My review
rating: 3 of 5 stars
Here’s the thing – fantasy writers writing anything within 10 years of Harry Potter really need to go out of their way to make different choices. I can totally believe that this book is not particularly Potter inspired (Rowling, after all, borrowed heavily from her predecessors too), but here are a great many similarities: 1)heroine leaves her ordinary life to attend a boarding school for the “special” (in this case vampires), 2)heroine is marked by an extraordinary mark on her forehead that means she has no chance of blending in, 3)on the first day our heroine meets both her instant enemy & roomate/best friend, 4)heroine has a teacher/mentor that she trusts and admires, yet does not confide in. You see what I mean?
That gripe aside, I did enjoy this story and will continue to read the series. A good series to recommend to Twilight admirers; it may even prove to be better written (but don’t tell the Twilight-heads I said that).
