Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Ashley Stoyanoff's Review: Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey

★ASHLEY STOYNAOFF'S REVIEW

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side (Jessica #1) By Beth Fantaskey.

Title: Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side (Jessica #1) 
Author: Beth Fantaskey
Number of Pages:
 351  
Publication Info: Harcourt (February 2009)
Genre: YA, Paranormal Romance
Shelf: Books I BoughtRating: ★★★★★

Goodreads: Here
Purchase: Here
Authors Website: Here


Summary from Goodreads:
The undead can really screw up your senior year . . .
Marrying a vampire definitely doesn’t fit into Jessica Packwood’s senior year “get-a-life” plan. But then a bizarre (and incredibly hot) new exchange student named Lucius Vladescu shows up, claiming that Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess by birth—and he’s her long-lost fiancé. Armed with newfound confidence and a copy of Growing Up Undead: A Teen Vampire’s Guide to Dating, Health, and Emotions, Jessica makes a dramatic transition from average American teenager to glam European vampire princess. But when a devious cheerleader sets her sights on Lucius, Jess finds herself fighting to win back her wayward prince, stop a global vampire war—and save Lucius’s soul from eternal destruction
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My Review: 
I think I’ve picked this book up a million times, and each time I ended up placing it back on the shelf.  When I buy books, I’m all about the title and rarely (if ever) actually read the back cover story.  The title, Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, just didn’t do it for me at all.  It wasn’t until I was at Chapters last weekend that I noticed the book again, but this time it was on a clearance rack and I figure, what the heck. I’m so glad I did.  The title may not be fantastic, but the book definitely was.

I love it when books bring me back to high school, and this one did exactly that.  Within the first few chapters, I was there, falling in love for the first time all over again.

Jessica Packwood is a math whiz.  She’s fairly average, just starting out on her last year of high school and closing in on her eighth birthday.  When the tall, dark, and mysterious Lucius shows up at her doorstep, her run of the mill existence crumples, and becomes anything but average.  With a blood pact and war looming over her shoulders, Jessica needs to come to terms with her new reality before her new life is lost forever.  Will she be able to save Lucius and mend things between them on time?  You’ll have to read Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side to find out.

The characters were wonderful.  Each one was perfectly developed and they all played their roles well.  My favorite was definitely Lucius.  I loved his sense of humor.  The letters to his uncle had me smirking, and at times even laughing out loud.  They were cheesy at times, but the cheese completely worked for him.   These letters were really the one place where he wasn’t wearing a “mask” and I really got to see his full personality.  

I am a huge vampire fan, but for those of you who are thinking that Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side is just another vampire story, I can assure you that Fantaskeytook care to build fresh scenes and an original story.  Even with some of the twists and turns being predictable, the overall plot was gripping and the writing flowed smoothly through the book.

If you are looking for a fun read with a paranormal twist then this is the book for you.

2 comments:

  1. This looks so Cute, def going on TBR shelf. Great Review Ash! & bty I loooove the cover, the guy looks so fang lickin hot! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Mandy. It's a great story. I think you'll like it. :)

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