Sunday, April 20, 2008

Happy Hour at Casa Dracula, Marta Acosta

I'm a vampire reader from way back. I bought Interview with the Vampire in it's first edition and have read all of Anne Rice except for her most recent book. I have looked at Happy Hour several times and finally purchased it. I'm going out this afternoon to purchase the next. It isn't great literature (hmmm--I hate to condemn a book like that, but I think others would agree with me), but it is lots of fun and exactly what I need at this point in the semester. It reminds me of Janet Evanovich but with a Latina heroine and set in California instead of Jersey.

Is it readable by teens--yes. There is "sex" but nothing particularly graphic. Some drinking but no drugs. Two elements that I like--Milagro (the main character) is a graduate of a "fancy university" and has lots of strong female friends. They also have some flaws so unrealistic expectations aren't raised. An aspect that is a little more perplexing is the portrayal of a "goth" teen who ends up the willing victim of a "bad" vampire and ends up running away to Las Vegas and training to become a card dealer.

Overall--It was just what I needed Saturday after a really long, hard, stressful week. Look out book store, here I come for the next title.

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