Almost to Die For

Starred review from June 21, 2010
Hallaway's witty, fast-paced series starter cheerfully details the horrors of magical war and high school life. Anastasija Ramses Parker is a modern-day witch's daughter, fond of wearing "black with black and black" but hopelessly unable to perform actual magic. When she flunks her coven's initiation ceremony, she learns that her father is a vampire—and not just any vampire, but a vampire leader, which makes her "some kind of vampire princess." Possibly more important, Ana's best friend, Bea, has a crush on vampire hunter/punk rocker Nikolai, who's torn between kissing and killing Ana, who thinks he's cute but wants to stay loyal to Bea. Ana's narration is pitch-perfect and totally teen: half calculated attitude, half wistful empathy. This all-too-brief tale will have readers hunting down Hallaway's Garnet Lacey novels while they wait for Ana's next adventure.

February 1, 2011

Gr 9 Up-Caught between two worlds, Ana always thought she would join her mother's coven as a True Witch. But in true fairy-tale style, on her 16th birthday she finds out that she is not who or what she thought she was. She is a dhampyr princess-half-human and half-vampire. Her mom clings to the hope that Ana can still be a witch, but the teen crosses several boundaries toward becoming a blood-drinker. She has two beaus, hot vamp hunter and fellow coven member Nik; and Elias, the right-hand guard to Ana's vamp father, Ramses. Filled with plenty of teen angst and high school mishaps, this novel is on par with the many other vampire series out there. It is well written and fun to read, but there is nothing to distinguish it from the pack.-Corinda J. Humphrey, Los Angeles Public Library

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