Carmilla

One of my best friends in this world told me that I should read this book that I would be able to find it in any local bookstore and I did. I wasn't even looking for it, just one day, while looking for new books, it was right there, new cover, new publication.

Carmilla was written by Joseph Sheridan de Fanu and published in the magazine The Dark Blue in 1872! Yes, it is an old story!

So, I believe that reviews can go for new books but also for old ones. In that way we all get to know about everything and make our lives a bit more interesting.

Well, eventhough it is old, this short story ( more like a tale) is amazing. When you look at the date it was published you can't help to admire the writing and how the story perfectly fits today's vampire's books. The style makes you want to devour it and you will once you have it in your hands.

One thing is for sure, you need to know that once you are set on reading it you have to have in mind that it is an old story and that it is more like a short story than a whole book. I did not know what I was getting myself into and began reading it and was getting kind of bored until I did a bit of research and appreciated it from what it is: A classic.

The book gives us the story of Laura a girl that lives isolated in a castle with the only company of her father and her servants. One day a misterious girl, Carmilla, comes home for an unexpected visit and a different kind of life.

It is intriguing and despite it's time the main characters are women! It is full of suspense and thrilling emotions. There's no romance and it sure won't involve highschool love but it is a most in the vampire literature.

Have a Fangtastic Tale!

Blue Bloods & Masquerade (Blue Bloods Series)

I got to this book after I had read a lot about them and then I found them at my local bookstore. That was something to celebrate so I got them both. I do not regret it! I'm going to give the review of the first 2 books on the series because I read them almost one after the other.

Blue Bloods is the first of a series of 4 books written by Melissa de la Cruz and published in 2007.

Schuyler Van Alen lives in New York and attends to an exclusive school with a bunch of rich kids and socialites. The story begins when a girl from her school dies in a very exclusive club, a girl that hangs out with the popular crowd like Jack and Mimi Force. Schuyler finds out later that even though she does not hang out with that especial crowd, she belongs with them whether she likes it or not. Soon she'll find out that an evil force is attacking people around her and that no one will believe her but her dear friend Oliver.

This book is really cool, you can tell that the author knows about the social life in NY and everything that surrounds it. The characters are well defined and the mythology is different from every other vampire mythology you have ever read. It is interesting and intriguing. Schuyler is a girl that you actually get to like and understand. I usually found myself shivering at the creepy relationship between Jack and Mimi. And of course you will all be rooting for Schuyler and Jack. You will find yourself a bit dissapointed at the end of the book because it won't give you a closure to the story, far from it. It leaves us with a bunch of questions and with the obvious idea that the story had just begun and is far from the happy ending we are all looking for. That is why I immediately read the next book.


Masquerade is the second book in the Blue Bloods series and it was published in 2007.

In this book we begin where we left off in the last one. Nothing interesting had happened between one book and the other and the action begins immediately. You will read the book so quickly that you won't even notice that the ending is a few pages away. In here we will find Schuyler being as shy as she was in the first book but her vampire powers are developing in an interesting way and we start wondering how important she is going to be in the vampire world. The evil force she believes is attacking the vampires is striking again and she will do everything to make everyone see that it is true.

This book ends the same way as the first one. With a little bit more of closure but still it makes you want to keep on reading because this series doesn't have a self-contained story in each book. It is a whole, uninterrupted story that you won't be able to stop reading because you will realize that this is a story split into 4 books. So, without one you won't be able to read the next one!!

I highly recommend them because even if you feel like nothing is happening or that the plot is a bit slow you will realize, as you close the book, that you want to know more. That you just can't leave it there and you need to run to get it.

So, in the end, go get these books! They are different and interesting and girly and with a mythology that sets them apart from the rest of the vampires.

Have a Fangtastic Tale!

True Blood-Season 3- Episode 4

Last week there was no episode and I kinda missed it! But then again, I was a bit scared about what they were going to give us now. Week after week we've seen Bill with a bloody mouth, eating werewolves chunks or being raped by Lorena (ewwwwwwwwwwwww). We've seen Eric doing everything mentioned above BUT doing Lorena. And lots of blood.

This episode began as we see Sookie healing Alicide's wounds and then receives a call from Bill that acting like an asshole tells her that he does not want to be found and that he had just 'Made love' to Lorena, if that's what you can call it. Sookie cries her eyes out. The truth is that I found her crying a bit funny, I do not know if it was intended to be funny but for me it was. Alcide, being the gentleman he is, comforts her and she lets him.

Lorena tells Bill, while fixing her neck, that that was the best sex she has ever had in years (or centuries?). Bill replies by saying that at least one of them enjoyed it because it was horrible for him. I'm pretty sure it was horrible for many of us.

That very night Eric daydreams about sleeping with Sookie while watching a pole dancer. We've all seen this coming. Besides wanting to get it on with her he has feelings for her.

The next morning Sookie decides that she wants to look for Bill. Alcide calls her 'a doormat'. I really like Alcide on the book and in the series seems to be the same. However, he does not want to get involved anymore and tells her that she is on her own. Later that day, Alcide's sister gets to her place ( I do not know how) to give her a not-permanent make over so she can blend in at the were's bar. While she is doing that, Sookie gets to her thoughts and realize that Alcide's ex is having an intiation party (instead of an engagement one) to the nazi wolves, that very night.
With that, and looking all punk rock and so not believable, Sookie gets Alcide on board for the clubing night.

Bill gives out information about the Queen and Eric selling V in exchange of the permission to kill Lorena. Seems that the permission was granted but not before they went out to get something to eat and Bill was in charge to get the food. Seems that the food was coming from a strip club and Bill had to look for someone that wouldn't be missed. I did not get the point of the scene.

While Bill was getting something to eat the King said he had something to attend to and he dissapeared leaving Lorena alone. Seems that the King had to go to the were's bar to be part of the initiation of Alicide's ex. As Alcide and Sookie stare at the scene in front of them they see how the King opens up his wrist and fills shot glasses with it. What? Yeah the King himself is the one that provides the wolves with blood. He does not allow Alcide's ex to drink blood because then her 'mark' won't last. After the king leaves they mark Alcide's ex just like you would brand a horse, which is gross and just then the new boyfriend shift into wolf and licks her wound. I gotta admitt that I was afraid that the wolf was going to hump the girl. I really dont know what to expect about the series anymore. I was relieved as the wolf jumped into a speaker and start howling. Just as he did that, every man in the bar changed into a wolf. Including Alcide that, with eyes of Michael Jackson in Thriller, screams to Sookie to run.

Franklin gets info from Tara, who has already been bitten, and that is all glamoured. Then he gets her to the King's place and we have no freaking idea why that is. At least he is not having sex with her anymore, that was gross.

Jason insists on becoming a cop and has blackmailed Andy into making him one without undergoing the training and exams. Lafayette is still selling V with Eric's help. Eric gets busted in his own club while Pam get's tortured. Jessica works at Merlotte's now and Arlene is still pregnant (with Renee's kid? I do not think is the evil spawn any more). Sam's family is a bunch of drunks that have nowhere to go and have made of his parking lot a trailer park. Being the stupid fool he is, Sam is getting them a place to stay while 'they get back on their feet'. We all know that won't happen.

The Episode was less disturbing that the one before but now I can see that this season is all about what they can do to make us puke! I'm wondering when the hell is Lorena going to die, because I hate her. Sookie is turning into the stupid gal sometimes I hate in the books. And Bill is getting less cute by the season. Maybe it is that I like Eric more now and Alicide too, but I'm not liking Bill that much.

This Episode was kind of messy. And I will give a 7 out of 10! Still I will keep watching because it has very good things and some gross ones that make me wonder what's going to happen next.

Have a Fangtastic Tale!

Let Me In - Movie

This movie is a re-make from the Swedish movie "Let The Right One In" based on the book written by John Ajvide Lindqvist.

The Swedish version of the movie it's amazing. It is wicked and cute. And now it is coming in the U.S version that seems to have an upgrade on action and thriller. I highly recommend to watch the Swedish version before getting to the re-make because it is really good. I haven't read the book but I think it is pretty much the same as the movie.

I'll leave you with both trailers so you can see the differences in both versions and I will highly recommend you to watch Let The Right One In before getting to Let Me In.

A bit trivia: The title on the Swedish version refers to Morrissey's song "Let the Right One Slip In" and to the fact that according to vampire mythology they can't go into a house without being invited.

Frostbite & Shadowkiss (Vampire Academy Series)

Remember I said the story got me interested and looking forward to it? Ok, now it's turning into an obsession! So I read the second and third book back to back. So that's why I'm going to do things a bit different and will give a review of both books.

The story in Frostbite is all about royals being attacked by Strigoi ( by this point I totally get the mythology and the names of the vampires and non vampires). And this book takes us through the caos and fear of everyone hiding from the Strigoi and finding ways to protect them . We still have the frustration of the not-possible but very real love between Rose and Dimitri. We have some new characters introduced in this book and you can't help but feel attracted and intrigued by Adrian and love/hate Tasha and feel weird about Rose's mother.

The book is really good and it involves you emotionally and you find yourself going through the pages waiting for something to happen between Rose and Dimitri. This book is so much better than the first one and ends with an emotional cliffhanger and that is the reason why I went straight to the third book. I just couldn't wait.

When I got to Shadowkiss I found a different Rose, a more mature and grown up Rose but not a less impulsive one. I won't say why because that would just ruin the previous book. We find that being Lissa's guardian is taking a toll on her and she is having a hard time finding out what is real and what is not. The story takes us through another Strigoi attack and the dark mood in which she is finding herself more and more.

As I said, every book gets better than the one before that. Now, I am debating on going on with the series because as good as it is Shadowkiss shook me up emotionally! I'm a 29 year old married woman and when I finished this book I found myself crying! I couldn't believe it. I was crying and I did not want to read the next books because Richelle Mead made me invest so much emotion into the characters that I was very, very shaken. Now, a few days later, I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe I could read the fourth book and see how I feel little by little. I gotta admit to myself that I haven't been so shaken since Dumbledore died in Harry Potter and Half-Blood Prince.

I gotta say that when I was done with the first book I did not think much of the series. I just liked it. When I finished the second book I was very much involved with the characters and rooting for Rose and Dimitri. When I was done with the third book I was in tears and considering this series one of my favorites. Maybe in my Top 5 of series.

Despite me suffering on the 3rd book I do encourage everyone that has not read the books to do that. Read them, get involved in the series. It is amazing how you find yourself loving the books little by little until it surprises you when you find out that you were more involved that you knew.

Go, get the books and enjoy.

Have a Fangtastic Tale!

A Hunger Like No Other (Immortasl After Dark Series)

Well I got to this book because a Twitter follower asked me to review it so I went on to do some research and since there is no way I could get those books in Mexico I had to get it in pdf. AGAIN. We are a little book deprived over here! Anyway, here I go.

This book is the second in a series of 10 books ( the 10th coming up this August). Published in 2006 and written by Kresley Cole. I am going straight to the second book because the first one is a short tale that makes a small introduction to the mythology. However, after reading the first one, I can guarantee you that you could easily skip it and go for the second without missing a thing.

The story begins as Emmaline Troy is in Paris desperately searching for her parents' story. She is half Vampire (father's side) and half Valkyrie (mother's side) and raised by Valkyrie. She feels inadecuate in a world where vampires are enemies. As she is in a coffee shop wondering if she should just give up, a man comes up to her and remembering her aunt's advice she runs away. She knows everything about mythical creatures, however, she has never seen one besides her Valkyrie family.

Lachlain MacRieve has been locked up by vampires in the catacombs for 150 years. Condemned to burn over and over again. Since he is a Lykae, he is immortal so, he can not die. When he is about to burn to death once again he catches a scent that makes his heart skip a beat. He knows she is her mate. Lykae find only on mate in their whole existance and they have to claim them as their own to live their lives together without anyone harming them. When he catches her scent he gets free from the restrains that had held him for 15 decades, losing a leg in the process, just to get to her. When he finally finds her, he realizes that her mate has got fangs. She is a vampire, his one and only enemy.

I gotta say that this book was a bit too difficult to read. First the mythology is not well explained from the beginning so you have to read very carefully so you can understand. Then, the sexual part of the story is just too much. The fact that everything revolves around sex the first 100 pages is just too much. It comes a time when there's no sex involved (shocker) and you get to realize that the plot is not so bad. The love story is nice and even got me smiling once or twice but then it only last like 10 pages. I think that this book is another example of how the plot was just an excuse to write sex scenes. I'm not against sex scenes in books or anything, I just think that if you are going to write one it has to be completely justified because you could totally fall into the cheap books section. Plus, the sex is way too graphic and I believe that this lady, Kresley Cole, has some S&M fetish and rough sex, really I do. By the way, Lachlain has to be very well endowed, OBVIOUSLY. I'm sorry this is just not my cup of tea.

All in all I did not like the book, the writting is too messy. It is all over the place. It is narrated in third person so it is difficult to know which point of view are we reading and the love scenes, where the couple is finally happy and in love, are not written with as much effort as the sex scenes.

One good thing is that the mythology is rich and has every character developed. I just think that Cole fails at describing it. I think that she got herself a mythology bigger than the story itself and did not know how to merge them in one book without leaving aside the main characters.

Needless to say this is not a book for kids. I would not even give this book to teenagers. Seriously.

If you like well written stories, with developed character. Stories that make you think. This is not a book for you. If you like stories with lots, LOTS, of sex and little action and love scenes. Then this is a book for you.

Have a Fangtastic Tale!

Vampire Academy 1 (Vampire Academy Series)

I found this book when I was searching for something to read on-line. It seemed that it was everywhere and i thought I had to read it. The sad thing was that I couldn't find it in Mexico. English or Spanish there is no version in here. So, I got the pdf version and on I went. I was scared that I was going to find a book like the others I've been reading. Entertaining but not my cup of tea.
Well, it did not dissapoint me. I was into the book and now, the series.

Vampire Academy is the first of 6 books ( the 6th coming out on December 2010 and the last of the series). Written by Richelle Mead and published in 2007.

The book tells us the story of Rose and Lissa. Two girls that ran away from an academy that trains Moroi, Vampires that are alive and not sensitive to the sun, and Damphir, guardians to the Moroi that are half human and half vampire. They get caught by the guardians of the Academy and taken back to school. The most important thing in the book, and the real adventure, is to find out why did the girls ran away from school.

The story is narrated by Rose. However, we do get to have sympathy for Lissa through a bond that both Moroi (Lissa) and Damphir (Rose) have developed and that allows Rose to know everything about Lissa's feelings.

There's a problem with the story; it does not explains the difference between Moroi, Damphir and Strigoi and it takes a while to get used to it. However, once you are past that the story goes smoothly and of course you get into an amazing impossible love story between Rose and her mentor Dimitri.

This first book will leave you hooked and waiting for more because it really does not give you enough. The most amazing thing on the story is that you get to read a vampire book that does not involve vampire main characters and you still get all the rush of the world. There's a lot of action and magic involved and what makes it more amazing is that even though there is love story it does not rule the whole adventure.

I recommend the book, but I highly recommend the series because it will definately develope in a huge interest in any vampire fiction lover.

Have a Fangtastic Tale!

Update on Vampire Kisses

I read the second book. It is horrible! Do not, I repeat, do not attempt on reading them if you are over 12 years old.
I did not like it, you won't like it! Wander around the blog and catch a better option.

Have a Fangtastic Tale!

Vampire Kisses 1 (Vampire Kisses Series)

I did not buy this book. I got the pdf because you can not find in Mexico and because I've seen it everywhere. So, I decided to get it.

Vampire Kisses 1 is the first in a series of 7 books (coming up the 8th) written by Ellen Schreiber and publish on 2003.

The book begins telling us the story of Raven's childhood. She was born from hippie love between her parents and grew up in a hippie environment and with an early obsession with vampires. As the years went by and her parents became a responsible couple they changed into a normal family with the excepcion of Raven Madison. She never changed, she always kept her obsession with vampires and as she became a teenager she decided her outfits would consist of variable shades of black.

Raven is an outcast in a town that she calls Dullsville and has one friend, Becky. She be-friended her because she is the one that protects her. When a new family comes in town and the rumours of the family being vampires Raven found a reason to go through her days. She actually believes in vampires. She gets into this family's world when she meets Alexander, a 17 year old kid that lives in the "haunted" mansion in town and is part of this weird family.

This book is weird. It begins with Raven's childhood wich is colorful. I mean it was nice reading the childhood description. I found it a bit funny since we got to see that through a child's perspective. However, once we got into the 16 year old life things went downhill.

At times, Raven reminded me of Roxy in "A Girl's Guide to Vampires" and if you have read my review you'll understand that's not a good thing. Not remotely close. Raven is a well planned character, but is the only one. The rest of the characters are just there for the sake of the story but not developed in any sense.

Raven believing in vampires was a bit too much and her stalking Alexander was childish, immature and utterly boring. Most of the part of the story was unnecessary since all we wanted to know was if Alexander was a vampire and it was kind of obvious he was.

The story ends with a horrible cliffhanger that makes you wonder what was the whole point of the whole book. This first book feels like just the prologue of the whole series for me. I haven't read the other books but that's just the way it felt to me.

Now, if you look closer to Schreiber's series you will realize that her target audience is pre-teens and that's just what I told my husband once I was over with the book. If you want your 11-12 year old kid to start reading give them this book. It is short, it has romance, teen related subjects and it might just get them into books.

If you are not 12 years old, do not read the book. I will read the second book because, like I said, I just read the Prologue to some story that might, or might not, get interesting on the long road. The truth is that I just want to know a bit more about Alexander who seemed like a cool vampire and we got to read about him in like 4 pages. So, I'll sit down and I'm sure that in 2 hours I'll be done and will decide if the series is worth reading or not.

Have a Fangtastic Tale!

Eclipse-The Movie

The moment we were all waiting for is finally here! Eclipse is on theaters and we all obviously rushed to the movie theaters everywhere! Eclipse premiered in Mexico on July 1st at 12:01 am. I did not get tickets for that show, however, I was in my seat next morning at 10:30 am. The earliest show I could found. I thought in that way there wouldn't be too much people and I would enjoy the movie even more. Well, I did enjoy the movie but there were a lot of people. Mostly females. I won't say girls or women because there were females of all ages.

My husband went with me and we were there waiting for the movie to begin and we would see 13 year old girls, 18 year old teens and ladies my age ( ha). But for the first time in my life I saw a big group of Twi-moms!!! I was so excited, they sat next to my husband and I kept watching them. I just wanted to see their reaction at the movie. I know I react like a little girl and I was wondering how a mom would react to it. I felt very good with myself, I wasn't acting like a little girl at the sight of Edward. Twi-moms were excited and they would giggle and even argue about Jacob and Edward. Seemed we had some Team Edward and Team Jacob moms.

The most unusual charecter in the movie theater was a guy that was dressed in a suit and sat next to me, by himself. I thought he was waiting for someone, but no. He seemed all excited with the action scenes and I even heard him groan a couple of times.

Anyway, on to the movie. I liked it! I thought it was amazing. At the beginning I just couldn't get used to the scenes of the book being cut but then I finally got the idea and I flowed with it. In the first scene we get to see Edward and Bella on the meadow, all in love and acting like any young couple. I love the Meadow scenes, I love Edward ( have I mentioned that?).

Like I said, I felt that the first part of the movie went too fast. In the book we were used to Bella attempting several times to run away from Edward's watch and meet Jacob in a detailed way. However, really, how would you put a 600 pages book into two hours of movie. I immediately got the idea and enjoyed the scenes.

I think the movie was absolutely well directed and produced. In terms of production it's the best of the three movies, in terms of story it is not. But then again, Eclipse has never been my favorite book, too much history and stories, not enough love scenes ( he he. See? giggling like a little girl).

My favorite scenes:

Meadow scenes: just because the meadow means a lot and usually we have a view into Edward's and Bella's relationship when they are all alone, not even Charlie sleeping next door.

Edward proposing to Bella: I felt my heart melting at every single word that came out of his mouth! My husband was next to me and still I was melting on the seat. I'm pretty sure I said something, can't remember.
Charlie's sex talk with Bella: It was so much better than in the book. I loved it! It was perfect and hilarious.
The training scenes: Amazing! We can see that they have enough budget now! I loved it.

The fight scene: Amazing as well, it is full with adrenaline and here's where the lonely guy next to me would be seating at the edge of his seat. When Bella cuts her arm he groaned.

Jasper: Yeah, I loved Jasper in this movie. He talks! Ha Ha! He has a nice voice when he is focused and serious! And we got to see Jasper and Alice kissing. So sweet!
The tent scene: That has always been one of my favorites in the book and I loved it in the movie. Not too far from what I imagined while reading it.

Bree's final scene: They did not make us suffer too much over her now that we all came to know her more. I felt really bad for her once I read the book.

What I thought it was missing:

More Jacob as a werewolf scenes with Bella: In the book Bella has a great relationship with Jacob as a werewolf. And we only get to see it one time in the whole movie. I would've love to have more of those.
The old Victoria: I was used to Victoria in the first movies. It was difficult for me to get used to it.

What made me react:
Bella asking Jacob to kiss her: Never liked it in the book, did not liked it in the movie. I wanted to close my eyes but how could I miss something like that? So, I watched and react.

All the body parts and Victoria's head: Ew. It wasn't too much but I'd never imagined that part while reading. So when I got to see that I reacted by just saying: Ew!

Edward: He always makes me react! Can't help it!

Jacob saying Edward is not that perfect: My answer to that was "He is" I said it outloud in the theater.
Maria asking Jasper to suck someone's blood: It was in spanish and what she said and how she said it was gross. That got another Ew out of me.

All in all, I loved the movie! It was amazing! I think it was great! They did the best to show everything that happens in the book and made us feel all excited about it. Now, we will be going back to watch the movie (I know I will, I know most of you will) and appreciate it even more.

I'm just glad that we have still two more movies to come and the best is yet to come! I know we all are waiting for some scenes ( ahem! Feathers!) and we will all be waiting for them!!

Have a Fangtastic Tale!