Book Review: Vampire Beach by Alex DuVal

Jason Freeman is stoked when his family relocates to exclusive DeVere Heights, Malibu. The in-crowd at his posh new high school is surprisingly friendly -- soon Jason's hitting all the best parties. He even meets the token hot-but-unattainable girl.

Determined to enjoy his almost postcard-perfect new life, Jason tries hard to ignore the many strange things going down in DeVere Heights. But then a girl washes up dead the morning after one off-the-hook party -- and with no explanation but a suspicious-looking bite mark. Now Jason has to admit that what you don't want to know can hurt you.

What i thought: A unique side of Malibu--sand, surf, sun--but also death, mystery, and danger. Who ever thought a gang of vampires would be living in sunny California? (You know, Hotel California by the Eagles?)

Most of us (who live in the US at least) have seen Cali's bright oceans and sandy beaches, but would you ever suspect that there were VAMPIRES? Ha. Me either. You know the story, with the kid who moves to sunny California from not-so-sunny other place? Duval takes that story, and prestents it to you on a silver platter, not without a twist.

I like vampire stories. If you've read any of my other reviews, you might already know that. Because of my prejudice, I dove into the first in the series of Vampire Beach books with high expectations. And I did enjoy it. Yes, it has some problems in the long run, but what book doesnt?

This book gave a twist on both the high school popular crowd and sunny Cali. Duval offers a unique side to the place we all--well, most of us--know and love

The main thing i really disliked was how after Jason discovered the Vampires, Duval unfocused on the high school-aspect, and never returned. It was almost as if Jason had stopped attending the school, and, in result, you did too. There was clearly a lot of stuff going on in Jason's high school, but relatively little of it was explored.

When I was done with Bloodlust, I was grateful that there were three other Vampire Beach--i have the omnibuses--books and tore right into them. There is also a fifth one, which i plan to get . . . somehow:)

Although these novels contain breif sexual content and mention alcohol/drug use quite frequently, what good, [semi-]realistic, teen novel doesnt?

Duval does a great job of combining the vampire aspect with the regular teen aspect--no matter how brief it was--creating a story that is easy to read and flows extremely well.

A fun, light read, but, then again, one you cannot help but enjoy.

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