The book review is going to be different in the fact that I am going to do one giant post about that review of all 9 books in the series instead of doing a short review of every book individually. The series itself is a bit dated, with the first one published in 2003 and the last in 2012. I read the first three(ish) when I was in middle school and then completely forgot about them until recently when I was browsing one of my favorite online stores, thriftbooks.com, so of course, I bought them all. I will keep this as spoiler-free as possible, but there is a chance for them.
Vampire Kisses (Vampire Kisses #1)
Raven is a Gothic Queen who lives among the boring residents of her small town that she affectionately calls Dullsville. She much prefers to stand out and is constantly going toe-to-toe with the school’s most popular guy, Trevor Mitchell. Between putting Trevor in his place and having Monster movie marathons with her best friend, Becky, she is completely obsessed with the idea of becoming a vampire herself. That’s when a mysterious new family moves into the old and crumbling mansion at the top of the hill, the only place in Dullsville that Raven finds beautiful. Rumors begin to fly about the new additions to the town; one in particular is that they are vampires. Raven is immediately intrigued by the Sterling family, especially their son Alexander, who is the Gothic Prince she always dreamed of, but he may also be her ticket to achieving her dream of becoming a vampire.
Raven is everything I wanted to be when I was in middle school. She wears all black all the time and sports black lipstick proudly (something that, as an adult, I do proudly whenever I get the chance, and my mom is constantly lamenting my nearly all black wardrobe). She is also very outspoken and comfortable in who she is. She doesn’t let anybody tell her what she should wear and how she should act. On the other hand, her best friend, Becky, was everything I was in middle school: shy, soft-spoken, and scared of her shadow. While Becky, like Raven, is a social outcast, she tends to blend in more with the residents of Dullsville and is mostly a social outcast due to her socioeconomic status, causing her to be an easy target for bullies like Trevor. Trevor is Raven’s foil in every way possible. He is the stereotypical preppy handsome soccer jock that is just a gigantic douchebag. He even comes complete with his ever-present sidekick, Matt (who, in all fairness, isn’t as bad as he seems). On the other hand, Alexander was (and very well still may be) my dream guy. He was my first fictional crush, handsome, dark, mysterious, and romantic.
Everything about this novel is like reading a romantic comedy, from Goth Girl meeting Goth Guy to her messing it up to the makeup. It’s cute and sweet and basically like catnip to me right now. The ending does lead to the reader wanting more and with several questions. All in all, it is a strong start to the series as a whole.
Kissing Coffins (Vampire Kisses #2)
In true vampire fashion, Alexander has diapered into the night without so much as a goodbye, leaving our Gothic heroine heartbroken and on a mission. Raven starts her search in the town of Hipsterville, an outcast mecca full of Gothic haunts, vegetarian bites, and hippie delights, by visiting her eccentric Aunt Libby. Hipsterville is everything that Dullsville isn’t, and it’s the perfect place for a vampire to blend in. First on the list of places to look for her Gothic Prince is the Coffin Club, a safe haven for vampires and vampire wannabes alike. The Coffin Club is everything Raven has ever wanted, a place to fit in, but this particular club holds more than she bargained for when she meets Jagger, a “friend” from Alexander’s past and the reason he went to hiding.
Jagger is an intoxicating Goth who makes Raven’s heart race with fear. He is everything that is terrifying about the dark underbelly of the Goth world, and he’s out for revenge. Jagger is the only new character added to the series in book two (besides Luna, his twin sister, who gets introduced near the end). He isn’t very fleshed out as a protagonist, especially when compared to Trevor. Trevor’s motivations for tormenting Raven are based solely on the fact that he is obviously in love with her but can’t reconcile that with the life he is expected to have. Jagger, on the other hand, is motivated by revenge on Alexander, but his way of achieving that is a bit muddled and not very planned out, yet he has character traits that indicate that he is very calculating. I didn’t find myself doing the “no no no” bit in my head at the climax of the novel that I did with the first. On the other hand, Luna seems to be an interesting addition to the story, although the reader doesn’t know much about her since she is introduced so late. I am interested in seeing how she does and what she is like.
The second novel is, in my opinion, weaker than the first, but it still makes me want to continue with the story. I live for the small moments between Alexander and Raven. Although I will say that I wish that the relationship between Becky and Raven had been written better, I feel like female friendships in novels that focus on romance are never written very well. Raven tends to leave Becky in the dust in favor of spending time with Alexander, which, to be fair, is par for the course for not only romance novels in general but for real-life high school entanglements.
Vampireville (Vampire Kisses #3)
Alexander is back, baby! Raven’s Gothic Mate is back in the Mansion, and they are hot on the trail of Dullsville’s newest undead residents, twins Jagger and Luna. Both of them are out for revenge against Alexander for his wrongdoings against the Maxwell family. Jagger and Luna have set their sights on Trevor for different reasons. Jagger envies Trevor, his ability to play soccer, and the fact that he is the most popular guy in school. With her brother’s guidance, Luna is looking for an eternal love match and has settled on Trevor. As much as Raven detests her nemesis, she’s not about to let him turn into a late-night vampire snack, or even worse, turn into the undead before she herself receives a true love bite from Alexander, but the more Raven tries to convince Trevor to stay away, the deeper he gets. Of course, Trevor is reveling in the fact that he seems to be king of the in-crowd and the outcasts.
As predicted, I liked Luna as a character. She brought Pastel Goth to the scene, and I was here for it. Raven and Luna are very similar to each other; they are both outsiders who want to be insiders of the vampire world. Although Luna has accomplished this. There was a nice scene with Luna and Raven where it highlights that both girls just want a friend that fully understands them, and there is a possibility that they could be that for each other. We also see a bit more development from Jagger. All he ever wanted was to be like Trevor; all he ever got was darkness and being an outsider. I loved that there were more Becky and Raven moments, too! Although the friendship between them still isn’t as strong as I personally would like a female friendship to be portrayed, it is getting better.
All in all, I like the third installment in the series. It’s a bit stronger than the second, as Jagger and Luna make a better villainous duo than Jagger does on his own. We also see more of Raven second-guessing herself when it comes to actually becoming part of the undead. I feel like there is a nice flow to the books that I am enjoying.
Dance with a Vampire (Vampire Kisses #4)
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the cemetery… BAM preteen Vampire! Raven and Alexander thought they had finally rid themselves and Dullsville of the Maxwell children when Billy Boy, Raven’s tween brother, made friends with the ghostly-looking new kid in town. Alexander and Raven quickly realize that the miniature Jagger walking around is, in fact, Valentine, Jagger and Luna’s little brother, and he has set his sights on Billy. Our Gothic Heroine has a lot on her plate, from trying to spend time with her Vampire Prince to keeping her brother from being a late-night snack and prom. She is a pretty busy girl.
Maybe it’s his age (11), but Valentine has a certain innocence that both Jagger and Luna lack. There is just something about him that makes you want to take care of him. I mean, he’s only a kid, and it’s obvious that his motives for being in Dullsville are very different from those of his older siblings. He is just trying to find his siblings and reunite his family, something he blames Raven and Alexander for. Valentine has the ability to read people and know their own innermost thoughts, something he uses to try and figure out where Jagger and Luna are. In order to get close to Raven, he makes friends with Billy Boy and his Nerd Mate, Henry. I love that Billy plays a bigger role in this book. It’s obvious that he looks up to Raven and wants to be close to her even though they have drastically different personalities. Seeing the brother-sister bond was super nice! Another thing that I love seeing is the relationship between Raven and Trevor. As much as I LOVE Raven and Alexander, I’m not going to lie; I am low-key rooting for Raven and Trevor! They have a nice Yin and Yang thing going on, and I’m here for it. It’s probably the Enemies to Lovers in me.
So far, I think the 4th book is my favorite. You get to see Raven interact more with the “supporting” characters, which is really nice, and you also get to see more of Raven’s internal conflict when it comes to actually becoming a vampire. This book is a good midpoint to the series, and I look forward to what happens next.
The Coffin Club (Vampire Kisses #5)
And Alexander is gone again… at least this time, we know where he went. It’s finally summer break for Raven, and the only thing she has on her mind is spending her nights with her sexy vampire boyfriend; the only problem is that her sexy vampire boyfriend went to Hipsterville to return Valentine to his siblings. So Raven does what any normal Gothic teenager in love would: visit her Aunt Libby in Hipsterville and surprise her boyfriend. Her summer of dancing the night away at The Coffin Club with Alexander is turned upside down when she stumbles upon a secret club underneath The Coffin Club.
First of all, I want an Aunt Libby. I have some seriously cool aunts, but having a hippy one would be cool. Aunt Libby is a completely free spirit, and while she was introduced in Kissing Coffins, we get to explore her character a bit more in-depth. I feel a kinship to Aunt Libby mostly cause I wanted to be Raven in middle school, and in adulthood (or as adult as you can get at 23), I am becoming Libby. She is unabashedly herself, except when she is at work, but who is themselves at work; she is also perpetually single, so we are basically the same. We also get introduced to three more vampire friends: Scarlet, Onyx, and Phoenix. Scarlet and Onyx are pretty cool; they immediately accept Raven as their own. On the other hand, Phoenix is a cool purple-haired motorcycle-riding badass that Raven is very drawn to.
So, this was probably my least favorite in the series for a couple of reasons. One because it had so much potential to be so good. We get introduced to a conflict in the underworld that could definitely change things for vampire-kind, but it never goes too deep into the conflict, and there never seems to be tension. Which, as a reader, is kind of a letdown. Another reason I didn’t like it as much was because there was no Trevor, whom I adore. The way Trevor and Raven jive together just gets me. I love their banter. Also, another reason was that *SPOILER ALERT* Phoenix and Alexander are one and the same (which, to be honest, you could see from a mile away. Like it’s hella obvious), but Raven doesn’t know this till the end, and during that time she definitely did not tell Alexander that she had been going to The Coffin Club by herself even when he asked her not to because it was dangerous (which it was) and she definitely did not tell him about the Dungeon. If my boyfriend (if I had one, to begin with) caught me in a lie, you best believe we would have it out. Raven and Alexander not so much, which bothers me. It’s just another long list showing that their relationship is pretty superficial. They don’t really talk, nor do they argue. It’s kind of the pre-Edward and Bella, but not nearly as creepy and stalkery.
Vampire Kisses #6-9
Well, hello there…. long time no write. I will get around to posting a life update soon, but I wanted to finish off this post that I have had in my drafts since 2018. I finished the last book in the series, Immortal Herts, in July of 2021. That being said, I pretty much remember nothing. I gave the last 4 books in this series 3 stars each, by the end of the series it was all just so repatative and dull. Spoiler Alert: at the ripe old age of 17/18, Raven makes the choice to become a vampire and spend the rest of eternity with Alexander. If I had finished this series when I was in high school, I probably would have agreed with this statement, but 26-year-old me absolutely did not. There is no chance in hell that they last for an eternity. This series is a good trip back in time to the height of the early 2000s vampire obsession, but if you expect excellent writing and character development, you will not find it here.
The Ethereal Journey 