Friday 22 April 2011

GuestReview: Turned - Morgan Rice

Series: The Vampire Journals, 1
Genre: YA paranormal romance
Pages: 150
Published: Jan 2011
Review by Lis

Eighteen year old Caitlin Paine finds herself uprooted from her nice suburb and forced to attend a dangerous New York City high school when her Mom moves again. The one ray of light in her new surroundings is Jonah, a new classmate who takes an instant liking to her. But before their romance can blossom, Caitlin suddenly finds herself changing. She is overcome by a superhuman strength, a sensitivity to light, a desire to feed--by feelings she does not understand. She seeks answers to what’s happening to her, and her cravings lead her to the wrong place at the wrong time. Her eyes are opened to a hidden world. She finds herself  right in the middle of a vampire war. It is at this moment that Caitlin meets Caleb, a mysterious and powerful vampire who rescues her from the dark forces.. Together, they will need to answer one crucial question: who was her real father? But Caitlin finds herself caught between two men as something else arises between them: a forbidden love.

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I’ll be honest, when B. sent me this book and I saw the title, my thoughts were: “Gawd, not another Vampire Diaries, Twilight rip-off!” ‘Cause there seems to be no end of those. It’s like the DaVinci Code all over again! While Turned is in no way original or refreshing – at least to me (let’s face it, there’s not much I haven’t seen and that includes lizard vampires!) – it was a nice read and I was glad B. sent it over. Let me tell you why.

Caitlin’s mum has the moving bug, so being the new gal at school is nothing new for her. She’s seen it all. Only this time there’s something different. This time when she stands up to a pack of bully’s outside school Caitlin herself changes. Suddenly she is faster and stronger but also sensitive to light and she has a desire to feed. Sound familiar? Yeah. Enter the dark, mysterious and brooding Caleb aaaaaaand start the romance! Well insta love and jealousy for Caleb is not a single man!

For Caitlin nothing’s as it seems anymore and she needs answers, but Caleb need Caitlin just as much. No, not what you think. Alright, maybe a bit! He also needs her to find a certain mysterious artifact.

The story is short. In my opinion too short to tell the story accurately, but it works. It’s an easy read with not a lot of world building and stock characters. Yet somehow the author makes it work. Caitlin and Caleb could be any pair of characters in the many vamp books out there. There’s nothing unique there, but still the story is entertaining and I found myself hoping there would be more.

What I did like about Caitlin is that she doesn’t give up. She fights back. She doesn’t just lie down and die. A girl’s gotta appreciate that!

There are also a few things that didn’t work for me. One was the relationship with her brother Sam. They are supposed to be very close, yet he suddenly ups and leaves. Then there is the instant love between Caitlin and Caleb. While instant love is nothing new, things move very very fast and I expected more from a vamp as old as Caleb. He’s what 800-something? Yet he behaves like a teenager. This is a personal peeve of mine. 800 years is a long long long time. You’d think he’d be some kind of Zen master or something. Sometimes I find that authors don’t treat the subject of age very well. What would it do to a person to live as long as a 1000 years?

In any case Turned was a likable, easy, dark read that you can read in between other books as it is short. Don’t look for depth, but you’re sure to be entertained! 


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And now a message from me

Happy Easter :D
I will post my flash tomorrow or today, we will see


22 comments:

  1. lol so many vampire books out now. They all are so much alike!! Glad you enjoyed this one though hopefully there will be a sequel so the characters will have more to them.

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  2. There's no end to vampire novels, is there? :D
    I like that the female protagonist is a strong one. Insta-love would bother me though.

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  3. I agree with you that at age 800 one should have learned a little wisdom. But who knows perhaps in vampire years that is still a teen LOL?!

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  4. This one doesn't sound too bad. I still like a good vampire novel.

    Happy Easter to you and your family!

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  5. Have a wonderful holiday!

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  6. I like your reviews Lis because they are so honest and true! I don't think I would like to read this one (ok, maybe, if the opportunity is too good to be missed) but your review I enjoyed!

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  7. So that's what you've been reading, Lis? ;D

    Happy Easter, girls!

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  8. There sure are alot of vampire books out there!

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  9. I like my characters to behave consistently... I find that to be important to me otherwise the author has lost me... I think Caleb probably would have pushed me away as a reader... Thank you for the honest review!

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  10. Sounds like a fun read. Some people just never learn. I know some teens that are more adults than adults! ;) Still I like the sound of Caitlin. Thanks for the review

    Happy Easter to you!

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  11. I think I got a copy of the book as well, and you make me want to read it too! I still love vampire even though it is totally a 'mess' nowadays.LOL

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  12. Way too many YA vampire books that I've sort of been staying away from them. Glad to know that this was still an entertaining read.

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  13. Thanks Lis, you're the best :)

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  14. Thanks for the lovely comments all! :-) There sure are many vamp books out there and some are better than others! :-)

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  15. Cool cover! Glad to hear it wasnt just another vampire type rip off.

    happy easter!

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  16. "lizard vampires"? Okay, I have to ask what book has those. Too funny!

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  17. Good to hear that it's original. Thanks for the review.
    Brandi from Blkosiner’s Book Blog

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  18. Jessilyn
    Hi there :)
    Yup I can't even start to count all the vamp books out there

    Misha
    I doubt it, I just read in a book where they joked how vamps are hiring PR peeps to do good PR for them even though no one know they exist, lol

    DC
    LOL ;) Perhaps it means just that, who knows

    Darlene
    Happy Easter, I hope you are having a great holiday

    The same to you Chris!

    Ana
    I am glad you are enjoying them cos this has sure been Lis' week. Now I need to sit down tomorrow and write a couple of reviews that have been sitting there

    Janna
    Thanks, the same to you!

    Yvonne
    Oh yes, a LOT

    Cherry
    Perhaps he would have pushed me too..yeah I think so

    Melissa
    Lol, I am honestly 5 sometimes so yea ;)

    Darlyn
    I hope you enjoy it when you read it

    Jenny
    I feel the same

    Naida
    Happy Easter :)

    Stephanie
    Lol, not vamps I would like to meet

    Brandi :)

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  19. I still enjoy a good vamp book. I seen the on amazon.

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  20. gotta love a good ya vamp book every now and then

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