Remember the era of Twilight? Vampires were everywhere, and then someone decided they were overdone. For a long time, vampire fiction wasn’t being written. Now, a whole new generation of writers are playing with the trope of vampires, and I am loving it!

Here are four books, all with a different twist on vampires.

About the Book

Direwood by Catherine Yu

Genre: YA Horror

Book Review

This book embraces the gore and terror of vampires. The creepiness builds slowly, drawing both the reader and the characters into the nightmare.

When it begins to rain blood, everyone dismisses it as easily explained away by natural phenomena. They dismiss the cold fog rolling in on a summer day, and even the caterpillar infestation. No one will admit anything is wrong until Aja’s perfect older sister, Fiona, goes missing. Then other teens start to disappear.

When Paidraic, a vampire with a beautiful voice, comes tapping at her window, promising a wonderful life as his favorite: Aja makes a deal with him. She’ll go with him as long as she can leave any time she wants during the first week. Aja’s desperate to find her sister, but instead finds two of her sister’s classmates enthralled with another vampire, Kate.

The ghoulishness of the vampires comes from their surroundings. Housed in an abandoned church filled with caterpillars and blood-sucking butterflies, the vampires are hiding horrors underneath the floorboards.

As an Asian teen in a white neighborhood, Aja has never fully felt like she fit in. Even her dad preferred perfect Fiona. When Paidraic swears he’s rediscovering his human side: Aja struggles with the seductiveness of what he’s offering: the chance to be the most special.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

About the Book

Vampire Weekend by Mike Chen

Genre: Paranormal Fantasy

Book Review

A vampiric ode to punk rock music and loners.

Louise, a forever-young vampire, lives a routine life, working as a janitor at a hospital to get ready access to blood, with music the only thing connecting her to humankind. But her last few attempts at joining a band and connecting with others have gone badly, so when the family she fled years ago turns up on her doorstep, she’s ready to turn them away, until she discovers a kindred spirit in Ian, her loathed brother Stephen’s grandson. She delights in teaching him guitar and bringing him to his first concert, welcome distractions from his ill mother.

However, Louise’s life is complicated when a blood shortage forces her to join a vampire community app, where a vampire organizer has an uncomfortable focus on her activities. When Ian discovers she’s a vampire, both Louise and Ian face dangers from both within and without the vampire world. Meanwhile, Louise fights to reconcile her memories of her family with decades-older versions of them and wonders if there can be space for a homecoming after all.

Louise is delightful as the girl who never grew up, fighting for connections through music, only to have them ripped away. Ian’s moody teenage broodiness was a great contrast to Stephen’s awkward pain as a grieving grandfather struggling to help him. Also, I loved Louise’s relationship with her animal companion.

Above all, this book is a tribute to family and how good it feels to go home, no matter how long it’s been.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book.

About the Book

Belle Morte by Bella Higgin

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Book Review

A forbidden romance between a human and a vampire? Yes, please! I love that vampire stories are coming back, especially if they are all going to be this well done.

When vampires revealed themselves to the world, they became celebrities and the center of every gossip magazine and talk show. Now, they live in houses where they follow carefully constructed rules to protect both themselves and the humans. Some vampire-obsessed humans volunteer to be living donors in exchange for the money and fame that living in a vampire house brings.

Renie doesn’t even like vampires. But her sister walked into Belle Morte, a vampire house, as a donor, and then disappeared. Renie’s determined to find out what happened to her, so she volunteers as a donor herself. She intends to dislike all the vampires, but then Etienne befriends her and she can’t seem to stay away from the handsome Edmond. Belle Morte is filled with secrets, and Renie and her sister are at the center of them.

Renie is the feisty heroine that Bella (of Twilight) never was. Despite her growing feelings for a vampire, she remains very much in control of her own destiny. Edmond’s feelings for Renie are mixed with admiration and respect. Their longing pulls you in, and their romance sparkles, especially in the ballroom scenes. This is very much a love story, both the story of Renie and Edmond and the sisterly love that drove Renie to Belle Morte.

I enjoyed the world of Belle Morte. This is a light, quick read, complete with gorgeous dresses, fancy parties and secret plots with a dash of celebrity gossip. The last page had a shocking twist, setting it up nicely for a series.

Thank you to Wattpad Books for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

About the Book

Go Hunt Me by Kelly deVos

Genre: YA Thriller

Book Review

This book is a suspenseful locked room thriller set in Dracula’s summer house about teens filming a horror movie that seems to be coming true in real life.

When only part of a group of film-obsessed teens get into the film school of their choice, Alex decides they need a new project to push them off the waitlist. When a famed actress stumbles across six teens’ GoFundMe to film their student horror novel, she does more than make it go viral. She convinces them to film it in Dracula’s summer home, a castle in Romania owned by her cousin. But as soon as they get there, the money from their GoFundMe is stolen, and all the adults abandon the castle. But the teens soon realize that they are not alone.

The wonderfully atmospheric descriptions of the ruined castle brought this novel to life. From ruined halls to locked doors to still-smoking cigars, the details made my heart beat fast each time a character had to change locations. Some of the characters get more development than others, as they survive longer. After the characters reach the castle, the bodies pile up as the action never slows.

This is a book that has fun with horror movie tropes, and it includes bits of the script of the film the teens are working on, along with bits of the police report after each chapter. Be warned, this story gets gruesome and bloody, with more than one murder scene graphically described. However, if you’re looking for an action-packed thriller filled with Gothic vibes, this might just be your cup of tea. The last twist caught me off guard, too.