Tomes of Shadowstalking

Welcome to the land of shadows, where evil is the greatest power, where nightfall marks the birth of terror, where your very soul is at risk. Join me as I investigate worlds filled with black magic and dark souls and encounter the monsters rule these wicked places.

This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.

That said, on to the review!

Sabrina Van Fleet has returned from boarding school to a home made dark and melancholy by the deaths of her parents. Coping with her grief is made easier by the loving attention of her childhood friend, Eric, but made much more difficult by the presence of her mysterious, eccentric uncle, Viktor. Why does he only appear after sunset? What secrets does the basement hold? And why would he become so angry when Sabrina's father's will names her the sole beneficiary? Sabrina doesn't know what's going on, but she'd better figure it all out soon, or it may be more than her inheritance and sanity that's at stake: it could be her life and soul, too!

Vampire Heart opens the two-part Blood & Lace set. Like so many of the other novels reviewed in Tomes of Spellcasting it is--you guessed it--a vampire novel. Well, technically speaking it's more a vampire-and-witch novel than just a vampire novel, although we only get references to the witch and don't actually meet her. I'm assuming that happens later.

Having been exposed to all manner of vampire books and movies, I have to say that this book handles the vampire mythos differently. As you might guess, religious stuff--crosses, holy water, etc.--works against them, but only on those who despise religion to begin with. Garlic, however, works on all. And, of course, there's the problem of sunlight. All those vampire movies and programs where the undead shrink back from crosses or from sunlight may prejudice some readers, but I like that religious icons aren't 100% effective; to me it shows that a person's faith in life is rewarded after death. That may sound pretentious, but please don't take it that way. In fact, just ignore that I said it at all: you'd have to read the book to understand what I meant by it.

As far as novels go, Blood & Lace--Vampire Heart is fairly short. As a young adult novel, you wouldn't want it too much longer, but you wouldn't want it too much shorter, either. So, you could say that this novel is just the right length. You'd have to read it to say it, though, so go ahead and read it!

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