Bumped
Megan McCafferty


rating: 5 out of 10 "books"

I loved Megan McCafferty’s Jessica Darling series so when I heard she was finally coming out with a new book I was thrilled. The only problem is that when you love a series so much, it’s always a little hard to get into anything completely different by an author. Bumped is exactly that. While the writing style and voice of the characters in Bumped is the same as that of the series I know and love, the storyline couldn’t be any more different. Harmony and Melody are twin sisters, separated at birth and completely unaware of each other until their sixteenth birthdays. Adopted by different parents, both girls grow up in completely different environments; Melody in a society where becoming a RePro (professional birther) is a smart move, and Harmony in a church settlement where girls are matched with their future husbands by the church council before they may even think about having intimate relations. In a world where a virus has caused men and women over the age of 18 to become infertile, it is up to teenage boys and girls to produce offspring for aspiring parents. While babies have long been sold off by amateurs (teen couples actually IN a relationship), the newest trend is to go pro and sign a contract with an infertile couple through an agent. This couple in turn has the right to find a partner for the teenage boy or girl to reproduce with, oftentimes to try to find matches that represent the infertile man or woman in appearance. This way, the offspring could actually pass as their own. When Harmony ditches the farm to unite with her long lost sister, Melody is hardly ecstatic. Things go even more south when a case of mistaken identity lands Melody’s gorgeous contracted RePro match in the company of Harmony. But as the story looms close to an end, what each sister may have thought they always wanted may not be so. While not exactly a twist ending, things do not turn out the way Bumped has you thinking it will at the start. Each character goes through some major revelations and as different as Melody and Harmony may seem (to the reader as well as each other), by the end of the book they do not seem so different (again to the reader as well as each other). The events in the story end up bringing the sisters closer than they ever could have imagined.

I have to admit that I have mixed feelings about this book. While I do love the writing (and the premise of the story is kind of cool), I feel like there are some holes in the plot. If people are unable to have children after a certain age, why don’t they just have them younger when they are still able to? It’s not like it hasn’t been done before. Back in early times sixteen/seventeen wasn’t too early for girls to have children. Even thirteen wasn’t too early. People were married as early as that age. So what’s to stop this futuristic society from simply reverting back to some of those early day practices? At least that way, the mother’s children would be her biological children. And I know that McCafferty was trying to be futuristic with her use of slang in the book, but I found it somewhat annoying. Half the time I didn’t understand what the slang was meant to imply, especially when it was then used in a different context. As much as I love Megan McCafferty, overall I was a bit disappointed with Bumped. Apparently there is supposed to be a sequel to this book. Maybe the next one will be a bit better.

The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle (Book 2)
L.J. Smith


rating: 5 out of 10 "books"

The second book in the “Vampire Diaries” series, “The Struggle,” picks up right where the first book, “The Awakening,” left off. Elena discovers that Damon is in fact in town, and with this realization comes the news that Stefan is missing. Elena is convinced that Damon is responsible and with the help of Bonnie’s visions, the group is able to find him, practically near death. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Elena is up to the challenge. She volunteers to give Stefan some of her blood to help him recover faster. Stefan who, to steal a word from the “Twilight” series, is a “vegetarian,” who only drinks animal blood, refuses to take Elena’s, but is ultimately convinced when Bonnie goes to bring her sister, a nurse, to examine Stefan.

Other strange things are happening in Fell’s Church that doesn’t make Elena and Stefan’s situation much easier either. For one, Elena’s diary is missing and passages from it are turning up posted around the school. That it’s embarrassing is one thing, but even worse, is the fact that Elena wrote a lot about Stefan that reveals who he truly is in said diary. Even stranger, is the way Vikki Bennett is acting after having been attacked in “The Awakening.” A near striptease and multiple other events have Elena and Stefan worried about her. It also doesn’t help that the new history teacher in town, Alaric Saltzman, seems to be snooping around.

Elena, Bonnie, and Meredith figure “frenemy,” Caroline Forbes and Stefan-hater, Tyler Smallwood are at the center of the missing diary dilemma. After concocting a plan to sneak into Caroline’s house to retrieve the important journal goes awry, Elena finds herself in debt to Damon for saving her from being discovered by Caroline and her family. She makes a secret deal with him and in the end, having just exchanged blood with Stefan, also exchanges blood with Damon. The story ends in another cliff hanger where Elena, while waiting for Stefan one night, feels something, some Power, is after her. As she tries to get away in Matt’s car, devastating events occur that leads into the third book, “The Fury.”

Although this story really didn’t seem to have much action or purpose to it in the scheme of the series, it actually does. The little things in this book build up to the events that occur in the third and fourth books. The thing I like about this series is that the books are easy reads, and it’s not a huge commitment, as there are only four books to the original series. I’ve heard people talk about reading a story only to find out it’s part one of a twenty part series or something and then they feel like they have to stick it out and read all twenty, even if they are no good. I have to admit, “The Vampire Diaries,” is pretty good. It’s got enough to keep the reader interested, and the books always end on that dreaded but effective marketing “cliff hanger.” I can honestly say I’m addicted.

The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening (Book 1)
L.J. Smith


rating: 5 out of 10 "books"


As a culture, it seems like we’ve made that cycle back to vampire obsession in no time. Of course, it feels like once a decade we revert back to vampire-mania. From the “Lost Boys” of the eighties to the vampire slayers of the nineties (I’m talking about that little ditty adapted from that movie you might remember, “Buffy” something or other), it is no wonder “Twilight” crazes and anything relating to the sexy undead is at a peak for the two-thousands. It almost makes me wonder if these “recycles” have anything to do with economy or politics. It certainly feels like the bloodsuckers come out during hard times. But upon looking into it, there is no truth to the matter: at least in the case of literature and film. I cannot claim the same being true of everyday life.

With the premiere of a new show on the CW network, I settled in to get my own take on “The Vampire Diaries.” Although I was at first unaffected and apathetic as to whether I saw another episode or not, I eventually became obsessed with this show. Having read the “Twilight” series before any of the films came out, I decided to check out the book form of “Vampire Diaries.”

First off, it must be mentioned that L.J. Smith’s teen vampire romance came out first in 1991, fourteen years before Bella Swan would fall in love with Edward Cullen, let alone be capable of such feelings towards the opposite sex. I have to say this because I don’t think L.J. Smith gets enough credit for paving the way for what would become the biggest tween/teen/adult woman craze of the 21st century. I get a little huffy when people think the CW show is ripping off the “Twilight” Saga. But, that’s for another time.

“The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening,” is the first book of the original four part series. We are introduced to Elena Gilbert the “queen of the school,” who has boys longing for her and girls wanting to be her. She is so caught up in her looks and popularity, that she can hardly believe it when the mysterious new boy in town hardly gives her the time of day. This incredulity only makes her more determined to conquer him. The “new boy,” Stefan Salvatore, has a secret: he is a vampire. Settling in Fell’s Church, Virginia, Stefan is determined to live the normal life he was meant to live over one hundred years ago and forget all about his all time love, Katherine, who killed herself as a result of brotherly quarrel over her. But Stefan’s best efforts at laying low amongst the humans are not made easy when the tiny town starts experiencing strange attacks as soon as he arrives in town. Events, that leads Stefan to believe that his older brother Damon may be in town. Even harder than dealing with the escalating suspicion from the townsfolk however, is his ability to hold off Elena’s attempts at seducing him.

Of course, love conquers all, and Elena and Stefan fall in love. By the end of the book Elena also begins to grow up and lose her vain, immature ways. She could care less about being school queen, much to the delight of Elena’s “frenemy,” Caroline Forbes. As the end of the story approaches we learn that Damon is in fact in town, and he’s got some business to attend to.

This book is definitely different from the television show. The most obvious difference is Elena’s appearance: blond hair/blue eyes. From her description and Caroline Forbes', it’s almost as if the two characters were switched appearance-wise anyways, for the show. Another big difference is the back story of the Salvatore brothers. Hailing from Renaissance Italy in the story, the brothers claim Mystic Falls, Virginia as their birthplace on the show, and have just now returned to said town (where the show takes place), after many years. The story line is still very much the same though: Elena’s parents died in a car crash and now Elena lives in her parent’s house with her Aunt Judith. However, Elena’s brother on the TV show, Jeremy, doesn’t exist in the books. Instead, Elena has a baby sister named Margaret. Other characters from the show are in the story, but in different ways. Elena’s ex-boyfriend Matt is the same old character, although I’d say he is way more compassionate and bent on helping Elena any way he can in this book than he is in the TV version. Vikki Bennet is not his sister however, although she is in the story in quite a different way. The same can be said of characters from the book missing from the TV show. For example, in the story Elena has a friend, Meredith, who I do not believe is anywhere mentioned in the CW version.

All in all, I enjoyed the first book and was glad to have a basis from which to judge the CW show. I plan to finish out the series and hopefully continue onto the sequel series, “The Vampire Diaries: The Return.” I still feel like there is a lot more to mention, but hopefully I will get to that in my review of the next book. I know this review has already gotten much too long!