A long time ago, in a land far away... I was a teenager during the vampire craze. Vampires were EVERYWHERE. And I mean everywhere. Every book store pushed vampire books and you just couldn't escape them.

Vamps was one of those books I was eying down but I never got the chance to pick up. I was fortunate to find it on sale at a local book outlet store so I decided that now was the time! I would pick up this book and see if it held up to what my expectations were back in ye olde high school days.

Honestly, the book was what I would have ATE UP in high school but it didn't interest me as much now.

It was dramatic. It had gossip. It was essentially the soap opera/"reality" tv but in vampire YA form. While I had my issues with it as an adult reader, I was glued to it as it brought back that nostalgia from my high school days. I definitely didn't enjoy the whiny and mean lead character, but I also REALLY wanted to find out what was going to happen... It's like binging reality tv. You just HAVE to know.

So, will I be holding this book up as the best book of all time? No. Am I still going to try to find the rest of the books in this series and finish them to bring back the memories of my youth? HECK YES. It's messy, but I don't care. I came for an escape with this book not for some theme filled message essay writing fuel.

Two out of five stars. ( )

Started off quite amusing, coming across as Gossip Girl with fangs. However, the more I read, the less ams using the story became.

Most of the characters were shallow and flat without any redeeming qualities, one or two turned out better than expected, but not really. I liked the use of the Van Helsings as the vampire hunters. But that was spoiled when the romance kicked in and it was obvious where it it was going. The plot were predictable.

In the end, not amused or impressed with this story at all. Not a series I will be continuing. ( )

I bought After Dark first, but I was looking for a female vampire-male hunter romance story (in the modern age, I know about Romeo and Juliet and Vampires). However, this is more like a vampire school story in an American gothic setting. Rivalry between schoolgirls, petty quarrels, partner switching, upper class atmosphere - more like 90210 in the vampire world. Still worth getting if you'd like to see how other authors imagine their vampire characters. I got this for ideas for vampire manga characters of my own.

This book was just missing something. I kept reading hoping at some point I would connect with the characters or just maybe some big event would take place and make me feel... Well something. The book then just ends with one BiG revelation that you should have already put together and figured out. I am not sure if I will check out the next book or not. ( )

Rate: 3.5
I had this is my book shelf since last year. Thank goodness I finally came around reading it. I know. I know the cover looks like more of a glamor shop and therefore the contents is probably all whack.There I go again with judging the cover. Vamps is nothing like that sure there's still high end New York fashion and high maintenance princess type characters, shallow big egos and selfish.

Lilith, Jules, Carmen, Sergei, Tanith, Melinda, and Oliver are among those vampire family they call Old Blood. They are considered the ruling class of their society. The most powerful and wealthiest of all of them. As usual they are young, rich and fabulous. Lilith is you typical Mean Girl leader. Behind her bravado is an insecure teenage girl, so she look down on most of her peers and bully them into fearing her. After a situation at their usual party spot, the Belfry, Lilith and company was temporary ban until the problem get sorted out. Bored and looking for adventure they decided to go slumming at the nearby Greenwich Village to snack on some drug dealers or prostitute. But they weren't the only ones who have the same idea, a New Blood, (meaning a vampire that is a member of a family that was stripped of bloodrights during battle) or they assumed she was a New Blood from her fashion stand point. Her name is Cally a spirited and talented halfling. She is what they called the Stormgatherer with vampire blood. Their cat fight was interrupted when the Van Helsings showed up killing almost killing them. The casualty lost one One Blood teenager, Lilith best friend and from then on a rivalry between Cally and Lilith was born.

I told my friend. hey this book has our favorite vampire hunter. And she's like..."Buffy?", I wanted to smack her I do but I cannot blame her, I don't remember the last book I read featuring them. We dearly love Buffy we do, but we agreed that the best vampire hunter written in fiction are the Van Helsings. So I am glad that they exist in this book If I haven't read a lot of vampire books, I would have put this book down. There was a scene where Lilith was in tears about daddy cutting up his credit card than her best friend dying. Ridiculous right? But I am used to their snotty behavior now and this kind of behavior is not too shocking anymore. There's a cliche attraction between Cally and Peter Van Helsing but I am intrigued nonetheless. I'd love to share more of the plot but that will be giving away the whole story, so I'll shut up now. Conclusion: I like where the story is going and I am definitely interested on finding out what's going to happen next. ( )