Aurora - Foo Fighters

ReVamped

Author: Ada Adams
Pages: 298
Review Copy Acquired from: Ada Adams via Amazon (Kindle Gift Copy)

Brief Summary:
Dawn Fairchild is rare, even for a vampire. She was born a vampire, while most are made (or turned). This gives her additional strength, which she uses to guard her father, the Vampire President of America. What she really wants, though, is to go on a real mission outside of The Scarlet House (aka Vampire White House), and she gets it. Her charge: to go to the small town of Angel Creek and train four vampires to protect the townspeople. Dawn's mission is supposed to be simple, but, well, these are the most pathetic vamps she's ever met!

Review:When Ada requested some R&R (read and review) of her first novel, I did a little research before immediately going 'yay! books!,' because I am a grownup and capable of thinking before I act. Anyway, my brief research suggested that, although dealing with vampires, a subject even I am starting to get a bit skeptical of at this point, she might do something new and interesting with the topic. Additionally, ReVamped sounded like it might actually be funny, which was seriously encouraging. I am happy to report that my initial judgments were correct!

Actually, of all of the vampire novels I have read, ReVamped reminds me most of a mix of the Sookie Stackhouse series and The Reformed Vampire Support Group. The parts that reminded me of the former were largely in the organization of the vampires. They have a government, both local and national, although obviously not kings and queens here. In Adams' world as in Harris', the vampires have gone public. In both, this led to the production of non-human blood sources. Although, I definitely think that the vamps in ReVamped have a better deal, since they have tons of blood drinks to choose from, including Blood Vodka. Awesome.

As for the latter novel, which I didn't much like, the ragtag group of not very vampiric vampires was what brought it to mind. Of course, I didn't much like that book. Thankfully, ReVamped did that angle way better, because these characters did actually seem to grow and change through the novel. Plus, ReVamped was actually funny, and not just descriptions of feeding on guinea pigs.

Now, I do not want to imply that Adams is entirely derivative, because she's definitely not. She added her own unique bits of lore for the novel. For example, I am really fascinated by her distinctions between born and made vampires. In fact, I would love to have a discussion about the logistics of this. Mostly, I want to know how the born vampires first came into being, since they can only come from a born vampire. Of course, I can accept that, since it's really a chicken-or-the-egg argument.

Adams also did something pretty hilarious with the garlic part of the legend, although I'll leave that as a surprise. Another change from tradition to watch for are the werewolves. They made a definite impression. Additionally, I quite enjoyed Adams' writing style. I only wish that the book had had slightly better editing, as several errors got through to the Kindle version. (Note: I have since discovered that the ARC version was loaded by mistake on Amazon; thus, this should not be an issue. Hurrah!)

Dawn was a fantastic main character. She's so powerful; seriously, there are probably like two people in the world who could take her in a fight...if that. She doesn't need anyone's protection. However, Dawn is also quite naive. She's been sheltered for all 19 years of her life, which has the end result of making her act a little silly where boys are concerned. Even then, though, she doesn't do anything stupid, because she's a smart, cautious girl.

ReVamped was a great read, better than a lot of the vampire-centered books I've read. If you like strong heroines, humor and like to support debut authors, go get yourself a copy of this gorgeous new book. Seriously, check that cover!

Rating: 3.5/5

"You believe there's something else
To relieve your emptiness
And you dream about yourself
And you bleed and breathe the air
And it's on and on
I just kinda died for you
You just kinda stared at me
We will always have the chance
We can do this one more time
Hell yeah, I remember Aurora"