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Demon in My View (Den of Shadows)
I just finished reading this story, and I know there's something wrong with it, but I can't quite put my finger on it. It's very Teen TV, it's very Katie Holmes, very Buffy, very Charmed. It's very much a near-miss. The first 100 pages could've been compressed to 50; the whole high school atmosphere was unnecessary--and a poor retread of countless H.S. movies--even though the protagonist was a high school student, the HIGH SCHOOL didn't need to be so prominently featured--ever read Peyton Place?--that book's protagonist was a high school student, too, you know. I also feel Miss Atwater-Rhodes diluted her story's impact by bringing in witches IN ADDITION to vampires. Two such diametrically opposed groups merit their own respective stories--or at least a VERY BIG book to cover them both--not some novella one can read on a train ride from Milwaukee to Chicago. But to zero in on this world Miss Atwater-Rhodes has created: I thought Risika rendered Aubrey basically impotent at the end of "Forests"; so how come Aubrey is such a powerful dude in this book? Her concentration on Aubrey, the first book's antagonist, smacks of Anne Rice's exploration of Lestat (her 1st book's antagonist) in her SECOND vampire novel (coincidence?). The scene wherein Caryn and Aubrey join forces in the forest to do a good deed at the end--it made me think of Rodney King after the L.A. riots in 1994--"Can we all just get along?" Oh, brother. The scenes at Las Noches--and all of New Mayhem--defy reality--just too many mortals around witnessing these vampires' quarrels--gee, aren't they going to blab to someone that there are VAMPIRES acting rowdy in upstate New York! And this whole idea of vampires walking around in sunlight is just ridiculous--it's just not how the myth goes--sure, there's room for individual interpretation--but you gotta stick to the core rules. And don't tell me about Lestat going out in sunlight--as soon as Lestat could fly like Superman, I was all through. And I really missed Risika--she was so beautiful and so powerful and independent--that's the kind of vampire I love! So for all of these reasons, I cry FOUL!
Demon in My View (Den of Shadows)
This book took me an hour to read -- one hour! Besides that it was terribly written for someone he age for that fact. It was too shallow and she couldn't go on a page without the pathetic sarcasm. Jessica sounds like a baby and Aubrey sounds like a teen who just reached puberty. It was just another sad love story with the fantasy of Amelia herself. I wouldn't suggest this, or unless you are a teen who will read anything. It was just like reading a subcription of Vogue and I hate Vogue.
Demon in My View (Den of Shadows)
This was actually the first novel from Amelia that I read, what threw me off were the myths. I am getting quite annoyed with White Wolf writers who keep changing the vampire myth. I don't care about one of two things, but Amelia takes their reputation away as the Creatures of Darkness.The closest thing to gothic was Jessica who dressed dark and mysterious, supposedly, but held the persona of an annoying cheerleader gone scorned trying to be something she isn't. She's under the pen name of Ash Night who meets a guy by the name of Alex, only in actuality, Aubrey from her books.Predictably, there is a love story and from the beginning you know Jessica will turn into a vampire. Those who didn't obviously haven't read anything in the vampire genre. The relationships are anything but realistic. Two dimensional and shallow. Everyone looks like a model, I never though Amelia to be the type of person like so. If she lived in reality she would know a majority of young girls are going through peer pressure when it comes to the teen adolescents.I laughed when she said Fala was the villain, one of the weakess vampires? What convinced Amelia to do that? The villain was nothing but whiny, held no sign of intelligence and listened to Aubrey like a dog. She's even afraid to kill Jessica's mother with her own hands.The book is filled with cliches and the vampires seem more like humans then they do vampires. For those who find the vampires more believable, well, the first sentence of this paragraph explains why. The only people who will fall for this book are teens who either haven't ever read an Anne Rice novel, or those feeble minds who pay no attention to good work.As far as the changes in vampires, it's Amelia's way of trying to be original. Hanging the vampire myth nowadays is far from the originality of writers who stick with most of the myths. This is definately her worse work yet. I have seen fanfiction better then this garbage.I would suggest this for the middle school and under. This book is actually a third grade level when it comes to reading, or unless you count the passages where she forces higher vocabulary as if it means anything to her weak style.
Demon in My View (Den of Shadows)
I just loved this book. I read her first book (In the forests of the night)and liked Aubrey from the start even though he was bad in the first book.It was great to see him be the good guy in this book.Ok basicaly this book is about this girl named Jessica Who writes horror books about vampires. She doesn't think that vampires exsist and thats where the trouble starts. See vampires really DO exsisit and she's writting the truth about them.BIG problem. In telling her stories some of the vampires have come across as weak. Thats a very bad thing because vampires don't like seeming weak.So Aubrey go's to check it out.Well he gets a big suprise.He meets her at school where Jessica is an outsider. He detects a slight vampiric arua around her but doesn't know why. She immediately trusts him not knowing that he's a vampire. A witch/Vampire hunter/killer shows up at her school too. And tries to keep her away from Alex/Aybrey But fails because Jessica doesn't like her.Well in good time Jessica learns that what she's writing IS real and that Aubrey IS a vampire and that she's in some BIG trouble. First she thinks that Aubrey is going to kill her. But she's wrong again he's fallen in love with her and is trying to protect her from a vampire named Fala. Aubrey wants to turn jessica into a vampire but can't because thats what Jessica wants and if he does what she wants she will be a VERY weak Vampire.Jessica finds out that her mother became a vampire by will while she was pregnant with Jessica So Jessica was kept alive on vampire blood for 20 years. her mother was brought to ife by a vampire hunter because the hunter wanted to save jessica.But by being kept alive for 20 years on vampire blood is why she's slightly Vampiric and thats where her vampiric arua come from. Her So anyway Fala attaks jessica and almost kills her. But Aubrey and the Witch save her. Jessica drew Fala's blood which means that Aubrey can now turn her into a vampire because in fighting Fala she fought for her life. Aubrey asks Jessica if she would like to become a vampire. She thinks it over and decides she wants to be one. He turns her and the book pretty much ends. But you can tell that she's gonna be very strong. I hope the auther continues the Jessica/Aubrey thing. So Amelia if you ever read this I think you have a ton of talent and and I hope you continue this series.
Demon in My View (Den of Shadows)
It is incredibly difficult to find a GOOD book when you are fourteen years-old. My mother is always telling me to expand my horizons, but I never do. I have to be able to relate to the main character in a book in order to like it. I don't usually read horror stories, because the main characters are always at least a decade or three older than me. Demon in My View is different. It is an intriguing story; I read it all in one night. The author created an amazing world, and I find myself wishing that I could read all fifteen of Jessica's manuscripts for want of more history. character. This is exactly the type of book I like, and my only qualm is that there aren't that many books like it out for teenagers. The magic of it has left me somewhat sad that I finished it so quickly. Amelia Atwater-Rhodes is a true inspiration for all young writers. You can not possibly expect one so young to be perfect in her writing. It is surprising how much her skill is developed. I can only possibly dream of being able to write like her. I love to write, and it is wonderful to see a girl my age succeed. Adults can not possibly understand the main character of this book unless they remember exactly what it was like to be a teenager. The main character's ultimate inner conflict is what she wants to do with her life. Atwater-Rhodes portrays this beautifully as only a teenager can.
Demon in My View (Den of Shadows)
Mary Sues are unforgivable. This book is such a blatant and shameless MS that I regret asking for it for Christmas all those years ago. Eh, what can I say. I was only twelve--didn't know any better. But now I'm older and I can say this book is crap. It doesn't deserve shelf space in a respectable book lovers home, especially since anyone who has the audacity to put herself so obviously into her book after only writing ONE deserves to have her hands acquainted with a sledgehammer.Sorry Amelia but this just isn't a good book. Still isn't. I'm terrified to read it again because I might rip out my hair or something. One star because I can't give a 0; and one star for making my bizarre adolescence somewhat enjoyable with your descriptions of Aubrey. (Huzzah!)Jessica Allodola is this writer who doesn't understand why her dreams and stories about vampires are suddenly becoming reality, nor does she understand why the kids at school hate her and most specifically why the boys don't ask her out. You learn early on that Jessica is beautiful, "flawless," and yet everyone avoids her like the plague. Enter the mysterious new student Aubrey to try and seduce the girl for whatever reason. Isn't it one of those tried and true laws of vampire novels that you don't get to know the person you want to kill because some way or another feelings will develop? That's what happens here. Aubrey originally went to Jessica's school to find out more about her before he snaps her neck and he finds himself drawn to her. So immediately the tough guy of the series that Amelia is timidly laying out for herself has turned into a wishy washy sap that goes weak for a girl with a pretty face. Doesn't make me afraid of him, but it does make me fear just how much more damage Amelia can do.Trying to sway Jessica away from Aubrey and the clutches of vampires is probably the only likable character Amelia's uninspired imagination ever spawned: a witch, Caryn Smoke. Caryn is genuinely nice and concerned with Jessica's well being, but Jessica wants nothing to do with her. Hey if I had this sweet little thing trying to heal me after I got my arse handed to me by vampires I wouldn't snap at her. And if said Healer witch offered to have me stay at her house after a vampire killed my foster mother I wouldn't treat her or the girl's mother like pests. Jessica is a spoiled brat that deserves to get killed off if Amelia had any sense. I feel bad that Caryn wasted her time on her.For some reason Amelia makes every character in her books drop dead gorgeous. It's not that Amelia herself is ugly, but she definitely needs to understand that her airbrushed view of the world is only accepted for so long.Don't praise this girl for her age. I'm 16 and I can write better than the garbage she's producing at 19. Now that may seem like arrogance on my part but I can assure you, it isn't. It's disgust. Amelia's age isn't something to be proud of, not if she wants to try and make a serious career out of her writing. She's going to be plagued by her slights for the rest of her career--that is if she has one. At this rate it seems slim at best; all those pre teens praising her can only bow and worship her for so long until they realise just how godawful she can sink. Demon In My View is a sure testament of how low Amelia can go, and considering how bad her recent books were, she still hasn't rose fully up.And just so you know: Mary Sues is when a writer makes a character that's so obviously themself and puts them in outrageous, fantasty-derived situations you can tell the author is just dying to have happen to her.