Tuesday 15 December 2009

Uninvited by Amanda Marrone



Pages - 204

Published by Simon and Schuster in 2007

First Paragraph

I close my eyes, hoping he won't come tonight. It's later than usual. I hope he's given up, or just gone, and I can finally sleep. Cool air blows through the window, and I marvel at my bravery. Or stupidity. It's opened just a crack, no more than an inch. But until tonight I've kept it closed, so I know he'll be wondering what it means.

I am a big fan of the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer, which I know a lot of other book bloggers either love or hate. It is a bit like the Marmite taste effect - you either love or hate it (for any Americans reading, who have no idea what Marmite is, it is a yeast extract that you spread on toast and is similar to Vegemite). Anyway, I am a big vampire fan, so Uninvited caught my attention straight away. You only have to mention vampires or faeries and I am willing to read it.

Unfortunately this has to be the worst vampire book I have ever read. I really was so disappointed with it and I hated the way the characters were portrayed.

The lead character, Jordan, is a teenager at high school, who spends majority of the book getting wasted on either drugs or alcohol which leads to her having sex with a variety of strange young boys. The character seemed to feel that this was the way that teenagers live. It really was a horrible way to portray teenagers and I would not be happy for my girls to read this book.

Michael is the only vampire in the book, after being bitten he stalks Jordan who was previously his girlfriend. Now in previous vampire books I have read,they have always hunted in packs and stuck together, yet Michael seemed to exist on his own and knew exactly how to live and survive as a vampire without the aid of any other immortals. I found that quite unbelievable, which sounds daft when I think about it,because vampires don't exist anyway, so the whole thing is unbelievable.

This is one book I would certainly not recommend, especially as it is viewed as a Young Adult reading it. If you ever see your teenage children reading it, take it away, as it gives a degrading view of teenage life.

Has anyone else read a book marketed for teenagers and wondered how it was ever considered a Young Adult book?

16 comments:

  1. Lol, I have ideas like that too, yup I know the do not survive but..who knows perhaps he got some sort of genetic memory when he was bitten

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  2. I don't think I'll be reading this book. I'm not 100 % sure what ages YA lit is supposed to be for. Also I feel that the view on what is okay or not varies from country to country. In the Scandinavian countries I think a book with this content could perhaps be read by kids from 16 and upwards. Or what do you think Blodeuedd?

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  3. Such a shame that you didn't enjoy this book. It's awful when you are looking forward to reading a book and it turns out to be such a disappointment.

    Your last sentence really interested me as I question whether or not the Twilight series (Breaking Dawn in particular)is suitable for the market it is aimed at. What do you think?

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  4. Blodeuedd - I just don't buy that it is genetically implanted. I think she just didn't consider the implications of making him a vampire. I think the story may have been improved if there had been more vampires in it.

    Ladybug - I would say 18 and above. I would be worried if mine at 16 were reading it. They are so blase about casual sex and drugs within the book.

    Petty Witter - I would be happy for my girls when they are fourteen to read the first three Twilight books as there is no sexual content or drugs. The fourth is a little bit more graphic, but at least they are in a relationship and the sex isn't casual.

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  5. Ouch. Sorry it didn't work for you.

    ps - my husband likes Marmite in EXTREME moderation. He says it tastes something like straight beef bouillon cubes. I'm not brave enough to try it.

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  6. Wow you have really strong feelings about this one. I'm glad I read this review Viv as I only recently added this book to my wish list for the very same reasons you did. And I know my Dad is actively stalking my list at the mo for Christmas so I may just remove this one for now as I would much rather get some of the others that are on there than, by the sounds of it - this one.

    I had a very similar reaction to The Travelling Vampire Show which I know is definitely not YA but again I picked up for the vampire element. Didn't enjoy it at all and the hint in that case towards incest just left me cold and as yet have still not read another Richard Laymon yet because of it. Review I did of that (loooong time ago) here.

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  7. Viv you steal away - I'd love to see your tree and I, myself, stole the idea from about 5 other blogs :D

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  8. Aww...don't you hate bad books? I do like Marmite. Mm...

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  9. I haven't gotten into vampires yet, so I'll be sure to steer clear of this book.

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  10. I appreciate your honest review, Vivienne.

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  11. Sorry you didn't like this one :(

    Have you read the Sookie Stackhouse books? I haven't yet and am wondering if they're worth it?

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  12. Sorry you didn't like it Viv. I've never even heard of it.

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  13. Great cover, but apparently that is ALL it has to offer. sorry Viv.

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  14. i'm more interested in learning in marmite than reading this book! :)

    i know what you mean about some of the YA stuff, though. it's pretty surprising what passes for appropriate...and i'm not some puritan over here!

    sorry this book was such a disappointment--thanks for being honest, though!

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  15. I don't think young adults should be reading things like this. So Viv, I'd do what you say if I have teens of my own. Or if they do read it, we'd have discussion about it.

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  16. Amanda - your husband is probably right, Marmite does have a beefy taste.

    Carmen - Thanks for letting me steal your idea and I will make sure I don't pick up The Travelling Vampire Show.

    Amanda - nice to see another Marmite fan.

    Bermudaonion - I would start with the Stephanie Meyer books.

    Suko - thanks

    Christina - I read the first Sookie Stackhouse book and really enjoyed it.

    Dar & Diane - thanks.

    Booklineandsinker - I am not really prudish, but it worried me that teenagers were reading this stuff.

    Alice - very wise.

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Hiya, thanks for stopping by, it is always nice to hear what you have to say, so do leave a comment if you have time.