Vampire Lies by RaShelle Workman
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Release Date: March 11, 2014
Buy Links:
Amazon
Book Description:
Once upon a time there lived a vampire with wings and the genie who loved her. Born of the seven magics, Jasmine is different in every way, including the obnoxious wings on her back courtesy of the original Vampires.
She wants to be normal, to be a regular teenaged girl. When a gorgeous dark-haired boy named Laeddin shows up and promises to sneak her away from all her problems and hide her in the human world, she agrees.
But an evil lurks in her nightmares, a man with red eyes. It doesn’t take long for Jasmine to realize that no matter how far she tries to run from who she is, he’s only a dream away. He wants her. He needs her. He acts as though he loves her.
It’s becoming harder and harder to tell the difference between the path that’ll lead to her happily ever after, and the path that’ll lead to her destruction as well as all magic.
"Vampire Lies" is the sequel to RaShelle Workman's
"Blood and Snow". This second story revolves around the character of
Jasmine, who is a winged vampire that was born of the seven magics. She's the
first vampire to have wings in what seems like forever, so her life is anything
but normal. However, she is a teenager and as teenagers are prone to do,
Jasmine craves what she doesn't have. While most girls would love to live in a
palace like her and be able to fly, Jasmine wants a normal high school
experience that any regular human girl would have.
Her dreams seem like an unattainable fantasy until she meets
Laeddin, who just happens to be a genie and is willing to grant her wish.
Laeddin and Jasmine are transported to the human world where she is without her
wings and is ready to go to high school in order to get some normalcy in her
life. Of course, things don't go as smoothly as Jasmine might have hoped, and
she finds herself in the middle of a mystery as her high school life is
anything but normal.
I enjoyed reading "Vampire Lies". I had already
read "Blood and Snow" beforehand and had trouble getting into the
story, but that problem wasn't present with "Vampire Lies". I was
engrossed in the story right away, and kept turning the pages wanting more.
Whereas in "Blood and Snow" had our main character start off as
"normal" and then venture into the fantasy realm, the opposite is
true here. I think having "Vampire Lies" be set in a regular high
school is something that the readers can relate to as it's something so familiar.
Although there are a lot of fantastical elements, this is
really a coming of age story. Jasmine is unhappy with the life she has and
thinks that the grass might be greener on the other side, but that's not always
the case. Throughout "Vampire Lies" and the books to come, she really
has to find herself and realize what truly matters instead of just being
someone or something that she's not.
Something else that I liked about this book was that Workman
veered away from the short novellas that she used to compose "Blood and
Snow" and instead wrote "Vampire Lies" as a novel length piece.
It really helped the story flow better, and could also be one of the reasons
why it was so much easer to get into than the previous story.
One thing that did seem a little off was the romance
situation. Something seems to be brewing between Jasmine and Laeddin, but it
doesn't always come across as organic to me. Their feelings seem like they're
forced instead of something that developed naturally. Also, I'm pretty sure
there's an age difference there. He's passing himself off as a friend of the
family that's watching over her while her parents are away so she could blend
in better at school, so how old is he actually?
As a rule, I usually like to read all the books in a series
in order. I think that it helps understand motivations and characterization
better, but it's not always necessary. This is one of those times. While you
might glean some insider knowledge by reading "Blood and Snow", you
aren't going to be confused by any of the action in "Vampire Lies" if
you don't read it. I would recommend "Vampire Lies" to anyone who
likes vampires, fairy tales, or high school dramas. It's an interesting story,
and there are even some cameos of famous fairy tale characters that weren't in
the first book.
RaShelle Workman is the author of the popular Blood and Snow series. She loves to reinvent fairy tales that older teens and adults can sink their teeth into. Her stories include kissing, vampires, werewolves, witches, aliens, and more kissing. Sleeping Roses, Exiled, Beguiled, and Dovetailed have foreign rights contracts with a Turkish publisher. RaShelle is also one of the co-founders of Indie Recon LIVE, a self publishing conference that will debut October 10-11, 2014 in Sandy, Utah.
Glad you liked it, Melissa! I like how original this sounds and that while it's fantasy it's also a coming of age story those are often my fav! Great review!
ReplyDelete