each book under 200 pages, they don't even look all that daunting.
• Mystery - Although the progress of Raven's investigations rely heavily on coincidences, she does do some investigating, and there are some readers who will probably enjoy following along while she tries to track down coffins or figure out the vampiric status of town newcomers.
• Goth main characters - I've never been a part of the Goth subculture, so I can't say for sure whether Raven and Alexander's behavior really fits in, or whether they would be sneered at by real-life Goths. However, there are probably plenty of people, especially high school and junior high kids, who could identify with Raven's feeling that she doesn't fit in.

Now for the bad parts:

• Coincidences - I already talked about the coincidences and denseness of just about all the characters besides Raven and Alexander.
• The romance is superficial - I read a lot of romance novels, and I love seeing how the relationships in those books develop. Every time I get started with a new book in this series, I hope that Schreiber will include more relationship development scenes between Raven and Alexander, and every time I get a little taste and then am left disappointed. Alexander is introduced fairly late in the first book, and, since then, Schreiber hasn't really revealed much more about him and his personality. He's shy, he likes to paint, he's a vampire, and he used to be betrothed but he broke it off. That's pretty much it. Rather than building on this and developing the emotions and relationship between him and Raven, Schreiber has the occasional "cuddling while watching a movie and eating popcorn" scene that shows that the two of them are getting along well and like the same kinds of entertainment, but which accomplishes nothing in the way of relationship development.
• Anytown, USA - The place where Raven lives and any place she visits all come across as cardboard cutouts of actual places. This might be a plus for some, but there are times when it would be nice to get a fuller, less black-and-white picture of the setting (not to mention the characters, most of whom also also seem to be cardboard stereotypes). Although it's implied that the town actually has a real name, Raven always refers to it by the nickname Dullsville.
• Cardboard cutout characters - I figured I'd give this an actual bullet point. So far, very few characters have shown any signs of having any interesting grays in their otherwise black-and-white personalities. Because Schreiber has so far refused to reveal much about Alexander and what makes him the Gothic vampire of Raven's dreams, besides a few basic personality traits, a hobby, and a sliver of his past, he is actually a pretty boring character in comparison with Trevor, Raven's nemesis and possibly the guy she might have ended up with if Alexander had not shown up. Although he frequently acts like a jerk, he's shown the potential to break out of the Dullsville herd mentality enough to look at Raven and not have the knee-jerk "she's a freak" reaction. Although Becky is both Raven's friend and a "normal" girl, due to her not being a Goth, she doesn't count as a non-cardboard character because their friendship was mostly born out of a mutual outcast status - Raven has always been looked down on for what she likes and the way she dresses, and Becky was picked on when she was younger.
• The endings - The ending for the third book wasn't really that bad, with a cliffhanger that makes it pretty obvious what the main threat in the next book is going to be. However, the endings for the first two books were awful. I think I already mentioned that Alexander leaves at the end of the first book. He leaves, without any warning, right after his and Raven's relationship is set right again. It was way too sudden and didn't make any sense. True, it's explained in the next book, but that's not really the point. It's one thing to have a cliffhanger. It's another to smack your reader in the face with something upsetting, disappointing and confusing during the last few pages. The second book ends with a showdown that...ends, right in the middle of tension and danger. This makes it seem like Schreiber couldn't come up with an interesting ending, so she figured ending before a tense scene had actually finished would be good enough.

If someone asked me to recommend some more books like the Vampire Kisses series, or if they wanted books that are better than these, but with some of the same elements, here's what I would recommend:

• Got Fangs? by Katie Maxwell - Francesca can read minds when she touches someone, so it seems like she fits in pretty well when she joins the psychic fair in Hungary that her mother is part of. While there, she meets Benedikt, a vampire, who is convinced that she is his Beloved and that they are meant to be together for all eternity. Although I also wish this book (and series) would pay a little more attention to developing the relationship between the girl and her vampire, there is still more romantic development here than in any of the Vampire Kisses books. Francesca and Benedikt never do more than kiss, although Francesca does start thinking about how she feels about sex, at least in the next book in the series. The mystery elements are interesting and rely on coincidences much less than the Vampires Kisses books. I should also add that Katie Maxwell has written more books in this series as Katie MacAlister. They feature different characters and are intended for adults, so there's some explicit sex scenes.
• Chibi Vampire series by Yuna Kagesaki - Okay, so this is a manga series, and that's not for everybody, but it's still a ton of fun. Karin is a misfit in a family of vampires - rather than taking blood, she must give it (she really has to or she gets the most horrifying nosebleeds of all time), and she is unable to mind-wipe humans, can go out in the sun, and can tolerate garlic. A new boy named Kenta comes to her school and suddenly Karin's body is reacting to him, producing blood much faster than normal - what's going on? It's a funny series with the occasional dark moment. Readers who wanted more romance than what they found in the Vampire Kisses series may enjoy the developing romance between Kenta and Karin. Also, once you get the hang of the right-to-left reading format (the series has not been flipped for Western readers, so the pages must be read in the original Japanese right-to-left way), these are really quick reads.
• Night World series by L. J. Smith - The first book in this series is Secret Vampire, but I prefer the next book, Daughters of Darkness. In Secret Vampire, a terminally ill teen is turned into a vampire by her friend, the boy she's had a crush on for years. In Daughters of Darkness, three vampire sisters go to a small town to get away from their highly patriarchal vampire family. They are pursued by Ash (a cousin of theirs), who ends up discovering his soulmate, a human girl named Mary-Lynnette who believes in science and wants nothing to do with the world of the supernatural. In any of the books in this series that have relationships between a human and a member of the Night World (a sort of supernatural society that includes vampires, shapeshifters, witches, etc.), there's always a sense of danger, because humans who find out about the Night World tend to get killed. Also, each book has a fairly major romantic storyline, and each book is pretty short. Unfortunately, I don't believe the series was ever finished. This is disappointing, since there were several things that were never resolved (the major climax the series was building towards, for instance), but most of the books are enjoyable despite this.

Well, that's my fun for the day - now I'm off to spend a few hours writing up applications and doing housework.