Category Archives: Romance

Being only half-vamp in a high school like Carpathia Night makes you a whole loser. But Danny Gray manages to escape the worst of the specists at his school. Thanks to genetic treatments he had as an infant, most people assume Danny’s other half is human. Which is a good thing.

Ever since the development of synthetic blood – SynHeme – vamps have become society’s elite, while wulves like his father work menial jobs and live in bad neighborhoods. Wulves are less than second class citizens; once a month they become inmates, forced to undergo their Change in dangerous government compounds.

For Danny, living with his vamp mother and going to a school with a nearly all-vamp student body, it’s best to pretend his wulf half doesn’t even exist. But lately Danny’s been having some weird symptoms — fantastic night vision; a keener-than-usual sense of smell; and headaches, right around the full moon.

Even though it’s easy to be in denial, it’s hard to ignore evidence. There’s only a month until the next few moon, and Danny’s time is running out.

Peter Moore speaks to adolescents in a voice that will have them laughing, set in a world that will get them thinking.

This is a completely different take on the vampire/werewolf legend.  No sparkles here, although the vampires are considered the superior race.  And that is where the problem really begins.  Vampires are more intelligent and more attractive than humans, but the societies are well integrated.  The fact that vampires only drink synthetic blood probably helps.

Werewulves (not a typo, that’s how they spell it) however, are not even second class.  They are slightly higher than animals.  They are considered the least intelligent and are required to register before their first turning.  If they don’t, they are “moonrunners” and can be shot on sight.  Every month during  the full moon, all registered wulves are shipped to compounds and many of them never return.  Many vampires and humans believe they should be exterminated, or at the least, should not be allowed to associate with “civilized” people.

I kept thinking of blacks in America before the civil rights era and Japanese containment camps during World War II.  There is even a mention of Nazis and it is not in a negative way.

I would recommend this book simply on the basis it was a good read.  The addition of the societal aspects make it even more compelling.

Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she’ll be the mate of alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers.

But when she violates her masters’ laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything— including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?

This book has been nominated for YALSA’s Teens Top Ten list as well as Georgia’s Teen Peach Award, so my expectations were high.  Unfortunately, I was not all that impressed.  I had difficulty keeping the characters straight.  There were two wolf packs (soon to be three), the Keepers, the Guardians (another name for the wolf packs), and the Searchers.  The wolves answer to their alphas, who answer to their Masters, who are Keepers . . . I think.

Actually, the book did begin to work for me after the first hundred pages, but I hate to have to keep flipping back to see who the different characters are.  The storyline is unique and I can see a lot of twists and turns coming.

There is a love triangle (Twilight, anyone?  Vampire Academy?  House of Night?) which I find tiresome.  That just means there is no way everyone is going to have a happy ending.

And speaking of the ending, there’s not one.  The sequel, Wolfsbane, is due out on July 26, 2011.  Will I read it?  I am sure I will one day, but I am in no rush.  I will probably wait for the next two or three in the series to be released and read them all at once.

I am really tired of cliffhangers!