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TURNED is book #1 in the #1 Bestselling series THE VAMPIRE JOURNALS, which includes ten books (and counting).In TURNED (Book #1 of the Vampire Journals), 18 year old Caitlin Paine finds herself uprooted from her nice suburb and forced to attend a dangerous New York City high school when her Mom moves again. The one ray of light in her new surroundings is Jonah, a new classmate who takes an instant liking to her.
But before their romance can blossom, Caitlin suddenly finds herself changing. show more She is overcome by a superhuman strength, a sensitivity to light, a desire to feed—by feelings she does not understand. She seeks answers to what's happening to her, and her cravings lead her to the wrong place at the wrong time. Her eyes are opened to a hidden world, right beneath her feet, thriving underground in New York City. She finds herself caught between two dangerous covens, right in the middle of a vampire war.
It is at this moment that Caitlin meets Caleb, a mysterious and powerful vampire who rescues her from the dark forces. He needs her to help lead him to the legendary lost artifact. And she needs him for answers, and for protection. Together, they will need to answer one crucial question: who was her real father?
But Caitlin finds herself caught between two men as something else arises between them: a forbidden love. A love between the races that will risk both of their lives, and will force them to decide whether to risk it all for each other...
"TURNED is an ideal story for young readers. Morgan Rice did a good job spinning an interesting twist on what could have been a typical vampire tale. Refreshing and unique, TURNED has the classic elements found in many Young Adult paranormal stories. Book #1 of the Vampire Journals Series focuses around one girl...one extraordinary girl!...TURNED is easy to read but extremely fast-paced....Recommended for anyone who likes to read soft paranormal romances. Rated PG."
—The Romance Reviews
"TURNED grabbed my attention from the beginning and did not let go....This story is an amazing adventure that is fast paced and action packed from the very beginning. There is not a dull moment to be found. Morgan Rice did an awesome job bringing the reader into the story. She also made it easy to root for Caitlin and want desperately to her succeed in finding her truth....I will be looking forward to the second book in the series."
—Paranormal Romance Guild
"TURNED is a likable, easy, dark read that you can read in between other books, as it is short....You're sure to be entertained!"
—books-forlife.blogspot.com
"TURNED is a book to rival TWILIGHT and VAMPIRE DIARIES, and one that will have you wanting to keep reading until the very last page! If you are into adventure, love and vampires this book is the one for you!"
—Vampirebooksite.com
"Rice does a great job of pulling you into the story from the beginning, utilizing a great descriptive quality that transcends the mere painting of the setting....Nicely written and an extremely fast read, TURNED is a good start to a new vampire series sure to be a hit with readers who are looking for a light, yet entertaining story."
—Black Lagoon Reviews
Books #2—#11 in the VAMPIRE JOURNALS are also available for sale! Morgan Rice's new trilogy, ARENA ONE: SLAVERUNNERS (Book #1 of the Survival Trilogy), a post apocalyptic thriller, is also available. And Morgan Rice's new #1 Bestselling fantasy series, A QUEST OF HEROES (Book #1 in the Sorcerer's Ring) is now also available—as a FREE download!
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So, for starters, this wasn't actually always really bad, but when it was bad, it was one of the worst things I've ever read. But in a good way.
Here's a list of some stuff (there are some unmarked spoilers, so if you do want to read this for some reason, be warned):
1) She's somehow the only white girl in an inner city NYC high school. She doesn't mind this because she's ~not racist~ since she has had diverse friends in the past, and "some of her meanest frenemies had been white." Make of that what you will.
2) She had insta love with not only one, but two guys! One of them is a human person of color (and an actually genuinely great guy!) and the other is a soulmate-ish ~protector~ sort with brown hair and lovely eyes. He's also 3,000 show more years old and has a vampire ex-wife named Sera who is needlessly antagonistic. He declares his love for her after knowing her for like 2 hours max.
3) There are several lines that imply Caitlin is possibly bisexual or pansexual, except when it comes to her two beaus. Rice specifies that "it was unlike her to be smitten by a guy" and it was "unlike her to feel any strong feelings for any boy". Every time it is stated how unusual it is she is attracted to someone, it is specified that the person of her attention is male.
4) There is an Obama reference.
5) Caitlin repeatedly defies physics by jump-kicking people with both feet at once.
In fact, every single action scene in this was comically overdone. Think Daredevil movie levels of terrible.
6)
A big mood.
7) Hunger and thirst are used interchangeably.
8) She runs away from home and throws away the only casual clothes she had, deciding to live life wearing only a dress shirt, a skirt, and some high heels. Her dead phone is retconned several times.
9)
It's the awkward movie theater hand holding scene from New Moon. (I looked for gifs but couldn't find any)
10)
Another big mood.
11)
12) When presented with the word "coven", our very smart MC's immediate thought is vampire instead of witch like everyone else on planet earth.
13) The vampires have wings that are only mentioned when they are flying.
14) Caleb, the sexy vampire, says "Hold on tight" and proceeds to run.
15) She thinks about the brutal murder of her mother at most twice, her mind otherwise occupied on the conundrum of Caleb's astounding sexiness.
16) The bad guy (who's name is Kyle) has a fluctating age that flips between 3,000 and 4,000.
17) The vampire society has a ridiculous amount of bureaucracy.
18) The themes were non-existent.
I was smiling the entire time. It's gloriously awful and I loved it. show less
Here's a list of some stuff (there are some unmarked spoilers, so if you do want to read this for some reason, be warned):
1) She's somehow the only white girl in an inner city NYC high school. She doesn't mind this because she's ~not racist~ since she has had diverse friends in the past, and "some of her meanest frenemies had been white." Make of that what you will.
2) She had insta love with not only one, but two guys! One of them is a human person of color (and an actually genuinely great guy!) and the other is a soulmate-ish ~protector~ sort with brown hair and lovely eyes. He's also 3,000 show more years old and has a vampire ex-wife named Sera who is needlessly antagonistic. He declares his love for her after knowing her for like 2 hours max.
3) There are several lines that imply Caitlin is possibly bisexual or pansexual, except when it comes to her two beaus. Rice specifies that "it was unlike her to be smitten by a guy" and it was "unlike her to feel any strong feelings for any boy". Every time it is stated how unusual it is she is attracted to someone, it is specified that the person of her attention is male.
4) There is an Obama reference.
5) Caitlin repeatedly defies physics by jump-kicking people with both feet at once.
In fact, every single action scene in this was comically overdone. Think Daredevil movie levels of terrible.
6)
Not understanding what was happening to her, she tossed her head back and let out an unearthly shriek, echoing off the buildings and down the block. It was a primal shriek of victory, and of unfulfilled rage.
A big mood.
7) Hunger and thirst are used interchangeably.
8) She runs away from home and throws away the only casual clothes she had, deciding to live life wearing only a dress shirt, a skirt, and some high heels. Her dead phone is retconned several times.
9)
She looked down and to her surprise, there was Jonah's hand. He placed it on the armrest between them, palm up, inviting hers.
It's the awkward movie theater hand holding scene from New Moon. (I looked for gifs but couldn't find any)
10)
He hated most things, actually.
Another big mood.
11)
She was up against a wall. Chained to a wall.
12) When presented with the word "coven", our very smart MC's immediate thought is vampire instead of witch like everyone else on planet earth.
13) The vampires have wings that are only mentioned when they are flying.
14) Caleb, the sexy vampire, says "Hold on tight" and proceeds to run.
15) She thinks about the brutal murder of her mother at most twice, her mind otherwise occupied on the conundrum of Caleb's astounding sexiness.
16) The bad guy (who's name is Kyle) has a fluctating age that flips between 3,000 and 4,000.
17) The vampire society has a ridiculous amount of bureaucracy.
18) The themes were non-existent.
I was smiling the entire time. It's gloriously awful and I loved it. show less
I've seen the Turned series on both LibraryThing's (Member) and Goodreads giveaway pages but didn't win any of them so I never read them. When my library's Overdrive got the ebooks, though, I decided to give them a try and read Turned the first book in the series.
In this first book, Caitlin Paine has just moved and it's her first day at her new school. The New York City school with its metal detectors, security guards, and tough kids is unlike anything she's used to even after all the moves her (much) less than stellar mother has put Caitlin and her younger brother Sam through.
It's on that first day that she meets Jonah, seemingly the only good thing about her new school - and new locale. Before things can really begin between them, show more however, Caitlin feels herself changing. Feels of superhuman strength overcome her - leaving her feeling not only stronger than she's ever felt, but also craving violence and, strangely, to feed.
Caitlin doesn't understand these feelings . . . or the whole new world they'll soon lead her into.
Turned is short (196 pages in paperback) and seems much more like an introduction to the series than anything else. We get to meet Caitlin and Jonah and learn some of the back story about the vampires but nothing is examined very closely (Caitlin's past, why they move so often, her relationship with her family, the friends from her past, etc). We get a lot of surface things.
Reading the series as a whole or if this had been part of a larger novel, it might have been a smaller issue but with this being the whole story, I was left wondering some things.
The school setting as well as Caitlin's home life seemed almost too harsh. While we didn't see a lot of things (again, this being short and that only being a part of it), it felt almost beyond belief that no one in the whole city (at least that we saw) besides Caitlin, her brother, and Jonah was decent.
I did find Jonah to be a really interesting character and I liked the vampire lore that was introduced. I'm interested to see how things develop in the second book and how/if it builds on what was presented in this opener to the series.
Rating: 6/10
Other books you might like: A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies and The Tear Collector by Patrick Jones show less
In this first book, Caitlin Paine has just moved and it's her first day at her new school. The New York City school with its metal detectors, security guards, and tough kids is unlike anything she's used to even after all the moves her (much) less than stellar mother has put Caitlin and her younger brother Sam through.
It's on that first day that she meets Jonah, seemingly the only good thing about her new school - and new locale. Before things can really begin between them, show more however, Caitlin feels herself changing. Feels of superhuman strength overcome her - leaving her feeling not only stronger than she's ever felt, but also craving violence and, strangely, to feed.
Caitlin doesn't understand these feelings . . . or the whole new world they'll soon lead her into.
Turned is short (196 pages in paperback) and seems much more like an introduction to the series than anything else. We get to meet Caitlin and Jonah and learn some of the back story about the vampires but nothing is examined very closely (Caitlin's past, why they move so often, her relationship with her family, the friends from her past, etc). We get a lot of surface things.
Reading the series as a whole or if this had been part of a larger novel, it might have been a smaller issue but with this being the whole story, I was left wondering some things.
The school setting as well as Caitlin's home life seemed almost too harsh. While we didn't see a lot of things (again, this being short and that only being a part of it), it felt almost beyond belief that no one in the whole city (at least that we saw) besides Caitlin, her brother, and Jonah was decent.
I did find Jonah to be a really interesting character and I liked the vampire lore that was introduced. I'm interested to see how things develop in the second book and how/if it builds on what was presented in this opener to the series.
Rating: 6/10
Other books you might like: A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies and The Tear Collector by Patrick Jones show less
Blegh. Godawful book and I'm only a couple of chapters in and going to DNF this. Even this far in it's stereotype central, all wrapped up in some insta-googly eyes and tied off with a plot-inconsistency bow.
I'm just gonna mostly quote chunks:
On page 1:
Right. Average, but special. Missing dad, mean abusive mum, sweet little brother, moved around a lot. Poor special little Kaitlin.
show more
Followed by "let's tick some politically correct boxes" on the next page:
Because yes, she is the only white girl in this New York high school. Not that she's special or anything though, just you know, different.
By another page in, she's saved from the horrific dilemma of not having a chair to sit on in the classroom by a boy.
So by another chapter in, she runs into a street fight where mister glowy eyes is getting his viola smashed in, and lures his attackers away. As an 18 year old girl alone on a New York street in the middle of a fight obviously would. Straight into a blind alley - where she discovers she has a super power, and is naturally freaked out. At this point, I started to get a bit interested. Discovering that when you get angry enough you can Black Canary people hurting you and knock them down like bowling pins would freak anyone out.
Anyway, then she goes home. Doesn't go see if the boy she just rescued is alive, seeing as she left him unconscious on the ground around the corner. She goes home, to feel sorry for herself, and to think about things. Oh poor Caitlin, what was that freaky thing that happened? Oh yes, could it possibly be the exact same thing that happened already three years ago?
I gave up about half a chapter further in. And yes, I think I spent longer on this review than I did reading it, I don't care :)
Idiot "heroine", lazy writing, this crap is why I don't read YA. And every single time I pick up one thinking, well the blurb is cute, maybe this one will be different... it wasn't. show less
I'm just gonna mostly quote chunks:
On page 1:
"Caitlin couldn't understand why she was so conspicuous. At five foot five she wasn't especially tall, and with her brown hair and brown eyes (and normal weight) she felt she was average. [...]
There was something else. There was something about her that made people look twice. She knew, deep down, that she was different. But she wasn't exactly sure how."
Right. Average, but special. Missing dad, mean abusive mum, sweet little brother, moved around a lot. Poor special little Kaitlin.
show more
Followed by "let's tick some politically correct boxes" on the next page:
"[...] she felt alone. Not because she was the only white girl--she actually preferred that. Some of her closest friends at other schools had been black, Spanish, Asian, Indian--and some of her meanest frenemies had been white."
Because yes, she is the only white girl in this New York high school. Not that she's special or anything though, just you know, different.
By another page in, she's saved from the horrific dilemma of not having a chair to sit on in the classroom by a boy.
"She tried not to look up into his eyes--large, glowing green eyes--but she couldn't help it. He was gorgeous. He had smooth, olive skin--she couldn't tell if he was Black, Spanish, White or some combination--but she had never seen such smooth and soft skin, complimenting (sic) a chiseled jaw lline. His hair was short and brown, and he was thin. There was something about him, something so out of place here. He seemed fragile. An artist maybe."
Luckily we find out right away he's in fact all of Black, Spanish and White. I mean, Hispanic. I expect the author did too. And he plays the viola.
So by another chapter in, she runs into a street fight where mister glowy eyes is getting his viola smashed in, and lures his attackers away. As an 18 year old girl alone on a New York street in the middle of a fight obviously would. Straight into a blind alley - where she discovers she has a super power, and is naturally freaked out. At this point, I started to get a bit interested. Discovering that when you get angry enough you can Black Canary people hurting you and knock them down like bowling pins would freak anyone out.
Anyway, then she goes home. Doesn't go see if the boy she just rescued is alive, seeing as she left him unconscious on the ground around the corner. She goes home, to feel sorry for herself, and to think about things. Oh poor Caitlin, what was that freaky thing that happened? Oh yes, could it possibly be the exact same thing that happened already three years ago?
I gave up about half a chapter further in. And yes, I think I spent longer on this review than I did reading it, I don't care :)
Idiot "heroine", lazy writing, this crap is why I don't read YA. And every single time I pick up one thinking, well the blurb is cute, maybe this one will be different... it wasn't. show less
In just 150 pages this book was appealing, intense and action packed! While reading this book I kept thinking, "How is this book going to have a resolution in just so few pages?" And I was right; there is a semi-ending to the book but it still leaves me wanting more.
It reminds me of a really good TV series. While reading I kept thinking, “This would be like watching the first episode of an intense season premier.” Just like Caitlin’s thirst, I am craving for more. But I really would like to know more about the characters, more about the Covens and the war that has now begun between the good and bad vampires.
It is obvious that Caitlin is a key in the war between the Covens; but my guess is that Jonah (a human that Caitlin has show more feelings for) will play a big part in the war as well. Who knows, I’m not very creative so Morgan Rice just might surprise me!
OK, now I am going to be critical. This book really lacked character depth. I kept thinking, “I love this story line and the intensity, but I am not really feeling the characters.” It’s as if the characters have no true feelings! If I could rate only the story line of Turned, I would give it a 3 or 4 stars. But if I only rated the book based off of creating a descriptive picture of the events or for character build, I would without a doubt give this book only 1 or 2 stars.
I truly think that a really good editor could make this book amazing all the way through!
Here are some parts I was questioning (as in, what the eff?!): Caitlin suddenly becomes jealous of Caleb’s wife, but Caitlin’s only known Caleb for a few hours? She’s known this guy for what, a day, and she now expects him to leave the life he has lived for 800 years? And he does? Huh?! And, are they now in love? Also, Caitlin never “truly” mourned the death of her mom and was never really seemed that upset that her brother abandoned her! Who does that?!
If Morgan Rice can get a really good editor to fill in the storyline, she will have an amazing book! show less
It reminds me of a really good TV series. While reading I kept thinking, “This would be like watching the first episode of an intense season premier.” Just like Caitlin’s thirst, I am craving for more. But I really would like to know more about the characters, more about the Covens and the war that has now begun between the good and bad vampires.
It is obvious that Caitlin is a key in the war between the Covens; but my guess is that Jonah (a human that Caitlin has show more feelings for) will play a big part in the war as well. Who knows, I’m not very creative so Morgan Rice just might surprise me!
OK, now I am going to be critical. This book really lacked character depth. I kept thinking, “I love this story line and the intensity, but I am not really feeling the characters.” It’s as if the characters have no true feelings! If I could rate only the story line of Turned, I would give it a 3 or 4 stars. But if I only rated the book based off of creating a descriptive picture of the events or for character build, I would without a doubt give this book only 1 or 2 stars.
I truly think that a really good editor could make this book amazing all the way through!
Here are some parts I was questioning (as in, what the eff?!): Caitlin suddenly becomes jealous of Caleb’s wife, but Caitlin’s only known Caleb for a few hours? She’s known this guy for what, a day, and she now expects him to leave the life he has lived for 800 years? And he does? Huh?! And, are they now in love? Also, Caitlin never “truly” mourned the death of her mom and was never really seemed that upset that her brother abandoned her! Who does that?!
If Morgan Rice can get a really good editor to fill in the storyline, she will have an amazing book! show less
Can't press buy on book 2 quick enough!
This vampire story pulled me in from the start. It definitely has a different approach to turning into a vampire then other stories you read and I'm glad for that. I was so sad when book 1 stopped and it did have first 3 chapters of book 2 in the back that normally I don't read when books do that, but this one i had too...i can't wait to press send on this review so I can go get the next book and continue Caitlins story.
This vampire story pulled me in from the start. It definitely has a different approach to turning into a vampire then other stories you read and I'm glad for that. I was so sad when book 1 stopped and it did have first 3 chapters of book 2 in the back that normally I don't read when books do that, but this one i had too...i can't wait to press send on this review so I can go get the next book and continue Caitlins story.
I received this book from library thing. I would say it is very Young Adult. It was an easy read and I enjoyed bits but it very much felt like more recycled vampire material. I did like the the way that Caitlin came into her 'abilities' and the way the story started. The different factions and families of vampires seemed interesting. I would be willing to read the second book to see if things improved with the story line. My main hang ups were yet another love triangle and all the cliches.
Overall I think a teen may enjoy it, and like I said I would read the second installment and give it another try. There was enough good for me to compensate for the cheesey in this easy read. I wouldn't recommend it to an older reader or someone very show more vampire obsessed. show less
Overall I think a teen may enjoy it, and like I said I would read the second installment and give it another try. There was enough good for me to compensate for the cheesey in this easy read. I wouldn't recommend it to an older reader or someone very show more vampire obsessed. show less
I really wish I could say that I loved this story, but I just can't. Authors can write about anything no matter how far-fetched and make you believe it is possible, but this just didn't happen for me with Turned. When I was reading the story, I had to keep going back to re-read sections to make sure that I didn't miss something, but in fact, the details just didn’t add up. For example, Caitlin was very specific when she realized at one point that she forgot her cell phone and journal in her bedroom on the corner of her desk, so she goes back to her mother’s apartment to get them. When she gets to the apartment, she has to leave before she ever makes it to the bedroom, and yet, the cell phone is amazingly in her pocket later on in show more the story. There were several times that I found this kind of inconsistency that should have at least been caught by an editor. Another thing that stood out for me was when Caitlin and Jonah were speaking; I felt I was hearing the voice of the author rather than the voices of a teenage girl who grew up all over the country and a teenage boy from New York City. Their language patterns should have varied at least a little. The book was only 196 pages and I really wish the author had taken more time to develop the plot and characters so that Turned would be a solid foundation for a series. Having said all this, I might read the next installment to see if it has the development I was hoping for with Turned. show less
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Morgan Rice is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.
Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Turned
- Original publication date
- 2011-01-24
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 433
- Popularity
- 70,894
- Reviews
- 27
- Rating
- (3.02)
- Languages
- English, German, Portuguese
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 12
- ASINs
- 6
