Kill first vampire. Get drunk. Kiss a Boy. Lose Virginity
Eighteen year old Aurora Sky manages to tick all these boxes with grim determination.
This was a pleasant change of pace from the usual teen vampire novel. After almost dying in a car crash, Aurora’s former shadow-like personality dies too. Gone is the mind-my-own-business school girl whose only goal in life is to get out of Alaska. She’s replaced with someone tougher, a girl who had to grow up all of a sudden and deal with the fact that the future she had in mind has been ripped away, and not only that, there are vampires in the world, and she’s been tasked with hunting them. Shady government types replaced Aurora’s organs and saved her from certain death. She gets to live, so as long as she works for them. Her rare blood type paralyses vampires temporarily. Aurora must let a vampire feed on her, and then kill them. Good times.
Aurora realises she almost died a virgin and can’t think of anything worse than that. So she makes out a short list and sets about ticking each item off. There’s something heart-wrenching about how she achieves each one. In this book, first time sex is depicted pretty realistically and honestly. It’s painful, unromantic and unpleasant for Aurora.
The way people become vampires was another interesting aspect. If you’ve got AB Negative blood – watch out! You may be in danger of becoming undead. Vamps in this universe turn when they catch a disease. Rabies, the plague and so on. If you’ve got that rare blood type, become infected and survive, you’re a vampire. Aurora is in danger of becoming one herself if she doesn’t keep up her injections containing the antidote, a nice way for the government meanies to keep her in check. And a great method of keeping the reader on edge.
I liked Aurora – she’s cool. A bit of an outcast at school, even more so after the accident. Her dad is an asshole. I’m not sure what his story is, but maybe we’ll find out in part 2. I found her love interest, Fane, sexy, but not exactly likeable, at least for some of the book. He goes from one girl to another very casually. This is a mature YA book. It doesn’t shy away from sex and language – nothing too graphic, but I appreciated the honesty.
The descriptions of the Alaskan landscape were rich. I was right there in the beautiful cold with Aurora. Snow, glaciers, frosty whiteness everywhere. Freezing but gorgeous. I have to get there some day.
Another enjoyable read by Nikki Jefford. **** I’m looking forward to the next part in this book series. I’ve read Nikki’s Spellbound trilogy about witches and adored those books. If you haven’t checked out her work, there’s no better time than the present.
Find Aurora Sky Vampire Hunter on Goodreads and Amazon (it’s a dollar at time I posted this)
What do you think of the cover? ICE ICE BABY.
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Emma's Ramblings on Supernatural Fiction 