Vampires are my favorite mythological creature. They have so much varied potential. Authors have portrayed them as ravenous beasts, as sophisticated movers of history, and as sparkly teenage drama llamas. There exist a vampire type for everyone. In VAMPS: Fresh Blood by Nicole Arend, readers get teenage vampires who are among the elites of the world. They’re more high-powered, high-society gods and goddesses than beasts. Blood lust still exists within them, but they must learn to control it so that they can coexist with the human world. In order to learn that control, the children of the elite attend an exclusive finishing academy set amongst the peaks of the Swiss Alps. In VAMPS: Fresh Blood, these ultra-rich vampire teenagers will have to deal with something no other attendee of the school has ever had to face: a half-human, half-vampire teenager.
Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.
© PrimmLife.com 2023
TL;DR
VAMPS: Fresh Blood by Nicole Arend is a fun, fast-paced, action-packed novel of teenager vampires finding their place in the world. Recommended.
From the Publisher
Sink your teeth into this exciting new paranormal series that transports you to an elite vampire academy where a half vampire, half human must hone his bloodthirsty side in order to survive in a cutthroat world. Perfect for fans of The Atlas Six and True Blood.
Nestled in the Swiss Alps, VAMPS is the ultimate academy for the children of the most wealthy and powerful vampire families. Unfortunately for Dillon, he’s an outsider—to be more specific, he’s a dhampir: a vampire that is half human.
If he wants to survive more than a single term, he’s going to need to embrace his fangs. But blood never lies and soon, it becomes clear there is something special and deadly in Dillon’s veins. But as his power grows, so does the target on his back…
Review: VAMPS - Fresh Blood by Nicole Arend
Dillon Halloran and his father are trekking through the snow up the Swiss Alps. Dillon is about to start a new, completely different phase of his life. Father and son say goodbye, part ways, and Dillon heads up to the meeting point in the tiny village of Arnes. In the village center, a Lamborghini delivers a modelesque woman, and other teenagers are delivered by the toys of the ultra-rich like Ferraris, helicopters, etc. Dillon, wearing homemade snowshoes, is out of place in more ways than one. It turns out that these teenagers are vampires born to powerful vampiric families. Dillon is only half vampire, also known as a Dhampir. His father is human; his mother, who left when he was young, is full blooded vampire. One of the vampire teens, Angelo, has a strong reaction to Dillon’s human half. Lucky for Dillon, the headmistress, Madame Dupledge, of this vampire finishing academy shows up with her right hand man. Dillon is joining the most prestigious school in the vampire world. He’ll learn combat, hunting, how to control his desires, to fly, to transform, to be able to fit in among humans, and to drink blood. Dillon is the odd one out in many ways: not a full vampire, not born among the rich elites of the world, and never used his vampire talents. His mere presence at the academy is controversial as he’s the first Dhampir to ever attend. Can he navigate his way through his first year at VAMPS, or will be expelled? Will he survive?
VAMPS: Fresh Blood by Nicole Arend is a third person point of view novel. The majority of the perspective takes place following Dillon. Arend wrote a fast-paced, engaging novel. VAMPS: Fresh Blood is a lot of fun, and it’s a quick read that balances dark academia with teenage romance.
Vampire School???
The highlight of the book is Arend’s curriculum for teenage vampires. Often, vampire fiction waves off the vamps knowing how to do things like fly or transform into a bat. While Arend does say that instinct plays a portion, she also has the teenagers learning how to control their power. This made it easier to believe that vampires are able to hide amongst humans and fit into society. In Arend’s world, vampire society interacts with and has diplomatic relations with the human world. This provides the opportunity for interesting political dynamics that didn’t show up in this novel.
My favorite scenes were the vampires learning to fly. Dillon is a bit of a mess, but he tries very hard. Arend’s description of them flying tickled the aerospace engineer in me. She actually has them adjusting their bodies in reaction to the airstream. Despite the unreal ability to fly, Arend posits that assuming it does exist, it would be affected by the physical forces like any flying object. I appreciate that.
I liked the schooling part of this novel. It was enjoyable thinking of young vampires sitting in class learning to control their blood lust, striving to be peak predator. Unfortunately, a lot of the education is waved away as instinct. The mental powers training was the most egregious. No, I don’t know how Arend could have done better, and I’m not going to suggest a correction because I’d be wrong. It just struck me that a lot of the education was repetitive.
Writing
The writing was very superficial. Arend spent a lot of time on action, which made for an enjoyable, fast read. But there’s not much character work beyond the easy choices. Everyone is a super model; even Dillon, as he begins to drink blood, transforms into a godly being, heading towards the perfection of male human form. To be clear, he still suffers internal imperfections, but externally he’s becoming something that can stop humans in their tracks. Despite the other teenage vampires having years of using their powers, Dillon quickly catches up. His pattern is to fail once and then succeed on the second chance. And not just succeed but defy expectations. The books focus is on action rather than character evolution. It was very much a teenager novel.
The Dillon/Cora relationship was cringey for me. However, it reminded me of teenage relationships and trying to navigate – badly – those emotions. Dillon is creepy in his yearning for Cora, and she does seem to lead him on. She seemed to set boundaries that she was with Bram, and then she’d cross that boundary. Dillon heard her set those boundaries and yet internally questioned them. Cora isn’t honest with Dillon either; she says she’s with Bram to learn more about her missing brother. However, as the novel progresses, it’s clear that she’s with Bram because she cares for him. Despite all evidence that she really does care for Bram, Dillon ignores it for his own selfish intentions. While Cora is a good person, she’s navigating this situation poorly and hurting both Bram and Dillon. This struck me as realistic teenager behavior. Dillon, while also displaying realistic teenager behavior, doesn’t learn or change his level of creepiness.
The beginning of VAMPS: Fresh Blood also made me expect more political plays between the teenage vampires. We got some but not enough. I would have liked more. Arend set up some good interpersonal dynamics that she didn’t follow through on.
Conclusion
Nicole Arend’s VAMPS: Fresh Blood is a fun novel about vampires coming of age. Dillon Halloran is navigating new powers, a new world where he’s viewed as lesser, and new relationships in a dark academia setting. Arend offers both stale and fresh takes on the vampire mythos. VAMPS: Fresh Blood has a lot of potential, and I’m looking forward to seeing how Arend delivers in the next book. Recommended.
VAMPS: Fresh Blood by Nicole Arend is available from Atria Books on January 3rd, 2023.
© PrimmLife.com 2023