Helpful Score: 2
Kerry never knew that vampires existed in her town. She thought they were just a slice out of fiction. Until one night she risks going back to the Laundromat where her little brother has left his favorite stuffed animal. She's caught by surprise when three grown men come in dragging behind them a college student. They claim he is a vampire, and that no one is leaving the Laundromat until dawn when the sun will hopefully fry him up. We come to know him as Ethan after Kerry manages to get him free and escapes with him. He's dark and secretive, but is grateful for Kerry rescuing him so he takes her home making sure she is safe.
By chance they run into each other again after she gets off work. She wants to know what happened after he dropped her off. Did he call the police? Are the bad guys gone? He says he took care of it and that her name will never come up. When he takes her home and the place is trashed with a message for Kerry written on the wall calling her a vampire, and stating that they have her family she freaks and asks Ethan for help.
Thus begins a long journey through the next couple nights setting up a plan, discarding a dead body, burning down a house, and sleeping in the old subway system. Everything comes to a head when the man holding her family hostage comes to kill Ethan.
This was an older book published in 2002, and it was okay. There have been so many great vampire books released that it's hard to measure up. There is a total lack of dialogue which I attribute to the brooding vampire not wanting to speak every time Kerry would ask questions. But by the end she is in love with him (all over the course of a couple days) of course, but decides she cannot be with him. So she leaves
Which brings me to my question. Why don't the girls ever want to be changed? Fictional characters never want to be turned or bitten, while I'm sitting here reading and shouting (in my head mind you, I'm not that crazy), "Let him bite you! Let him change you", because, well, I would want that. Wouldn't you?
Anyhow, Companions of the Night is a short read coming in at 212 pages, so it was fast read for a Sunday afternoon.
By chance they run into each other again after she gets off work. She wants to know what happened after he dropped her off. Did he call the police? Are the bad guys gone? He says he took care of it and that her name will never come up. When he takes her home and the place is trashed with a message for Kerry written on the wall calling her a vampire, and stating that they have her family she freaks and asks Ethan for help.
Thus begins a long journey through the next couple nights setting up a plan, discarding a dead body, burning down a house, and sleeping in the old subway system. Everything comes to a head when the man holding her family hostage comes to kill Ethan.
This was an older book published in 2002, and it was okay. There have been so many great vampire books released that it's hard to measure up. There is a total lack of dialogue which I attribute to the brooding vampire not wanting to speak every time Kerry would ask questions. But by the end she is in love with him (all over the course of a couple days) of course, but decides she cannot be with him. So she leaves
Which brings me to my question. Why don't the girls ever want to be changed? Fictional characters never want to be turned or bitten, while I'm sitting here reading and shouting (in my head mind you, I'm not that crazy), "Let him bite you! Let him change you", because, well, I would want that. Wouldn't you?
Anyhow, Companions of the Night is a short read coming in at 212 pages, so it was fast read for a Sunday afternoon.
Helpful Score: 1
I didnt love this book, but I didnt hate it. It just didnt grab me. There were a couple things that I liked, though. Ethan, the vampire, never was anything but a vampire. Hes not softened, not made into a perfect romantic hero. He drinks human blood, kills, lies to Kerry left and right, but Kerry still falls in love with him. Of course, she is a teenager and he does know how to manipulate her, but he truly cares about her, too. He just never loses his vampireness if that makes sense.
One of the best vampire books I've read. It manages to depict the life of vampires mingling with the modern world in a realistic fashion. A little horror, a little action, a little romance but in the end vampires luckily act like vampires should and keep themselves apart from human society. No one is going to make a movie or sell T shirts with this teen vampire's face on it.
Ever since her mom left, sixteen-year-old Kerry cant take it when her little brother, Ian, cries. Thats why, even though its almost eleven oclock at night, she goes back to the Quick-Clean Laundry to retrieve Footy, Ians stuffed koala bear.
And walks into what looks like a gang war gone crazy. Which leads to a kidnapping. Car theft. Murder.
And vampires.
And walks into what looks like a gang war gone crazy. Which leads to a kidnapping. Car theft. Murder.
And vampires.
This is a nice easy read. Good story with very good pacing. Also a nice teen romantic ending. Good for the young or the vampire loving young at heart.
A very good story! I have always enjoyed Vande Velde. Her books are adventurous, and keep one eager to find out what comes next. Teen girls will especially enjoy this book.
A late-night trip to the Laundromat to retrieve her brother's stuffed koala bear turns sixteen-year-old Kerry's life upside down as she lands in the midst of a dangerous hunter vs. the hunted encounter. However, there are vampires and ordinary mortal vampire hunters involved, so who is the hunted and who is the hunter?
A series of events pairs Kerry up with the young vampire Ethan Bryne, who exasperates her to no end with his constant lying, alternating heartlessness and caring, and good looks. Ethan wants to avenge the death of his vampire friend, and Kerry needs to find her father and brother, who were taken by a vampire hunter who mistakenly believes she is a vampire too. In the end, though, can she really trust the manipulative and dangerous Ethan, even though they might have feelings for one another?
COMPANIONS OF THE NIGHT is no mind-blowing thriller, but it is a quick read that will please readers easily. I would've liked more back story, but it's still a pretty decent paranormal world that we are invited into.
A series of events pairs Kerry up with the young vampire Ethan Bryne, who exasperates her to no end with his constant lying, alternating heartlessness and caring, and good looks. Ethan wants to avenge the death of his vampire friend, and Kerry needs to find her father and brother, who were taken by a vampire hunter who mistakenly believes she is a vampire too. In the end, though, can she really trust the manipulative and dangerous Ethan, even though they might have feelings for one another?
COMPANIONS OF THE NIGHT is no mind-blowing thriller, but it is a quick read that will please readers easily. I would've liked more back story, but it's still a pretty decent paranormal world that we are invited into.
I've read this book more than a few times and I never get tired of it. It's a quick read if you're looking to satisfy your vampire lit crave.
This is the second book I have read by Velde (I also read Cloaked in Red which was okay). Like Cloaked in Red this book was okay but not great. It was a quick read, but it was also one of those stories where I am not really sure what the point was.
In this story our heroine, Kerry, gets accidentally involved in a conflict between some vampires and a religious zealot who is set on wiping vamps out. As things progress she ends up helping out the male vampire (Ethan) that she found in trouble in the first place. The whole thing leads to Kerry doing things that are more and more dangerous and illegal. Kerry is constantly questioning who to trust; the religious zealot or Ethan (the hundreds of years old vampire).
There really isn't much love or romance in this story. Kerry and Ethan don't ever really trust each other enough to develop more than a friendship of convenience. At times there are hints of something more developing between them but it seems to be pretty one-sided and is never acted on. Vampires are definitely not romanticized in this book.
The book is decently written and the writing was easy to read. This is one of those books that describes a brief blip or fantastic event in someone's (Kerry's) life and then just kind of ends. As such, it left me feeling kind of unsatisfied.
Overall this is an okay read but it felt somewhat pointless and unsatisfying. Definitely not one of the best paranormal books I have read. It was okay but not great.
In this story our heroine, Kerry, gets accidentally involved in a conflict between some vampires and a religious zealot who is set on wiping vamps out. As things progress she ends up helping out the male vampire (Ethan) that she found in trouble in the first place. The whole thing leads to Kerry doing things that are more and more dangerous and illegal. Kerry is constantly questioning who to trust; the religious zealot or Ethan (the hundreds of years old vampire).
There really isn't much love or romance in this story. Kerry and Ethan don't ever really trust each other enough to develop more than a friendship of convenience. At times there are hints of something more developing between them but it seems to be pretty one-sided and is never acted on. Vampires are definitely not romanticized in this book.
The book is decently written and the writing was easy to read. This is one of those books that describes a brief blip or fantastic event in someone's (Kerry's) life and then just kind of ends. As such, it left me feeling kind of unsatisfied.
Overall this is an okay read but it felt somewhat pointless and unsatisfying. Definitely not one of the best paranormal books I have read. It was okay but not great.
