Book Review: Vamplayers

Vamplayers

by Rusty Fischer
Release date: 1st February, 2012
Publisher: Medallion Press
Pages: 384 (ARC thanks to the publisher in exchange for an honest review)

Summary from Goodreads:

At the Afterlife Academy of Exceptionally Dark Arts, the vampires in training follow one of two tracks: they become either Sisters or Saviors. Of course, everyone wants to be a Savior, swooping into infested high schools in matching red leather jumpsuits and wielding crossbows, putting down swarming vampires with deadly efficiency.

But Lily Fielding is just a Sister—a Third Sister at that, a measly trainee. When Lily and her two Sisters, Alice and Cara, are called out to their latest assignment, she figures it’s just another run-of-the-mill gig: spot the Vamplayer (part vampire, part player), identify the predictably hot, trampy girl he’s set his eyes on, and befriend her before the Vamplayer can turn her to do his bidding.

Finding the sleek and sexy Vamplayer, Tristan, and his equally beautiful and popular target, Bianca, is easy. And when Lily meets the adorably geeky Zander, she too falls under a lover’s spell. But this assignment turns out to be trickier than most when the Third Sister must battle the baddest vampire of all.

Review By Alaiel Kreuz:

Lily dies just to realize she has been turned and now is working for the Sisterhood of Dangerous Girlfriends. After several years of training she is now a Third Sister alongside with Cara (Second Sister) and Alice (First Sister).
And what they do is get into a potential place where a vamplayer is planning to create an army of vampires using first one victim: the typical hot-slutty girl that will fall for his charm and then, once turned, lure everyone else into becoming vamps too.
Once they are inside such place (almost always high schools or places like that) they find the potential victim, save her form the vamplayer and kill him.

Easy peasy, right? Wrong. Lily is tired of being Third Sister, of going to high school after high school just to save ungrateful girls and, at some rate, she is also tired of Alice for being so slutty and superior. But on top of everything she wants to be a Savior.
Who are Saviors? They are something like the Elite, la crème de la crème of vampires. They are the badass who save the world when a vamplayer has gone already too far.

But for now she is stucked at being a Sister and their new assignment is to enrole into Nightshade Conservatory for Exceptional Girls and Boys. Yes, posh name means posh place.

Now what they need to do is go, blend in, spot the victim and potential vamplayer and save the world.

Sadly for Lily everything goes wrong when Alice starts to hung out with the cool guys and becomes -more- distant, cold and superior. And then Cara, sweet Cara, turns her back on her too. But at least she meets Zander, a geeky guy, and Groover, a guy a little bit too big but with a heart even bigger. They two make sure she is not alone and she even suspects Zander's feelings for her are specials.

Now she only needs to unmask Tristan as the vamplayer and save the horrible Bianca, who is the one making her life a living nightmare... But something seems a little off about her plan.

Personal opinion:
Once again I have to bow down to Rusty's ideas and his unique style of writing. I had a wonderful time reading this book and, like "Zombies don't Cry", I sure hope he will write a sequel for Vamplayers.

I mean, how cool is the idea of a vampire being also a player? I know nowadays that's what they do, seduce, but the word itself encircles a whole new concept.

Maybe the only thing that felt a little too forced was the bond between Lily, Cara and Alice... specially with Alice. I mean, if you work with someone that it's supposed to be like a real sister then, I'm sorry, but Alice isn't sister material at all. True to be honest I don't have brothers or sisters so I'm not sure how they interact with each other but I would have gladly punch Alice in the face a few times.
Now that I think of it, I assume that's the whole point, hahaha.

I finished the book yesterday night and all I could think of was: "Not only he managed to scare me a little and made me check the windows (just in case something was lurking outside, you know) but he also made me laugh with the witty dialogues and snarky answers while crying with some of the outcomes". I love a book that makes me feel so many things because it means the author managed to create a bond between the characters and myself.

And, just in case you wonder, Rusty manages to write from a female point of view in a superb way. More than once I found myself forgetting that the author is a guy!

Now the only thing I have to say is: Dear Rusty, tell me there's going to be a series, please! I want to read more about Lily, Zander and Tristan!

Alaiel's Rating:

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