Vesper by Jeff Sampson
* 01.25.11 *
- YA, paranormal -
reviewed by Tara SG
Book Order (Deviants)
- Vesper (Jan 25, 2011) * * 1/2
- Untitled
Links
Amazon : hardcover / paperback / eBook
Add To Your GoodReads TBR List
This book in 6 words:
like a prequel for something good
Why did I read this? And am I glad I did?
I signed up for this tour based on the summary and while I wouldn’t call it a waste of time and I’m looking forward to the next book, I wasn’t overly impressed with this one. A lot of people really love this book so it seems it may have been me. I liked where the story was heading at the end, which made the whole thing feel like a prequel (specially since it was a fairly short book).
Brief Summary
Emily Webb is a geek. And she’s happy that way. Content hiding under hoodies and curling up to watch old horror flicks, she’s never been the kind of girl who sneaks out for midnight parties. And she’s definitely not the kind of girl who starts fights or flirts with other girls’ boyfriends. Until one night Emily finds herself doing exactly that . . . the same night one of her classmates—also named Emily—is found mysteriously murdered.
The thing is, Emily doesn’t know why she’s doing any of this. By day, she’s the same old boring Emily, but by night, she turns into a thrill seeker. With every nightfall, Emily gets wilder until it’s no longer just her personality that changes. Her body can do things it never could before: Emily is now strong, fast, and utterly fearless. And soon Emily realizes that she’s not just coming out of her shell . . . there’s something much bigger going on. Is she bewitched by the soul of the other, murdered Emily? Or is Emily Webb becoming something else entirely—something not human?
As Emily hunts for answers, she finds out that she’s not the only one this is happening to—some of her classmates are changing as well. Who is turning these teens into monsters—and how many people will they kill to get what they want?
- via GoodReads.com
Plot/Pacing/Writing Style
I think the plot has promise and I’m not going to go much into it because it will ruin any surprise. I think that the beginning was OK and the end got really good… and then ended as soon as we almost got answers. I didn’t like the transcripts inserted between a few of the chapters that included a conversation with Emily and an unknown man. I felt like it took us out of the story without adding enough to the story.
The pacing wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t on the edge of my seat. I did like the writing style and the author’s sense of humor.
Characters
I’m not sure how I feel about Emily. I don’t think she handled her situation well at all. She was extremely immature for how much of a “good, smart girl” she was considered to be. I thought she was funny and I enjoyed her POV enough to want to see where her story goes from here. Again I don’t want to go into much about her different personalities except I like what was done (from what I understand).
I really didn’t like her “best” friend. At one point she flat out in all seriousness tells Emily that she would be better off dead than being “normal” or friends with the popular kids. I get that she was upset at potentially losing her friend to another crowd, but she could see that Emily was going through a tough time and it felt like kicking her while she was down.
Favorite Quotes
If teen romantic comedies taught me anything, it’s that glasses-and-ponytail girls are always in need of emergency makeovers.
I couldn’t really explain why my showing up there would be the worst idea since George Lucas said, “Hey, how ’bout some prequels?”
Recommendations
If you like YA with a mystery/thriller edge, then I recommend giving this a shot. Like I mentioned above I seem to be in the minority thinking this was only OK.
Going Deeper – NO spoilers!
While some people may make fun of the lose the hoodie and glasses and suddenly become the hot chick aspect of the book, I will not. I was that girl. I wore glasses, braces, and my hair up with very unfashionable clothes the first two years of high school. When I showed up Junior year with contacts, straight teeth and hair, and A&F clothes, people didn’t recognize me. No, I didn’t become instantly popular or have all the guys throwing themselves at me, but it was a noticeable change that I can appreciate seeing happen in this book. It was sadly realistic of how superficial teens can be.
PS My 500 Subscriber Giveaway post was going to go up today, but my husband took our camera with him on his hunting trip and I need a picture off of it… That means it won’t be up until next Thursday. Sorry 
Ugh, those transcripts really bugged me, too, but I really liked this one. For me, it was just a load of fun. I really enjoyed the pop culture references.
Yeah, the best friend was super weird.
I’m really looking forward to the next book.
I experienced something similar in high school. Before I moved to a new school, I never felt noticed, so it was kind of shocking to find myself suddenly ‘popular’.
Shoot. I have this one coming on a tour as well, it’s too bad it’s not quite as good as it could have been. I do like the overall concept, but hopefully the books will improve as the series continues. Thanks for your honest opinion on this one Tara, I’ll keep your thoughts in mind when I get this book:)
@ Missie : I’m looking forward to the next book. I think I’ll like it more than this one now that we have some stuff figured out.
@ Jenny : Missie really like this one, so maybe it was just something that didn’t work for me. I’m looking forward to your review!
Lovely cover! Would like to try this, but I’m not really sure about the pop culture references, since I usually can’t get them to save my life. For instance, I understood them in Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist only because I read a translated-into-Italian-and-much-annotated version. Yeah.