Author: Judith Berens
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Published on: June 26, 2019 by LMBPN Publishing
The books in this series are rather short, so I’m going through them quickly. This is the third entry in the Last Vampire series. The main character is Victoria “Vickie” Hewitt. She’s a fourteen-year-old vampire from Austria. Craig and Alexis, a small American family, found Vickie there and decided to bring her with them. She had no one else left in the world after sleeping for centuries. Vickie and Alexis are now almost as close as sisters. They attend the same private school, Clear Lake. It’s been a few weeks since Vickie enrolled. She’s made a few new friends so far.
Despite being at Clear Lake for a short time, Vickie’s already made an impression. She has her first-ever crush on a boy, Eric. Vickie has no experience dating, but she wants to see where things could go between her and Eric. He’s a cross country runner, so Vickie decides to join the girls’ team. She figures it’ll allow them to spend more time together. Vickie will have to control her powers, though. She’s much faster than anyone. Given Vickie’s struggle to rein in her nature, I was surprised Craig and Alexis let her join cross country. At least Alexis is there for most of the meets to keep an eye on Vickie.
This is high school, so Vickie isn’t exempt from the struggles of a normal teenager. She already has a rival, Meghan Fitz. She’s had it in for the new girl. Vickie actually put her in her place once. This hasn’t stopped Meghan. She’s a little afraid of Vickie, but stands her ground. They have a bet in this book. It’s got something to do with a class project. Vickie and Meghan both want to best each other. The winner will get to humiliate the other…publicly. This is going to end well.
The antagonists of this series have a significantly bigger role now. They’re a semi-religious group known as the Slayer Circle. They were active in Vickie's time of origin, the 1600s. The Circle eradicated (or believe they did) all vampires, including Vickie’s parents. Unwittingly, Vickie attracts the attention of the Circle. In the previous book, Vickie wrote an online post seeking to get in touch with other vampires. The post is not only public, it's on a site everyone and their cat knows about, so of course the Circle come across it. This made me want to slap Vickie in the back of the head. She still has so much to learn.
Vickie’s not the only one running careless risks. Craig is unemployed, so he’s been making money through podcasts. Unfortunately, his show’s second season had less viewers than he anticipated. Wanting to draw in advertisers, Craig comes up with an idea for the third season. I found it hard to believe he was serious about it. Craig is all about keeping Vickie secret, and now he gets an idea that may expose her. Not as a vampire, of course, but still. Craig should know better than to let Vickie out in the open.
A new character gets a bigger role. He’s Will, a new student at Clear Lake. Will showed up back in book two, but he did almost nothing. Now, Will’s doing more of the same. He stares at Vickie whenever she’s in his vicinity. When Vickie confronts him about this, Will claims to hate her for some unknown reason. To complicate things, Alexis starts dating Will. She’s never had a boy show romantic interest in her before. Alexis is understandably thrilled, so Vickie gives Will the benefit of the doubt.
Three books in, and so much has happened in this series. Each book is short, but it’s got plenty of content. And there’s been no world-building since the first book, too. The Girl With A Secret is the most entertaining entry so far. I like how the character arcs are developing. Vickie is intriguing as a main character. It’s not only because she’s Austrian, but also because she’s a vampire. Vickie’s doing so well getting along with others. It’s obvious there is no pretense. Vickie honestly wants to make friends and be happy. I look forward to reading the rest of her story. I’m rooting for Vickie.
Despite being at Clear Lake for a short time, Vickie’s already made an impression. She has her first-ever crush on a boy, Eric. Vickie has no experience dating, but she wants to see where things could go between her and Eric. He’s a cross country runner, so Vickie decides to join the girls’ team. She figures it’ll allow them to spend more time together. Vickie will have to control her powers, though. She’s much faster than anyone. Given Vickie’s struggle to rein in her nature, I was surprised Craig and Alexis let her join cross country. At least Alexis is there for most of the meets to keep an eye on Vickie.
This is high school, so Vickie isn’t exempt from the struggles of a normal teenager. She already has a rival, Meghan Fitz. She’s had it in for the new girl. Vickie actually put her in her place once. This hasn’t stopped Meghan. She’s a little afraid of Vickie, but stands her ground. They have a bet in this book. It’s got something to do with a class project. Vickie and Meghan both want to best each other. The winner will get to humiliate the other…publicly. This is going to end well.
The antagonists of this series have a significantly bigger role now. They’re a semi-religious group known as the Slayer Circle. They were active in Vickie's time of origin, the 1600s. The Circle eradicated (or believe they did) all vampires, including Vickie’s parents. Unwittingly, Vickie attracts the attention of the Circle. In the previous book, Vickie wrote an online post seeking to get in touch with other vampires. The post is not only public, it's on a site everyone and their cat knows about, so of course the Circle come across it. This made me want to slap Vickie in the back of the head. She still has so much to learn.
Vickie’s not the only one running careless risks. Craig is unemployed, so he’s been making money through podcasts. Unfortunately, his show’s second season had less viewers than he anticipated. Wanting to draw in advertisers, Craig comes up with an idea for the third season. I found it hard to believe he was serious about it. Craig is all about keeping Vickie secret, and now he gets an idea that may expose her. Not as a vampire, of course, but still. Craig should know better than to let Vickie out in the open.
A new character gets a bigger role. He’s Will, a new student at Clear Lake. Will showed up back in book two, but he did almost nothing. Now, Will’s doing more of the same. He stares at Vickie whenever she’s in his vicinity. When Vickie confronts him about this, Will claims to hate her for some unknown reason. To complicate things, Alexis starts dating Will. She’s never had a boy show romantic interest in her before. Alexis is understandably thrilled, so Vickie gives Will the benefit of the doubt.
Three books in, and so much has happened in this series. Each book is short, but it’s got plenty of content. And there’s been no world-building since the first book, too. The Girl With A Secret is the most entertaining entry so far. I like how the character arcs are developing. Vickie is intriguing as a main character. It’s not only because she’s Austrian, but also because she’s a vampire. Vickie’s doing so well getting along with others. It’s obvious there is no pretense. Vickie honestly wants to make friends and be happy. I look forward to reading the rest of her story. I’m rooting for Vickie.
My rating: ★★★★
4 stars - Definitely enjoyed it!
No comments:
Post a Comment