Boys that Bite

From the very first page, this book is pure enjoyment in the form of words! This is the type of book that doesn't try to take itself too seriously, and no I don't mean that it isn't written well. What I mean is that the blindingly obvious pun will jump off the page at you and all you can do is crack up laughing. Any book that makes references to Buffy, Angel and the whole Whedon crew automatically wins points with me! I don't want to ruin it by referencing it exactly, but let's just say that there is a Buffy reference in here that had me rolling with laughter! The jokes, the acerbic wit, all of it just made me fall completely in love with this book.

Now on to the characters. Those of you who read my reviews often know that I have to love show more my characters. If I'm to enjoy a book, they need to be interesting and fun! Enter Sunny and Rayne, the identical twins. They may be identical in appearance, but in personality they are total opposites. Sunny is the sporty, school-driven twin who is trying to get on the radar of the resident "Sex God". Rayne, on the other hand, is a goth at heart who has an affinity for the vampire kind. It was this yin and yang between them that allowed me to connect with both of them equally. They completed one another in the best way possible. There was such fantastic chemistry between them, and the witty banter was amazing!

Remember how I said that this book doesn't take itself too seriously? Well that means that you, my dear readers, shouldn't go into it without the proper mindset. Let me explain. Sunny is a teenager. Sunny does not want to be a vampire, especially not right before prom. Sunny deals with this issue like any typical teen would, with massive amounts of snide remarks and observations. So yes, it's true, sometimes Sunny can be a little obnoxious in the way she speaks and acts. However, keep in mind my friends, this is a satirical type of book. Think Buffy! It's meant to be taken with a grain of salt and big heaping helping of humor!

Can I be honest? I loved this book. Every single minute of it. Sure, there were times when I thought the "teen speak" might have seemed a little heavy, but I've read books (that I won't mention the name of) where this issue completely turned me off of reading the book and the rest of the series. Sunny's way of thinking and talking didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story at all. This is coming from vampire novel skeptic of the highest caliber. Trust me, it means a lot. Don't go into Boys That Bite expecting anything less than a fun and light read! If you're not smiling at least a little at the end of this book, you're either a robot or an alien. Both of which, I might add, are not nearly as cool as a vampire.

Book two here I come! show less

Sunny McDonald couldn't be more different than her identical twin Rayne. Sunny plays field hockey, is the understudy for the star of their high school musical, and has an unrequited crush on high school hottie Jake Wilder. Rayne is Goth and very interested in vampires. She even blogs about them.

One evening Rayne convinces Sunny to go with her to Club Fang for some vampire fun. Once there Sunny is hit on by another real hottie. Magnus picks her out of the crowd and takes her outside. Sunny thinks there will be a little kissing. She isn't expecting to be turned into a vampire!

Magnus has mistaken her for her twin and accidentally turned her into a vampire. She hasn't studied or filled out the forms or done anything that would qualify her show more to become a vampire. She doesn't want to be a vampire. When she finds out that there is a cure, she wants it even if it means traveling to England with Magnus and finding the Holy Grail.

While she and Magnus are together, Sunny begins to question whether or not she wants to become human again or spend an eternity with Magnus. This was a fun story with a pitch-perfect teenage voice. The story was written in 2006 and some of the cultural references might seem a little dated to today's readers. But the story of a young woman torn between two very different futures will resonate with today's readers quite well.

And that cliffhanger ending... show less

Book Title: Boys that Bite (Blood Coven Vampire #1)
Book Author: Mari Mancusi

Introduction: I read this book WAAAAAAAAY back when (like, way back when I was probably in early high school way back) and I absolutely loved it back then. I remember reading this book on the way to a swim meet on a bus filled with athletes who didn't want to talk to me (I was a minor niner who was a great swimmer so I got to go with the grade twelves who were also great swimmers to a meet) so I decided to let my inner book worm come out. Long story short, I read four books of the series there, and was incredibly upset that I left the rest of the series at home.

So, Mari Mancusi rebooted the book from my understanding so of course I wanted to reread it. Out of show more all the vampire books I obsessed over in my high school years, Mari Mancusi's Blood Coven Vampires was one of my favourite (Alongside Vladimir Todd and Vampire Kisses) so I wanted to get my hands on a copy! And guess what happened? I wiggled my way into a group that reads this very series so I got a copy sent to me!

My review is simply a review - it was not requested to be nice, it was simply provide a review and we'll continue throwing this series at you. So how could I argue? I loved this series and I had been meaning to pick it back up as some point anyways! It's my guilty pleasure!

Now off to the super spoiler-y review...

Review:
Rayne and Sunny are adorable. While the names are a tad silly (has anyone actually named their children like this? Please, leave me a link for proof. Maybe I live in too small of a town to see this being common), they are fantastic characters. Re-reading the series makes me wonder why having their names Rayne and Sunny was so important - was it for dramatic effect? Was it to show they are opposites? Was it just for comedy?

When Magnus appears, it still makes my heart pound. He was one of my book crushes, and I still adore him. How can you not? He's super hot and a great ying to our Sunny's yang. He's introduced as dark and sexy, which is how you want a YA/teen heart throb to be introduced. Mari does an incredible job expanding on his character -he's not just tall, dark, handsome and brooding. Slowly over the course of this series she delves deeper into this. Now as an adult, I really appreciate that. As a teenie bopper, YA-teenage addict back in the day, I wasn't as appreciative of the hard work she put in.

Bonus Marks: Shout out to Emma Stone!!

Cheesey factor aside, I really did enjoy the entire Sunny accidentally stepping in for Rayne portion of this novel. It's early on, and you can see it coming if you love your soap operas (like I do...), but it's still a great way to get this series started. It starts the series off with a bang and makes the entire potential plot flip upside down. What do you do if you accidentally step in and become a vampire instead of your sister? It's a great start! I still enjoy it, despite the slight cheesiness that goes along with it.

Mari is also the queen of vampire comedy. Random comments fly left and right (sarcastically, insultingly, and many other forms of comedy) and it makes this book better. Does it make it cheesey? Probably. Is this supposed to be a Shakespearean YA novel? Nope!! So it fits in perfectly! This book has a splash of comedy in it! That's one of the great aspects of it!

Bonus Marks: "Vamps-R-Us.com" and the Batman reference. Mari knows the way to my heart...

Overall, this book still holds up for me. When I was a teenager it was a lot "cooler" - the tone definitely fits a YA audience. Since I'm an adult now, I really do enjoy it. It's funny, slightly cheesey, and has the perfect amounts of romance, drama and comedy to make a really great book.

This book won't be for everyone, but as a throwback for me it's excellent. I definitely suggest this book to those who like the YA genre, who want just a splash of cheesey, soap opera-y drama or who want to read a different take on the vampire genre.

Forewarning: This book sounds like it's written by a teenager (isn't that kind of the point? The narrators are sixteen years old?). I have seen many, many, many, many complaints about this but you need to understand: THE NARRATORS ARE SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. If you have a problem with that, you need to see that this book is a YA novel. It's not a steamy, EL James Fifty Shades of Grey or Shakespearean novel. It's a YA vampire novel. That is all.

Five out of five stars! show less

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

Sunshine "Sunny" McDonald was doing pretty well; the hottest guy at Oakridge High School, Jake Wilder, has asked her to go to the prom with him, and life is now complete. At five foot four, with dirty blond hair and unimpressive muddy brown eyes, Sunny would have sworn that Jake didn't even know she existed. Freckles notwithstanding, she's not as easily recognizable as her twin sister, Rayne, who's so into the Goth scene, vampires, and wearing all black that it's not even funny. Yes, life is looking up--until Sunny lets herself get guilt tripped into attending Club Fang, a cheesy Goth club filled with wannabe vampires, and suddenly her life isn't so sunny anymore.

The night starts out okay--yes, the show more club is the epitome of cheesy and the smoke machine is making her cough--but improves vastly when an Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean Orlando, not Lord of the Rings Orlando)introduces himself with a "Good evening..I'm Magnus..I believe you were expecting me" line. Sunny sure wasn't expecting him, and she definitely was not expecting the bite on the neck she gets from the totally hot Magnus.

Suddenly life is taking a dark turn, when Sunny finds out that Magnus is not only a vampire--for real!--but that he mistook her for her twin sister, Rayne. Now Sunny's going to turn into one of the undead--this close to prom!--unless she find the Holy Grail. Which is the one and only thing that can reverse the process of turning into a vampire. But even with thoughts of Jake Wilder on the brain, Sunny's not so sure that being a vampire would be so horrible, or that being in league with Magnus would be the end of her life.

BOYS THAT BITE is a funny, action-packed read that will keep you turning pages long into the night. The characters--from Sunny, Rayne, Magnus, and everyone in between--are all well-rounded people, and the dialogue is smart and funny. As the three race to save Sunny from an eternal life as a member of the undead, she'll have to find out what's most important in life. And the ending, including a stunner regarding Rayne, definitely sets up the scene for a sequel. A great read! show less

Mistaken for her goth twin sister, Sunny is bitten by a vampire. The bad news: she craves blood, cant stand sunlight and her mom thinks she’s on drugs, so she’s grounded. The good news: her condition is reversible, but she’ll have to act quick and find the Holy Grail before it’s too late. This book has all the spunk and sarcasm its drama queen protagonist can give it, which makes up for the lite blood and fang factor.

I actually read this in the format of the [b:The Blood Coven Vampires, Volume 1|10557752|The Blood Coven Vampires, Volume 1|Mari Mancusi|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1302648570s/10557752.jpg|15464469], but what the heck.

Anyway, I REALLY enjoyed this book. It was a really fun and lght read. I especially loved all the puns and witty plays on words and vampire jokes. Seriously. There was at least one on EVERY SINGLE PAGE. It was amazing.

Also, the biggest irony of the book, which was hilarious: We are turning a Girl named SUNSHINE into a vampire.

I don't think I'm going to stop laughing at that for a very long time.

LOL!

Also, being a Buffy fan, I did appreciate all the Buffy references.

Ok so we start with mistaken identity then go into part disappointing and part ok that works then head straight into a 180 twist mixed up with a big helping of are you kidding me. Its good but seriously not where I expected it to go or hoped it would go. Now I have to read the next one to find out what happens.