Review JESSICA'S GUIDE to DATING on the DARK SIDE

JESSICA'S GUIDE to DATING on the DARK SIDE
by Beth Fantaskey

Details:
February 1st 2009 by Harcourt

Hardcover, 351 pages

Placement in Pile:
Top Picks(hmm . . . maybe that's too generous), Middle of the Stack(no, definitely not)
Reaching New Heights  (ok, I'll go with this, but it should really be noted that I wanted to rate this one as "Hanging on to Top Picks by it's finger nails")



Summary:
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.

Review:
At first I thought, come on another vampire book?  But, let me say that Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side is nothing like what's out there in way of vampires.  IT is SOOOOOO much better.
I read this book in one sitting, that alone should tell you how much I loved the book. And when I say one sitting, I mean I didn't get up to use the bathroom once. Which also means, when the loveable character, Lucius the hot Romanian vampire, wrote home witty commentaries about the rough-edged girls from the states and Vegan's love for lentils, I practically peed myself. Who knew vampires could be so irresistibly hilarious?
The interactions between Lucius and Jessica, a curvy sized 10 senior from the middle of farm-ville country, were comical, romantic, thought-provoking, and layered with depth that I wouldn't expect in a book with such a light-hearted title. What I found is this book is anything but a light- hearted, teen fluff book. It's much meatier than the title lets on.
The themes in the novel, some light and others gritty and dark, came together in the end in what I would call an 'almost' masterful combination. Alas, the climax of the novel drew the characters into such a dark spiral of actions that it verged on too much, making me feel as though the main characters were acting apart from their true personalities instead of acting as characters that are learning and growing. Thus, the reason for my unclear placement in the pile.

My suggestion: Despite my unclear placement, go read this one because it ROCKS!