Senior Year Bites by J.A. Campbell

Source: Received eBook from the author in exchange for a fair & honest review.

My summary:

Meg is facing her senior year in high school but she isn't worried about grades, boys and graduation like most senior are.  No she's worried about keeping her secret from her mom, her friends, really from everyone.  The secret that started the night she played truth or dare at her best friends party.  Afraid of telling truths, she agreed to stay the night in the nearby graveyard.  Attacked and left ... well dead, Meg survived the night figuring out slowly that her problems with sunlight and craving for blood only meant one thing.  She hadn't survived alive.  Now she tries to hide the truth from everyone.  Harder to do now that there are strange unexplained murders turning up in their sleepy little town.  She wasn't responsible, was she?  



My Thoughts:




3 stars - an okay read 

Senior Year Bites holds most of the classic lure for vampires: sunlight, drinking blood, pale skin, no heart beat,- you get the drill.  It is different in that it's only direct sunlight that burns Meg, though she's more comfortable in the night.  I think the world building was okay.  Meg's ability to figure out how to use her vampire powers was a little strange.  Once she was made aware of she had a power, she just tried and there it was.  I wondered why she had to be told about those powers if they were so easy to use.

I Liked Meg.  She was strong and tried to protect her family from what she had become.  She tried to do the right thing when she realized someone was killing people.  Her ties to her friends were strong and I loved that her friends stood by her.  I liked her brother's character a lot but I wish there had been more for him.

Things that frustrated me about this book include never finding out who turned her or why, never finding out ... well that one's too spoiler to say and Meg never telling her family.  I would have enjoyed the book more if there was resolution to a few points that just aren't dealt with in the book.  I always hope that characters grow and I wish Meg had made a little more progress by the end of the book.

This is more of a classic vampire story.  Very little to no romance in this book.  I guess I have come to think of paranormal and romance as going together but this book is not that way.  So if you like your vampires traditional and wish the romance would stay in the romance books, then this one may be a good fit for you.    

J.A. Campbell | Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

I am not compensated for the links in this post.