I know what you’re thinking — what’s with all the book reviews, Michelle?
Well, I recently discovered how to convert files to epub and stick them on my tablet, so now I have constant, mobile access to all the self-published novels I’m supposed to be reading and reviewing. Hence this sudden outpouring of reviews. Shocking, right? Well, hang on to your keyboards, because this latest review is going to BLOW YOU AWAY. Not literally. That would hurt.
Anyway …
The Book
“Acceptance”
The Genre
Urban Fantasy
The Author
Keri Peardon
The Plot
For more than two thousand years, a small community of humans has lived in harmony with vampires, giving their blood and obedience in exchange for protection. When Kalyn Reid comes of age and pledges herself to the vampires, she has no reason to worry. She’s paired with Anselm for her training, and she couldn’t ask for a kinder, more patient mentor. She also couldn’t ask for anyone better-looking.
But before she has a chance to learn her new responsibilities—or get a date—her idyllic life goes up in flames. Without warning, humans and vampires in her group are murdered by a strange new type of vampire, and the few survivors are forced to flee. Anselm and his brother, Micah, vow to hunt down the murderer, and they take Kalyn with them, thinking she’ll be safer with them. But when the killer finds them first, they must rely on Kalyn if any of them are to survive.
The Review
I loved this book. I was a bit worried when I heard it was a vampire story, as I’ve read some terrible vampire books just trying to jump on the Twilight bandwagon, but Acceptance is absolutely fantastic. Keri presents her readers with a new, unexpectedly religious take on vampires that hooked me in from page one, and if not for my need to sleep and work, I wouldn’t have put it down.
Kalyn is a wonderful protagonist—smart, funny, and, above all, gutsy. I loved reading about her interactions with Anselm, because she actually reacts the way a 16-year-old girl would act in the presence of her immortal crush. She’s awkward, she stammers, she says stupid things … and that made the story so much more believable and relatable for me as a result.
The plot is fairly linear, but nevertheless enjoyable. I was actually really impressed by how unafraid Keri was to kill off her characters. Seriously, they drop like flies. It reminded me of Game of Thrones, except with less incest, and more vampires.
Anyway, I thought Acceptance was a great read, and would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys teen romance and vampires. Even if you don’t, give it a try. It may surprise you!
The Rating
5 out of 5 stars
Click here to visit Keri Peardon’s blog.
Click here to purchase Acceptance.
Unrelated question of the day:
What the heck is going on with Facebook? I keep seeing posts from my friends saying things like, “Facebook is displaying all my private messages pre-2010”, or “Since Facebook is a publicly traded company, it can now use my pictures however they want”. Is there any truth to these claims? Is Facebook evil incarnate? Do I just have a lot of conspiracy theorist friends?
Unrelated image of the day:
Michelle Proulx - Author 
Not relevant, but I love that painting from the St. Bartholomew’s Massacre. It works well with the novels religious tone.
Ah, see, I didn’t know what the image was from. The more you know!
I spend a fair amount of time looking at old paintings for my blog etc. Public domain rocks. The story is, the woman wants him to wear a white band to show he’s Catholic so he doesn’t get slaughtered with the rest of the Huguenots.
Yay, another lover of Pre-Raphaelite art!
I picked that picture because 1) it was copyright free, 2) I thought it kind of set the mood–it’s loving, but the desperation in the girl’s face hints that something bad is about to go down, and 3) they actually resemble Kalyn and Anselm.
My husband fussed that didn’t have anything to do with my book–that it wasn’t vampire-y enough. But I really didn’t want something that was blue or black with splashes of blood and dagger-like lettering. It’s not that kind of vampire book.
I’m going with a Leighton for the second book (http://keripeardon.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/lord-freferick-leighton-the_fisherman_and_the_syren-c__1856-1858.jpg) and Herbert for the third (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_k-bPNZiL84A/SeQKm7OtCTI/AAAAAAAAAwc/VZnpDnQC5ro/s400/MM_Herbert.jpg)
Thanks for the review!
None of those sparkling, godly, marble-esque vampires in my books. I have Jewish vampires!
“Issac was a small man—barely as tall as Kalyn—with an olive complexion and dark eyes. His curly hair was a very dark brown, with some gray at the temples. It was receding—or had been when he was turned and became frozen in time. He had a small bald spot on the back of his head, too, but it was usually hidden under his yarmulke.
Kalyn couldn’t help but think of Isaac when she watched vampire movies; she always found Hollywood’s version of vampires quite funny. Everyone seemed to think vampires should be young, tall, and good-looking; Isaac was a short, middle-aged Jewish man. No one would have ever pegged him, of all people, to be a vampire.”
And if you think I kill off a lot of people in the first book, wait for the third! I sweep through the characters like the Angel of Death. Like Death Eaters at Hogwarts. Yeah, it’s that kind of bad. Worse. Guaranteed to make you cry.
Aw man, I hate crying. Can I just cry on the inside? Does that count?
I hate crying, too, but I cry every time I work on that part of the book. One night I had to go to my bedroom and lay down and cry it out, it was so sad. Although, I will admit I listen to sad music while writing that part, just to make sure I’m in the right frame of mind.
I do that all the time. Nothing’s better at putting you in the right mood than a well chosen bit of music.
I also have killin’ music… for when my characters have to go killin’.
So glad to read your review, Michelle! Keri’s Serial Internet Novel – The Bloodsuckers is my first exposure to a vampire book, and I love it! She creates believable characters that are normal – but they’re vampires. I’ll definitely be buying her book. So many good books to read right now!
I haven’t checked out the Bloodsuckers, but if it’s anything like Acceptance, I know I’ll enjoy it. Glad the review helped!
Thanks for this review. I believe I will be purchasing it, as I like those types of books.
Awesome! Glad you found the review helpful.
Can I like this comment a hundred times? 🙂
You can in your imagination …
Sure, I already have the book…though I need to work on a story, it seems I may not get anything else done until I finish your book. Thanks…I will be writing about it on my blog.
Keri;
I just saw an article Mark Coker gave a link to… it is a writing contest…don’t know if you can submit Acceptance, but if you can…you should. I am attaching the link…hope it works..here goes… http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/help-write-the-worlds-longest-literary-vampire-remix_b58317
Good Luck;
M. P. Little
It’s actually a call for people to come together and help rewrite “Varney the Vampire.” It’s going to be an amalgamation of different styles.
I signed up to do a section. I already have a copy of “Varney” and have read about half of it. That’s something that’s on my to-do list: rewrite all of it and update it so it’s more readable for a modern audience.
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