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Deviants #1
Vesper
Emily Webb is a geek. And she’s happy that way. Content hiding under hoodies and curling up to watch old horror flicks, she’s never been the kind of girl who sneaks out for midnight parties. And she’s definitely not the kind of girl who starts fights or flirts with other girls’ boyfriends. Until one night Emily finds herself doing exactly that . . . the same night one of her classmates—also named Emily—is found mysteriously murdered.
The thing is, Emily doesn’t know why she’s doing any of this. By day, she’s the same old boring Emily, but by night, she turns into a thrill seeker. With every nightfall, Emily gets wilder until it’s no longer just her personality that changes. Her body can do things it never could Emily is now strong, fast, and utterly fearless. And soon Emily realizes that she’s not just coming out of her shell . . . there’s something much bigger going on. Is she bewitched by the soul of the other, murdered Emily? Or is Emily Webb becoming something else entirely— something not human?
As Emily hunts for answers, she finds out that she’s not the only one this is happening to—some of her classmates are changing as well. Who is turning these teens into monsters—and how many people will they kill to get what they want?
The thing is, Emily doesn’t know why she’s doing any of this. By day, she’s the same old boring Emily, but by night, she turns into a thrill seeker. With every nightfall, Emily gets wilder until it’s no longer just her personality that changes. Her body can do things it never could Emily is now strong, fast, and utterly fearless. And soon Emily realizes that she’s not just coming out of her shell . . . there’s something much bigger going on. Is she bewitched by the soul of the other, murdered Emily? Or is Emily Webb becoming something else entirely— something not human?
As Emily hunts for answers, she finds out that she’s not the only one this is happening to—some of her classmates are changing as well. Who is turning these teens into monsters—and how many people will they kill to get what they want?
309 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 25, 2011
60 people are currently reading
9233 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Sampson
18 books176 followersMy writing history: I’ve been involved with children’s publishing for the past 11 years now — I got my start right out of high school, just after turning 18. Since then I’ve published eight books for children and young adults, with six more currently scheduled for release and in various stages of being written and edited. I’ve also contributed material to ten or so other books by other authors and have put out a short story or two.
My most recent release was the debut of my original YA sci-fi series Deviants. The first book, Vesper, was released in stores everywhere in January 2011, with the next two books coming out in Jan. 2012 and Jan. 2013, respectively.
Some brief bio basics: I was born on a US military base in Nuremberg, Germany on July 15, 1982. Currently I live near Seattle, WA, where I am lucky enough to work as a full time writer. Much like the main character of the Deviants series, I’m a pop culture geek who loves to indulge in books, movies, TV, and video games when I’m not working on my own stories.
Agent: I am represented by Michael Stearns of Upstart Crow Literary.
My most recent release was the debut of my original YA sci-fi series Deviants. The first book, Vesper, was released in stores everywhere in January 2011, with the next two books coming out in Jan. 2012 and Jan. 2013, respectively.
Some brief bio basics: I was born on a US military base in Nuremberg, Germany on July 15, 1982. Currently I live near Seattle, WA, where I am lucky enough to work as a full time writer. Much like the main character of the Deviants series, I’m a pop culture geek who loves to indulge in books, movies, TV, and video games when I’m not working on my own stories.
Agent: I am represented by Michael Stearns of Upstart Crow Literary.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 396 reviews
December 29, 2011
1.5 stars
Well, color me disappointed. I’ll try to keep this short and very clear: I expected a lot form Vesper. Perhaps I was curious because a male author wrote from a teenage girl’s perspective - it usually works so well when it’s the other way around (case in point: White Cat or Anna Dressed in Blood). That’s not something that happens very often and I wanted to find out if it worked. It didn’t. I feel like I’ve wasted a lot of time and got nothing but annoyance in return.
Emily Webb is a horribly insecure 16-year-old. She only has one friend, she rarely leaves the house unless it’s to go to school and she avoids confrontations at all costs. One night her classmate Emily Cooke gets shot and dies and, at the same time, our Emily starts behaving very strangely. The two things are seemingly unconnected, but as Emily experiences complete change of personality night after night, she starts suspecting that the other Emily found a way to possess her.
Suddenly she’s sneaking out the window every night, crashing parties and judging people by their smell. A small voice inside her head is making her do things she never even thought of doing before. She is stronger and faster at night, nothing like the clumsy Daytime Emily. Her best friend is convinced that Emily’s trying to ditch her for the cool kids and her parents have grounded her for the first time ever.
It all sounds very interesting, but in reality it was dull and unconvincing. Everything about this book was wrong. Emily’s voice was that of a not-too-bright 12-year-old. Her best friend Maggie was downright obnoxious and instead of worrying about the kids that were getting shot, I found myself wishing that someone would shoot her just to shut her up. The pacing was yet another disaster: after being utterly bored and skimming through the last 150 pages, the ending came as a shock and left me completely confused. One minute Emily was at school dealing with one issue and apologizing to her idiot best friend, and the next she was inside the company that changed her and other kids like her, all her fellow deviants were organized, and they were fighting back. And then it all stopped. Huh?
So to make the long story short: the characters were flat, the pacing was all wrong and the romance… *shudders*…. Let’s not even go there.
I think it’s safe to say that I won’t be reading the sequel.
For this review and more, visit The Nocturnal Library
Well, color me disappointed. I’ll try to keep this short and very clear: I expected a lot form Vesper. Perhaps I was curious because a male author wrote from a teenage girl’s perspective - it usually works so well when it’s the other way around (case in point: White Cat or Anna Dressed in Blood). That’s not something that happens very often and I wanted to find out if it worked. It didn’t. I feel like I’ve wasted a lot of time and got nothing but annoyance in return.
Emily Webb is a horribly insecure 16-year-old. She only has one friend, she rarely leaves the house unless it’s to go to school and she avoids confrontations at all costs. One night her classmate Emily Cooke gets shot and dies and, at the same time, our Emily starts behaving very strangely. The two things are seemingly unconnected, but as Emily experiences complete change of personality night after night, she starts suspecting that the other Emily found a way to possess her.
Suddenly she’s sneaking out the window every night, crashing parties and judging people by their smell. A small voice inside her head is making her do things she never even thought of doing before. She is stronger and faster at night, nothing like the clumsy Daytime Emily. Her best friend is convinced that Emily’s trying to ditch her for the cool kids and her parents have grounded her for the first time ever.
It all sounds very interesting, but in reality it was dull and unconvincing. Everything about this book was wrong. Emily’s voice was that of a not-too-bright 12-year-old. Her best friend Maggie was downright obnoxious and instead of worrying about the kids that were getting shot, I found myself wishing that someone would shoot her just to shut her up. The pacing was yet another disaster: after being utterly bored and skimming through the last 150 pages, the ending came as a shock and left me completely confused. One minute Emily was at school dealing with one issue and apologizing to her idiot best friend, and the next she was inside the company that changed her and other kids like her, all her fellow deviants were organized, and they were fighting back. And then it all stopped. Huh?
So to make the long story short: the characters were flat, the pacing was all wrong and the romance… *shudders*…. Let’s not even go there.
I think it’s safe to say that I won’t be reading the sequel.
For this review and more, visit The Nocturnal Library
November 8, 2012
With the recent surge in paranormal fiction - the vampires, the werewolves, the fairies, the dark angels et al - I was relieved to find a 2011 novel that wasn't about one of those. But guess what? It was! It turned out that Emily's "transformation" turns her into one-of-the-above. But I won't tell you which. Spoilers, you know.
So, what a beeping surprise, right? And here I thought the author would make up something of his own to perplex us. He could've easily made the one-of-the-above into a spirit possessing Emily for revenge, or, god help us, use his imagination. But no. Anyway, moving on.
How many times have I seen this? How many times? When will people think up something new? Lab experiment goes wrong, turns regular homo sapiens into freaky superhumans with enhanced strength, smell, speed, sight, blah blah. Evil biotechy company somewhere in the background. Is that not, like, the basis of half of all comic superhero origins?
Only this time, it happens out of nowhere, no explanation at all - Emily did not take any secret chemical enhancement formula, did not get bitten by any radioactive insect - She just magically turned into Superwoman overnight. While this is probably explained in the very obviously planned sequel, that doesn't make the current non-existent reasoning any more plausible or easier to digest.
After all, what mousy wallflowery loner girl in high school doesn't want to transform into an ass-kicking, bitchy, slutty, confident crusader against the horrors of murder overnight? Wish fufillment much?
But of course it's not wish fufillment; the author is male. And I'm not surprised that he is. Not surprised at all. The whole book stinks of someone who has no freaking idea what it's like to be a girl in high school. I would know, because I do. And I know how tiring these stupid jock-and-cheerleader-and-rich-girls-versus-loner-girls-who-are-perfectly-normal-yet-somehow-can't-for-the-life-of-them-fit-in cliches are, since they aren't even close to the truth.
If only the the author's prose weren't so incredibly dull, without any distinction or sense of style, I could almost forgive him.
Not.
I could go on and on, but I think I've ranted enough for one book. So, bottom line: not a new book I would recommend for reading. Just an old, tired, assortment of overusedtropes ideas that fully deserve the bland prose they're written in.
So, what a beeping surprise, right? And here I thought the author would make up something of his own to perplex us. He could've easily made the one-of-the-above into a spirit possessing Emily for revenge, or, god help us, use his imagination. But no. Anyway, moving on.
How many times have I seen this? How many times? When will people think up something new? Lab experiment goes wrong, turns regular homo sapiens into freaky superhumans with enhanced strength, smell, speed, sight, blah blah. Evil biotechy company somewhere in the background. Is that not, like, the basis of half of all comic superhero origins?
Only this time, it happens out of nowhere, no explanation at all - Emily did not take any secret chemical enhancement formula, did not get bitten by any radioactive insect - She just magically turned into Superwoman overnight. While this is probably explained in the very obviously planned sequel, that doesn't make the current non-existent reasoning any more plausible or easier to digest.
After all, what mousy wallflowery loner girl in high school doesn't want to transform into an ass-kicking, bitchy, slutty, confident crusader against the horrors of murder overnight? Wish fufillment much?
But of course it's not wish fufillment; the author is male. And I'm not surprised that he is. Not surprised at all. The whole book stinks of someone who has no freaking idea what it's like to be a girl in high school. I would know, because I do. And I know how tiring these stupid jock-and-cheerleader-and-rich-girls-versus-loner-girls-who-are-perfectly-normal-yet-somehow-can't-for-the-life-of-them-fit-in cliches are, since they aren't even close to the truth.
If only the the author's prose weren't so incredibly dull, without any distinction or sense of style, I could almost forgive him.
Not.
I could go on and on, but I think I've ranted enough for one book. So, bottom line: not a new book I would recommend for reading. Just an old, tired, assortment of overused
July 6, 2011
This book started out boring and crappy, and it ended up interesting and not-crappy.
Emily Webb (Em Dub) undergoes a transformation from dull, hoodie-wearing Daytime Emily to wild, gotta-show-my-womanly-attributes Nighttime Emily after the death of the other Emily (Em Cee). Personally I could care less about Daytime Emily. She didn’t do much except judge people and shut up when her obnoxious friend Megan (Meganyuckyuck, the nickname matches her maturity) wanted her to. Em Dub was afraid to be herself and have fun because Meganyuckyuck had a bad experience with popular people a billion years ago. Boo hoo cry me a river! Actually, don’t. I don’t want Meganyuckyuck soaking my library books with her poor little tears. Every time she appeared, she always managed to bring up the popular people. There was one part that really bothered me, when Meganyuckyuck was making fun of the people crying over Em Cee’s death. Sure I wouldn’t cry for the death of someone I didn’t know but I would NOT make fun of the people who cried and cared about the deceased. She also said Em Cee deserved to die because she was destined to be the next Paris Hilton. Meganyuckyuck is a real piece of work, like a pile of dog crap that even the flies won’t touch. She even did some major slut-shaming on Em Dub and it seemed to rub off on her because Em Dub eventually called herself a were-slut. I had to drop a star because Meganyuckyuck took up way too many pages with her yuckiness. Because of her, my favorite line, thought by the awesome Nighttime Emily, was,
“I was pretty, I was strong, I was graceful. And I was wasting it by being stuck in my house with big-nosed, bitter, boring Megan Reed.”
I can’t say this book was good but it wasn’t bad so not-crappy is the best way I can describe this. Nighttime Emily was what made this book not-crappy. She wasn’t afraid or held back by Meganyuckyuck. When Nighttime Emily slipped some sleeping pills into Meganyuckyuck’s milkshake has to be my most favorite scene with my least favorite character. Nighttime Emily went clubbing, partying and even attempted to kill a few relationships. I’m not so thrilled about the last part but it’s what the wild girl did and she did it without a second thought. I wish I could be like that, doing stuff without a second thought, not the boyfriend stealing. I hate boyfriend stealing because it hurts the girlfriend. Until I am as fearless, Nighttime Emily can be my inspiration. She would have been spectacular if her narrative wasn’t practically the same as Daytime Emily.
When I was reading, I kept thinking this was a boy’s fantasy. Geeky guy gets the hot girl, that sort of thing. It was cute for a while but I got over it because I didn’t really like anything besides Nighttime Emily. I was too busy being pissed that the words actually, poor, and totally were abused. Teenagers don’t go around saying, “You poor thing, poor girl, poor squirrel. Actually that’s totally off. Did she actually smile at me? She totally didn’t.” Maybe I’m being a hypocrite because I use the words maybe and awesome a lot but this was written by a grownup. I don’t know why but I always have a lot of expectations for grownups.
Em Cee was fleshed out more than I expected. I thought she would just be a dead girl, like in the dead girl in Girl Parts. When she was called the next Paris Hilton by Meganyuckyuck, I knew I would like her. But I wonder if things would be different if Em Cee hadn’t shared her name with Em Dub. Would Em Dub feel a connection to Em Cee? Daytime Emily was pretty interesting when she suspected Em Cee was taking over her body. Would Em Dub have felt something for Em Cee? Em Dub eventually thought Em Cee was cool because she liked photography. Would she feel the same if Em Cee had liked fashion? No, probably not.
Em Dub’s transformation was paced just right and I didn’t predict her to transform the way she did. I didn’t expect this to be science fiction either. That was a pleasant surprise, considering I haven’t read sci-fi since Across the Universe and The Gardener. Hope the sci-fi element gets stronger in Havoc: A Deviants Novel, because I was convinced this was a paranormal. I should have been tipped off because Em Dub was being detained by the Vesper Company. In my mind, company = sci-fi.
Vesper is far from being my favorite but it’s fun and different from most YA coming out this year. So if you have nothing else to read and can get over Meganyuckyuck's yuckiness, you won’t regret reading this.
Emily Webb (Em Dub) undergoes a transformation from dull, hoodie-wearing Daytime Emily to wild, gotta-show-my-womanly-attributes Nighttime Emily after the death of the other Emily (Em Cee). Personally I could care less about Daytime Emily. She didn’t do much except judge people and shut up when her obnoxious friend Megan (Meganyuckyuck, the nickname matches her maturity) wanted her to. Em Dub was afraid to be herself and have fun because Meganyuckyuck had a bad experience with popular people a billion years ago. Boo hoo cry me a river! Actually, don’t. I don’t want Meganyuckyuck soaking my library books with her poor little tears. Every time she appeared, she always managed to bring up the popular people. There was one part that really bothered me, when Meganyuckyuck was making fun of the people crying over Em Cee’s death. Sure I wouldn’t cry for the death of someone I didn’t know but I would NOT make fun of the people who cried and cared about the deceased. She also said Em Cee deserved to die because she was destined to be the next Paris Hilton. Meganyuckyuck is a real piece of work, like a pile of dog crap that even the flies won’t touch. She even did some major slut-shaming on Em Dub and it seemed to rub off on her because Em Dub eventually called herself a were-slut. I had to drop a star because Meganyuckyuck took up way too many pages with her yuckiness. Because of her, my favorite line, thought by the awesome Nighttime Emily, was,
“I was pretty, I was strong, I was graceful. And I was wasting it by being stuck in my house with big-nosed, bitter, boring Megan Reed.”
I can’t say this book was good but it wasn’t bad so not-crappy is the best way I can describe this. Nighttime Emily was what made this book not-crappy. She wasn’t afraid or held back by Meganyuckyuck. When Nighttime Emily slipped some sleeping pills into Meganyuckyuck’s milkshake has to be my most favorite scene with my least favorite character. Nighttime Emily went clubbing, partying and even attempted to kill a few relationships. I’m not so thrilled about the last part but it’s what the wild girl did and she did it without a second thought. I wish I could be like that, doing stuff without a second thought, not the boyfriend stealing. I hate boyfriend stealing because it hurts the girlfriend. Until I am as fearless, Nighttime Emily can be my inspiration. She would have been spectacular if her narrative wasn’t practically the same as Daytime Emily.
When I was reading, I kept thinking this was a boy’s fantasy. Geeky guy gets the hot girl, that sort of thing. It was cute for a while but I got over it because I didn’t really like anything besides Nighttime Emily. I was too busy being pissed that the words actually, poor, and totally were abused. Teenagers don’t go around saying, “You poor thing, poor girl, poor squirrel. Actually that’s totally off. Did she actually smile at me? She totally didn’t.” Maybe I’m being a hypocrite because I use the words maybe and awesome a lot but this was written by a grownup. I don’t know why but I always have a lot of expectations for grownups.
Em Cee was fleshed out more than I expected. I thought she would just be a dead girl, like in the dead girl in Girl Parts. When she was called the next Paris Hilton by Meganyuckyuck, I knew I would like her. But I wonder if things would be different if Em Cee hadn’t shared her name with Em Dub. Would Em Dub feel a connection to Em Cee? Daytime Emily was pretty interesting when she suspected Em Cee was taking over her body. Would Em Dub have felt something for Em Cee? Em Dub eventually thought Em Cee was cool because she liked photography. Would she feel the same if Em Cee had liked fashion? No, probably not.
Em Dub’s transformation was paced just right and I didn’t predict her to transform the way she did. I didn’t expect this to be science fiction either. That was a pleasant surprise, considering I haven’t read sci-fi since Across the Universe and The Gardener. Hope the sci-fi element gets stronger in Havoc: A Deviants Novel, because I was convinced this was a paranormal. I should have been tipped off because Em Dub was being detained by the Vesper Company. In my mind, company = sci-fi.
Vesper is far from being my favorite but it’s fun and different from most YA coming out this year. So if you have nothing else to read and can get over Meganyuckyuck's yuckiness, you won’t regret reading this.
December 20, 2018
Review copy provided by publisher
DNF - page 126
Why I Read this Book: I only just heard about Vesper about a couple weeks ago. Then it showed up in the mail. The cover is captivating and the blurb sounded interesting so I decided to give it a go.
What I Liked: Vesper’s set-up was interesting and different. The first thing you read is a transcript of the interrogation of Vesper 1 (Emily). The book then takes you through Emily’s retelling of the events that lead her to that interrogation room. Every so often there is a break from Emily’s flashback with an update on the interrogation progress.
Emily is an interesting character, one with a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde complex. During the day she is geeky, fly-under-the-radar Emily. At night, her kick-ass side comes out and she’s like a super hero with special powers.
What I Didn’t Like: The book is told in first person narrative, from Emily’s POV. While I like enjoy knowing what the protagonist is thinking, in this case it felt like there was too much thinking. It felt like Emily was over-analyzing everything.
Vesper is a very slow paced read, too slow for me. I kept waiting for something to happen, something that would give me a hint as to what is going on, but I just couldn’t wait any longer. I got half way through the book and I still had no idea what was going on with Emily or why.
For the most part, reading a book from a 16-year old female’s POV written by a male author went unnoticed. The author created a female character that would be easy to portray from a male writer’s standpoint, by making her a geek and not a girly-girl. The only thing that sounded strange to me was Emily’s use of the word “décolletage” to describe her chest. I didn’t use the word when I was a teenager, let alone know the word existed. But that was the only thing that felt out of place from what part of the book I did read.
Overall Impression: While Vesper was well-written and the writing style was fluid, it’s snail-like pacing just didn’t work for me. If you don’t mind a slow build up that takes up more than half the book, then Vesper might be for you.
Review originally posted on The Book Vixen.
DNF - page 126
Why I Read this Book: I only just heard about Vesper about a couple weeks ago. Then it showed up in the mail. The cover is captivating and the blurb sounded interesting so I decided to give it a go.
What I Liked: Vesper’s set-up was interesting and different. The first thing you read is a transcript of the interrogation of Vesper 1 (Emily). The book then takes you through Emily’s retelling of the events that lead her to that interrogation room. Every so often there is a break from Emily’s flashback with an update on the interrogation progress.
Emily is an interesting character, one with a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde complex. During the day she is geeky, fly-under-the-radar Emily. At night, her kick-ass side comes out and she’s like a super hero with special powers.
What I Didn’t Like: The book is told in first person narrative, from Emily’s POV. While I like enjoy knowing what the protagonist is thinking, in this case it felt like there was too much thinking. It felt like Emily was over-analyzing everything.
Vesper is a very slow paced read, too slow for me. I kept waiting for something to happen, something that would give me a hint as to what is going on, but I just couldn’t wait any longer. I got half way through the book and I still had no idea what was going on with Emily or why.
For the most part, reading a book from a 16-year old female’s POV written by a male author went unnoticed. The author created a female character that would be easy to portray from a male writer’s standpoint, by making her a geek and not a girly-girl. The only thing that sounded strange to me was Emily’s use of the word “décolletage” to describe her chest. I didn’t use the word when I was a teenager, let alone know the word existed. But that was the only thing that felt out of place from what part of the book I did read.
Overall Impression: While Vesper was well-written and the writing style was fluid, it’s snail-like pacing just didn’t work for me. If you don’t mind a slow build up that takes up more than half the book, then Vesper might be for you.
Review originally posted on The Book Vixen.
February 2, 2011
Sampson definitely created mysterious page turner with VESPER. I read this book in one sitting as it was hard for me to put it down. The transcripts sprinkled throughout the book added more mystery and intrigue to the unfolding events surrounding Emily's strange transformations. I was thrown by one of her personas especially if you go by the synopsis of the book. It was a very interesting turn of events since it deviated from traditional myths which were a great thing. It only made me want to find out more about what was happening to her.
Emily's normally quite shy, geeky, and dresses to keep from being noticed. Then out of nowhere, she's a completely different person where she's confident, brave, and she’s exhibiting some kick-ass abilities. She’s a real Jekyll & Hyde. Her antics were quite entertaining as I followed along while she tried to put the puzzle pieces together surrounding her life and the mysterious murders in her town.
VESPER had so many interesting details layered in mystery and the premise really got my attention. There are so many things I want to know about the characters now especially with how the book ended. I look forward to reading the next installment in this series.
Emily's normally quite shy, geeky, and dresses to keep from being noticed. Then out of nowhere, she's a completely different person where she's confident, brave, and she’s exhibiting some kick-ass abilities. She’s a real Jekyll & Hyde. Her antics were quite entertaining as I followed along while she tried to put the puzzle pieces together surrounding her life and the mysterious murders in her town.
VESPER had so many interesting details layered in mystery and the premise really got my attention. There are so many things I want to know about the characters now especially with how the book ended. I look forward to reading the next installment in this series.
December 29, 2011
3 1/2
Emily Webb likes Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lord of the Rings and reading. She does not go clubbing, she does not believing in wearing clothes that will show off her assets, and she definitely does not have an interest in boys. That all suddenly changes when a girl, whose name is also Emily, turns up dead and Emily Webb finds her self flirting with guys and sneaking out of her window for a night on the town. Samson creates an interesting tale about a girl desperate for answers with a paranormal twist.
To be quite honest when I first read this synopsis and decided to buy it, I did not think that there would be any paranormal element in this novel, but there most definitely was. Although it was not what I was expecting, I did enjoy the novel. It was always a surprise to see what "Nighttime/Bad" Emily would do next, and each night Nighttime Emily got more and more ballsy! The plot was paced very well, the action occurs over a week in which the author hints that Emily may not be as human as she assumed she was. Chapter by chapter the audience is given clues as to what is causing this sudden change in Emily until all is revealed and explained. I felt that everything was wrapped up in a neat little package, setting the novel up for its sequel, Havoc.
The characters did what they were supposed to do. Daytime Emily was good, nighttime Emily was bad, and her best friend Megan was just....a pain in the ass to put it bluntly. Megan is one of the girls who tried to be popular back in elementary school, was shunned by a popular girl and has hated the world ever since. I felt that the characters, especially Daytime Emily, could use some more depth. Daytime Emily was able to pick out the flaws and logic behind Megan's actions, but she was never able to sew within herself. I truly believe that there is something more to her than a geeky girl who is content to stay home every weekend to watch bad 80s films. She must have some hidden thoughts that she can share about herself, but we don't get a glimpse into her inner workings. Nighttime Emily was just the opposite, she did rather than thought and was quick to squash out of the voice of Daytime Emily. I understand that the author had a Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thing going on, but I wanted characters who were more than just "bad" and "good" even if they were two sides to the same person. The other secondary characters kind of just hang out in the background even though quite a few of them play a very big role in the plot. This book does hint at a love story which is so bare right now that I don't know if I can even come up with the words to comment on it. Basically the love interest is being set up for the second novel.
The writing was spot on. There was never a lull and I was completely captured in the story for the entirety of the novel. The author also throws in a lot of nerdy pop culture references which were entertaining and made me happy that my nerdiness came in handy (by the way, ten points to you Mr. Jeff Samson for the Cowboy Bebop reference). I liked that the perspective switched throughout the novel. The story mainly focused on Emily but every five chapters or so, the writing style would change to a transcription between two people: FS and V1 discussing "vespers" and "deviants."
Vespers was a really fun read and I enjoyed it a lot. The writing was littered with nerd culture references, the characters could have used a little more work, but the plot was enticing regardless of if it was not what I was expecting.
I recommend this for those who love a good paranormal novel, probably those who are fans of the X-Men as well.
Emily Webb likes Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lord of the Rings and reading. She does not go clubbing, she does not believing in wearing clothes that will show off her assets, and she definitely does not have an interest in boys. That all suddenly changes when a girl, whose name is also Emily, turns up dead and Emily Webb finds her self flirting with guys and sneaking out of her window for a night on the town. Samson creates an interesting tale about a girl desperate for answers with a paranormal twist.
To be quite honest when I first read this synopsis and decided to buy it, I did not think that there would be any paranormal element in this novel, but there most definitely was. Although it was not what I was expecting, I did enjoy the novel. It was always a surprise to see what "Nighttime/Bad" Emily would do next, and each night Nighttime Emily got more and more ballsy! The plot was paced very well, the action occurs over a week in which the author hints that Emily may not be as human as she assumed she was. Chapter by chapter the audience is given clues as to what is causing this sudden change in Emily until all is revealed and explained. I felt that everything was wrapped up in a neat little package, setting the novel up for its sequel, Havoc.
The characters did what they were supposed to do. Daytime Emily was good, nighttime Emily was bad, and her best friend Megan was just....a pain in the ass to put it bluntly. Megan is one of the girls who tried to be popular back in elementary school, was shunned by a popular girl and has hated the world ever since. I felt that the characters, especially Daytime Emily, could use some more depth. Daytime Emily was able to pick out the flaws and logic behind Megan's actions, but she was never able to sew within herself. I truly believe that there is something more to her than a geeky girl who is content to stay home every weekend to watch bad 80s films. She must have some hidden thoughts that she can share about herself, but we don't get a glimpse into her inner workings. Nighttime Emily was just the opposite, she did rather than thought and was quick to squash out of the voice of Daytime Emily. I understand that the author had a Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thing going on, but I wanted characters who were more than just "bad" and "good" even if they were two sides to the same person. The other secondary characters kind of just hang out in the background even though quite a few of them play a very big role in the plot. This book does hint at a love story which is so bare right now that I don't know if I can even come up with the words to comment on it. Basically the love interest is being set up for the second novel.
The writing was spot on. There was never a lull and I was completely captured in the story for the entirety of the novel. The author also throws in a lot of nerdy pop culture references which were entertaining and made me happy that my nerdiness came in handy (by the way, ten points to you Mr. Jeff Samson for the Cowboy Bebop reference). I liked that the perspective switched throughout the novel. The story mainly focused on Emily but every five chapters or so, the writing style would change to a transcription between two people: FS and V1 discussing "vespers" and "deviants."
Vespers was a really fun read and I enjoyed it a lot. The writing was littered with nerd culture references, the characters could have used a little more work, but the plot was enticing regardless of if it was not what I was expecting.
I recommend this for those who love a good paranormal novel, probably those who are fans of the X-Men as well.
December 10, 2010
The start of VESPERS immediately caught my attention with the transcript of an interview with Emily Webb, the protagonist, and an agent of the mysterious Vesper Company. This led to the first chapter where no time is wasted getting straight to the story. Emily is every introverted, insecure, don't-make-a-scene-or-stand-out girl out there, which made her very relatable to me; as a teen, I was just like her. Her transformations into Nighttime Emily, as she called herself, were well-done but I felt the author could have stretched a little further than the "wild child" persona he gave Emily during those times. I got a bit bored when she was in that stage and liked when she went back to Daytime Emily, her normal self, much better. At first, I was a little disappointed in where the story actually went, mainly what Emily ended up being (and that's all I'm saying, no spoilers here), but I accepted and enjoyed it anyway. The middle of the book lagged and I was afraid it would end up an average read, with too much wild behavior and not as much development as I would have liked. However, toward the end the story picked up and kept me riveted; it's always a good thing for an author to end his or her book on a high note. This isn't a YA book with romance as its central focus, but it does have its place in the story and doesn't overwhelm the main plot. The book as a whole could have been deeper than it was, but it's still a good start to the Deviants series and opened up numerous possibilities, with many unanswered questions for future endeavors. The use of six or so transcripts interspersed throughout the book was a nice element and I quite enjoyed them; the entire book could have easily been written this way. This would probably appeal more to teenagers but some adults would enjoy it as well. I did. THE VESPERS is a breeze to read, briskly-paced, and has a few snicker-worthy moments; maybe it's not perfect, but it's far from bad and I had a good time reading it.
3.5 stars
Note: There is some graphic violence, only one scene really, but it's there.
3.5 stars
Note: There is some graphic violence, only one scene really, but it's there.
September 10, 2010
A kind of mix of Westerfeld and Heroes (when it was good) and Veronica Mars, but entirely its own beast.
Of late, the teen genre paranormal romances announce themselves as such, with the single element the author is playing with brayed about on the cover. Bored by Wolves! or Fairy Tail or Fallen Angel Boy or what-have-you. Such books are all about cashing in by being as obvious as possible. Want paranormal romance? Here's a vampire angel zombie you can love! And so on. You know you're reaching the nadir of a trend when mere labeling is enough to make a book a success.
Which is one of the most refreshing things about Vesper. There are genre elements in here, but they're not the ones you expect, and they're not being used in a manner you'll expect. Sampson has bigger aims than mere sort-of-boy-meets-sort-of-girl, and one of the novel's many joys is just how often you realize that you don't quite know what is going on.
And the book is written with a crispness that is rare in a genre that is all too indulgent of overheated, flabby prose. Sampson isn't one to linger forever on a boy's steely gaze, the lines of his jaw, his rock hard abs, etc.—those sorts of calculatedly gooey details that basically make so much of today's teen paranormal romance come off as soft porn for thirteen-year-olds.
Instead, he's got a story to tell. And it's a doozy of a page-turner. The only disappointment is that when it is over we realize it is only the beginning of a larger story.
Can't wait for the next.
Of late, the teen genre paranormal romances announce themselves as such, with the single element the author is playing with brayed about on the cover. Bored by Wolves! or Fairy Tail or Fallen Angel Boy or what-have-you. Such books are all about cashing in by being as obvious as possible. Want paranormal romance? Here's a vampire angel zombie you can love! And so on. You know you're reaching the nadir of a trend when mere labeling is enough to make a book a success.
Which is one of the most refreshing things about Vesper. There are genre elements in here, but they're not the ones you expect, and they're not being used in a manner you'll expect. Sampson has bigger aims than mere sort-of-boy-meets-sort-of-girl, and one of the novel's many joys is just how often you realize that you don't quite know what is going on.
And the book is written with a crispness that is rare in a genre that is all too indulgent of overheated, flabby prose. Sampson isn't one to linger forever on a boy's steely gaze, the lines of his jaw, his rock hard abs, etc.—those sorts of calculatedly gooey details that basically make so much of today's teen paranormal romance come off as soft porn for thirteen-year-olds.
Instead, he's got a story to tell. And it's a doozy of a page-turner. The only disappointment is that when it is over we realize it is only the beginning of a larger story.
Can't wait for the next.
August 10, 2011
Jeff Sampson's debut YA novel, "Vesper," is like a welcome breath of fresh air for anyone craving a little girl power. I was lucky enough to receive an advanced reader copy of the book, and I found myself so hooked that I blew through the story in just a few hours.
"Vesper" has the soul of "Jekyll & Hyde" with the wit and female empowerment vibe of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and the mixture makes for quite the page-turner. Just when you think you have a handle on where the story is going, the author throws in another unexpected twist and takes things in a completely original direction. All of the characters, even down to the minor supporting players, are well-drawn and memorable, and the book has several laugh-out-loud moments between the many suspenseful beats. Best of all, Emily Webb is a heroine who is smart, funny, fierce, and relatable.
This book is a much-needed antidote to all the paranormal romance hoo-ha plaguing YA literature. Finally, we have a heroine who can kick some butt. All hail Emily Webb!
"Vesper" has the soul of "Jekyll & Hyde" with the wit and female empowerment vibe of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and the mixture makes for quite the page-turner. Just when you think you have a handle on where the story is going, the author throws in another unexpected twist and takes things in a completely original direction. All of the characters, even down to the minor supporting players, are well-drawn and memorable, and the book has several laugh-out-loud moments between the many suspenseful beats. Best of all, Emily Webb is a heroine who is smart, funny, fierce, and relatable.
This book is a much-needed antidote to all the paranormal romance hoo-ha plaguing YA literature. Finally, we have a heroine who can kick some butt. All hail Emily Webb!
June 16, 2012
When the lights go down in the city, Emily Webb becomes a different person. She turns more badass and less movie-geek/ book worm. Vesper by Jeff Sampson begins with a confidential interview of someone codenamed Vesper 1 by another person deemed A. Savage. What ensues is Emily’s story and several little mysteries. I almost don’t know whether to call this a paranormal or a mystery. However, I do know that I quite enjoyed Vesper.
Click here to read the rest of my review
Click here to read the rest of my review
January 13, 2011
This review originally posted at: http://supernaturalsnark.blogspot.com...
Actual Rating: 2.5/5
MY THOUGHTS
Vesper is a story that leaves us in a state of suspended indecision, our emotions in constant flux as we mentally debate the merits and drawbacks of what we've just read. It's not a book that's easy to categorize or assign a label such as "good" or "bad", and this sense of being undefinable stems mostly from a complete and utter lack of knowledge despite having read clean through cover to cover. Mr. Sampson has written a novel with overwhelming potential and the potent promise for future substance, yet the story we are given lacks that which it promises so strongly. Reading Emily's story is like reading a three-hundred page prologue where interesting events are set in motion and we're taunted with the barest whispers of information, but just as we are getting excited to delve into the richness we know is just waiting for us to savor, we find ourselves on the final page, having been given a shell of a story and denied the filling we so crave.
Emily herself is as difficult to decipher as the story of which she is narrator. She starts out as the quiet, somewhat geeky, easy-to-overlook teenager with whom we can easily see ourselves eventually connecting, but with the fall of night she becomes a girl plagued by none of the inhibitions that hamper daytime Emily's social life. She quickly sheds the sweetness and innocence we've come to appreciate and embraces her latent "popular girl" behavior, thereby rendering her a complete stranger we're not sure we really want to know. She has few redeeming qualities while in this altered state of being, and any explanation for either this version of Emily or the full werewolf version of Emily remains a complete mystery. All we know with any amount of certainty is that sometime in the vicinity of eight o'clock in the evening Emily short circuits and transforms, maintaining an awareness of her daytime persona, but ultimately not caring what effect her shenanigans will have on her as long as she's having fun now.
A great deal of nighttime Emily's "fun" centers around the alluring draw of a certain musky scent her werewolf-self identifies as belonging to her mate. The search for a mate would have been a perfectly acceptable storyline if we were just provided a few of the why's for this particular behavior. We are given no explanation for her search, and once she finds the one she's been so inexplicably drawn to, we have no idea whether or not he is equally drawn to her, thus negating any potential for a romance that would have helped us understand this animalistic pull. While we are provided a hint as to the reason for Emily's physical changes, the lack of information regarding all other aspects of the story becomes increasingly frustrating, leaving us blinking in disbelief upon reaching the conclusion, shocked by the fact that we've read a full length novel but have learned virtually nothing about either the characters or the trials they face.
Periodically, Emily's narration is interrupted by the transcripts of an interview between her (though she's identified as Vesper 1) and an older gentleman who knows her secret, a deviation from the story that doesn't seem all that necessary until the end. Between the last page of the story itself and the final page of the transcript, a significant group of occurrences seem to have taken place, resulting in an Emily who is now far more informed and knowledgeable about her condition and what it means, yet we as readers remain outsiders–an unfortunate circumstance that cements our detachment from this story as the interest that was undeniably piqued is whispered away in a haze of confusion. Vesper is certainly full of potential, perhaps potential that will be mercifully tapped into in coming books, but it reads as a lengthy introduction to future events as opposed to a stand alone first installment.
Rating: 2.5/5
Actual Rating: 2.5/5
MY THOUGHTS
Vesper is a story that leaves us in a state of suspended indecision, our emotions in constant flux as we mentally debate the merits and drawbacks of what we've just read. It's not a book that's easy to categorize or assign a label such as "good" or "bad", and this sense of being undefinable stems mostly from a complete and utter lack of knowledge despite having read clean through cover to cover. Mr. Sampson has written a novel with overwhelming potential and the potent promise for future substance, yet the story we are given lacks that which it promises so strongly. Reading Emily's story is like reading a three-hundred page prologue where interesting events are set in motion and we're taunted with the barest whispers of information, but just as we are getting excited to delve into the richness we know is just waiting for us to savor, we find ourselves on the final page, having been given a shell of a story and denied the filling we so crave.
Emily herself is as difficult to decipher as the story of which she is narrator. She starts out as the quiet, somewhat geeky, easy-to-overlook teenager with whom we can easily see ourselves eventually connecting, but with the fall of night she becomes a girl plagued by none of the inhibitions that hamper daytime Emily's social life. She quickly sheds the sweetness and innocence we've come to appreciate and embraces her latent "popular girl" behavior, thereby rendering her a complete stranger we're not sure we really want to know. She has few redeeming qualities while in this altered state of being, and any explanation for either this version of Emily or the full werewolf version of Emily remains a complete mystery. All we know with any amount of certainty is that sometime in the vicinity of eight o'clock in the evening Emily short circuits and transforms, maintaining an awareness of her daytime persona, but ultimately not caring what effect her shenanigans will have on her as long as she's having fun now.
A great deal of nighttime Emily's "fun" centers around the alluring draw of a certain musky scent her werewolf-self identifies as belonging to her mate. The search for a mate would have been a perfectly acceptable storyline if we were just provided a few of the why's for this particular behavior. We are given no explanation for her search, and once she finds the one she's been so inexplicably drawn to, we have no idea whether or not he is equally drawn to her, thus negating any potential for a romance that would have helped us understand this animalistic pull. While we are provided a hint as to the reason for Emily's physical changes, the lack of information regarding all other aspects of the story becomes increasingly frustrating, leaving us blinking in disbelief upon reaching the conclusion, shocked by the fact that we've read a full length novel but have learned virtually nothing about either the characters or the trials they face.
Periodically, Emily's narration is interrupted by the transcripts of an interview between her (though she's identified as Vesper 1) and an older gentleman who knows her secret, a deviation from the story that doesn't seem all that necessary until the end. Between the last page of the story itself and the final page of the transcript, a significant group of occurrences seem to have taken place, resulting in an Emily who is now far more informed and knowledgeable about her condition and what it means, yet we as readers remain outsiders–an unfortunate circumstance that cements our detachment from this story as the interest that was undeniably piqued is whispered away in a haze of confusion. Vesper is certainly full of potential, perhaps potential that will be mercifully tapped into in coming books, but it reads as a lengthy introduction to future events as opposed to a stand alone first installment.
Rating: 2.5/5
July 16, 2017
RATING: 4 stars.
Here's another book that surprised me. Maybe because I had little to no expectations about it as the only thing I actually knew about it was that it was a werewolf story.
But now, after finishing it, I am impressed with the book. Not because it is a masterpiece, but because it just stands out among all the young adult urban fantasy I've read this year. And that is something, because with so many books of this genre coming out every month it's certainly difficult to be original.
Emily Webb is not popular. She doesn't think she's pretty. And she knows she's a geek. Most of the time she doesn't mind having only one friend and wearing loose clothes to hide her body (of which she is ashamed). Except sometimes... she wonders... how it would be like to be a confident girl, with a confident walk and even some superpowers...
But one thing is imagining and another, completely different thing is having it happen. Really happen. Because suddenly Emily doesn't need her glasses to see clearly; she is fast, strong and... confident.
What is happening to Emily? Why is she suddenly feeling like she is in a movie adaptation of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?
Here's the main reason I liked this book: Emily. I could identify myself with her. She was shy and had doubts about her body and sometimes wished she had the courage to stand up to people. I think she was very human and I can imagine that many girls feel like Emily. I don't know if all of them want superpowers (I know I wanted to be a witch when I started reading Harry Potter... but it's a secret. :D), but certainly every girl in the world has at one point or another felt inadequate and uncomfortable.
So, Emily is a relatable sort of character who suffers a transformation that allows her to be as sassy, outspoken and self-assured as she wants. It's easy to see the appeal, I think. I also liked the fact that Sampson actually cared about development of his protagonist and that we can see Emily actually changing and growing.
The story wasn't anything special really. It was Emily's journey, Emily's change that drove this book and made it interesting.
There were characters that could have been introduced earlier to the story (like Spencer; we know he is there, but his role is not very prominent although he is an important character) and some parts that felt rushed (the last chapters), but overall "Vespers" was a nice read.
And as the author included parts (the transcripts) that take place much later in Emily's life, I guess I'll have to read the second book in the series to see what else happens to her: how she will find her pack and how the relationship with her "mate". Oh and everything about BioZenith. I'll just have to keep reading until I know as much as Emily seems to know in this first book.
Overall: this is an introductory book to the series, clearly. It focuses on Emily's experiences while changing and has a very simple plot that is there just to help Emily in her 'journey'. The "transcripts" that appear throughout hint at a deeper story and several plot lines that include other supernaturals and the rest of Emily's pack. These transcripts represent Emily's present while the book is a recounting of Emily's past so if the reader wants to know more he'll just have to read the other books. I think I will. :)
Here's another book that surprised me. Maybe because I had little to no expectations about it as the only thing I actually knew about it was that it was a werewolf story.
But now, after finishing it, I am impressed with the book. Not because it is a masterpiece, but because it just stands out among all the young adult urban fantasy I've read this year. And that is something, because with so many books of this genre coming out every month it's certainly difficult to be original.
Emily Webb is not popular. She doesn't think she's pretty. And she knows she's a geek. Most of the time she doesn't mind having only one friend and wearing loose clothes to hide her body (of which she is ashamed). Except sometimes... she wonders... how it would be like to be a confident girl, with a confident walk and even some superpowers...
But one thing is imagining and another, completely different thing is having it happen. Really happen. Because suddenly Emily doesn't need her glasses to see clearly; she is fast, strong and... confident.
What is happening to Emily? Why is she suddenly feeling like she is in a movie adaptation of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?
Here's the main reason I liked this book: Emily. I could identify myself with her. She was shy and had doubts about her body and sometimes wished she had the courage to stand up to people. I think she was very human and I can imagine that many girls feel like Emily. I don't know if all of them want superpowers (I know I wanted to be a witch when I started reading Harry Potter... but it's a secret. :D), but certainly every girl in the world has at one point or another felt inadequate and uncomfortable.
So, Emily is a relatable sort of character who suffers a transformation that allows her to be as sassy, outspoken and self-assured as she wants. It's easy to see the appeal, I think. I also liked the fact that Sampson actually cared about development of his protagonist and that we can see Emily actually changing and growing.
The story wasn't anything special really. It was Emily's journey, Emily's change that drove this book and made it interesting.
There were characters that could have been introduced earlier to the story (like Spencer; we know he is there, but his role is not very prominent although he is an important character) and some parts that felt rushed (the last chapters), but overall "Vespers" was a nice read.
And as the author included parts (the transcripts) that take place much later in Emily's life, I guess I'll have to read the second book in the series to see what else happens to her: how she will find her pack and how the relationship with her "mate". Oh and everything about BioZenith. I'll just have to keep reading until I know as much as Emily seems to know in this first book.
Overall: this is an introductory book to the series, clearly. It focuses on Emily's experiences while changing and has a very simple plot that is there just to help Emily in her 'journey'. The "transcripts" that appear throughout hint at a deeper story and several plot lines that include other supernaturals and the rest of Emily's pack. These transcripts represent Emily's present while the book is a recounting of Emily's past so if the reader wants to know more he'll just have to read the other books. I think I will. :)
April 13, 2011
I ended up finished this book in no time! Turns out that the plot is much, much more than it seems which had me dieing to find out what happens every step of the way during this cool mystery. This book was so much fun, so exciting and just plain awesome. The characters were great and there were so many unexpected twists that had me saying "No way?! AWESOME!" No seriously, this book was so cool. The cover definitely gives a sneak peek at the mystery that lies within this great novel. Man, I am so pumped for the sequel, I want to know what happens next!
Okay, now for what's so darn cool about this book.
The beginning starts off with Emily Webb learning the fact that a fellow student who is also named Emily was found dead. Turns out that someone shot her and the weird part was that she was in her pajamas, just walking down the street. No one knows why. Her death is very tragic, and it has many students crying and mourning the loss of a great girl.
Emily never knew the other Emily very well. She just knew her as the other Emily. Emily Webb keeps to herself and isn't the type to socialize with all of the other students. She only hangs out with her best friend, so when she learns about the other Emily's death, she isn't sad because she knew her very well, she is saddened by the fact that they didn't even get to get to know each other.
Emily learns about the death from a call from her best friend. The weird thing is is that as she answered the phone, she was getting ready to leave the house. She had one leg over the windowsill, ready to leave in the middle of the night. The phone call seemed to wake her from a trance, and snap her back to reality. She doesn't know what came over her to make her want to do such a thing. She is the opposite of that.
This sudden death is only the beginning of the strange things that happens in Emily's life. Every night, around 8:14, Emily becomes a different person. She turns into a thrill seeking, rebellious teenager who escapes the house every single night. She notices that her senses heighten, and that she becomes a stronger person overall. Every night, she becomes another Emily... one that steals her sister's clothes, sneaks out to hit on guys and tries to steal another girl's boyfriend.
She doesn't know what is happening to her when 8:00 rolls along. She notices that every night, the "change" becomes less painful. This is where the mystery starts to unravel within Emily's life. She has to figure out if any of this has to do with the other Emily's death, and how she can stop daytime Emily from turning into her rebellious nighttime version. As she discovers more about the change, twists and turns arise within this mystery.
This is an awesome mystery with SO MANY twists and turns. Trust me, there is a lot of depth to the plot that makes it so awesome. The ending was crazy, and I am dieing to read the sequel. This definitely exceeded any expectations I had about this debut novel!
Okay, now for what's so darn cool about this book.
The beginning starts off with Emily Webb learning the fact that a fellow student who is also named Emily was found dead. Turns out that someone shot her and the weird part was that she was in her pajamas, just walking down the street. No one knows why. Her death is very tragic, and it has many students crying and mourning the loss of a great girl.
Emily never knew the other Emily very well. She just knew her as the other Emily. Emily Webb keeps to herself and isn't the type to socialize with all of the other students. She only hangs out with her best friend, so when she learns about the other Emily's death, she isn't sad because she knew her very well, she is saddened by the fact that they didn't even get to get to know each other.
Emily learns about the death from a call from her best friend. The weird thing is is that as she answered the phone, she was getting ready to leave the house. She had one leg over the windowsill, ready to leave in the middle of the night. The phone call seemed to wake her from a trance, and snap her back to reality. She doesn't know what came over her to make her want to do such a thing. She is the opposite of that.
This sudden death is only the beginning of the strange things that happens in Emily's life. Every night, around 8:14, Emily becomes a different person. She turns into a thrill seeking, rebellious teenager who escapes the house every single night. She notices that her senses heighten, and that she becomes a stronger person overall. Every night, she becomes another Emily... one that steals her sister's clothes, sneaks out to hit on guys and tries to steal another girl's boyfriend.
She doesn't know what is happening to her when 8:00 rolls along. She notices that every night, the "change" becomes less painful. This is where the mystery starts to unravel within Emily's life. She has to figure out if any of this has to do with the other Emily's death, and how she can stop daytime Emily from turning into her rebellious nighttime version. As she discovers more about the change, twists and turns arise within this mystery.
This is an awesome mystery with SO MANY twists and turns. Trust me, there is a lot of depth to the plot that makes it so awesome. The ending was crazy, and I am dieing to read the sequel. This definitely exceeded any expectations I had about this debut novel!
October 12, 2012
The beginning was interesting. The middle was *yawn* sleepy. The end woke me up and had me ranting. And that, was not in the good way.
BORING. And quite repulsive in a few things. How it ended? Meh. Sampson can't write gore. I didn't even flinch. Plot? Double meh. The only motivating factor to read this book was the fact that I enjoyed the protagonist (I've forgotten her name already - not a good sign) making a fool out of herself. It was the only thing I found entertaining. I enjoyed thinking about her acting stupid and basically being socially deficient. Fantastic. This book has turned me into a sadist.
Frankly, I didn't care at all. Sampson failed on all levels to have me RELATE to this character. To have me EMPATHIZE with the character. Heck, he failed to even make a CONNECTION between me and this character. Oh, wait. Sorry. He DID make a connection. WE ARE BOTH GIRLS. Bravo, Mr. Sampson, sir. Bravo! I have never read a book where the protagonist was a GIRL!
I couldn't even drool over any of the boys. I had been bored into an animalistic state, where my only hope of satisfaction could perhaps come out of imagining a good-looking guy smiling at me from his fictional life. I couldn't even have that.
I think Vesper was written toward a female audience, but jeez, Sampson writes like he's targeting male juveniles. He fails on all levels to properly display a woman. YES. HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HOW A FREAKIN' GIRL ACTS. Can I just say? Girls are far more complicated. We have cliques. We gossip. We can be evil, back-stabbing creatures. Our friendship doesn't rely on, "Hey, wassup? You like movies? I like movies! We're BFFs (like totally)!" Popular girls do not just go about befriending computer geeks in random. There has to be a connection. We don't make friends just because we both like one single thing.
He spent too much time describing the protagonist (whatever her name is)'s outfits. You don't need to go into detail EVERY FREAKIN' TIME SHE PUTS CLOTHES ON. We girls don't want to read about precisely how "slutty" her clothes were. Just tell us she was wearing a slinky dress. End. Cool. I don't need, "With sequins and a v-neckline framed with ruffs. I matched it with super-tall leather pumps with buckles on the side that made my hips sway like crazy. After doing my makeup (only thing he didn't elaborate on) and topping it off with a silk scarf that was gauzy and see-through..." LIKE, WHAT THE HECK? I GET IT. PLEASE BE MORE ECONOMICAL WITH YOUR WORDS SO I CAN SPEND LESS TIME READING YOUR BOOK.
So yeah. I had a problem with the book. In fact - the whole thing was a problem. The book IS a problem. The only thing bumping this piece of tree from one star to two is the idea. It was overall kind of meh once we got to the werewolf part, which is around the time that I stuck a twig down my throat and retched in my toilet. But the interview and narration-ish idea? Hm. OKAY. Hence, two stars. Oh boy, am I feeling generous today.
BORING. And quite repulsive in a few things. How it ended? Meh. Sampson can't write gore. I didn't even flinch. Plot? Double meh. The only motivating factor to read this book was the fact that I enjoyed the protagonist (I've forgotten her name already - not a good sign) making a fool out of herself. It was the only thing I found entertaining. I enjoyed thinking about her acting stupid and basically being socially deficient. Fantastic. This book has turned me into a sadist.
Frankly, I didn't care at all. Sampson failed on all levels to have me RELATE to this character. To have me EMPATHIZE with the character. Heck, he failed to even make a CONNECTION between me and this character. Oh, wait. Sorry. He DID make a connection. WE ARE BOTH GIRLS. Bravo, Mr. Sampson, sir. Bravo! I have never read a book where the protagonist was a GIRL!
I couldn't even drool over any of the boys. I had been bored into an animalistic state, where my only hope of satisfaction could perhaps come out of imagining a good-looking guy smiling at me from his fictional life. I couldn't even have that.
I think Vesper was written toward a female audience, but jeez, Sampson writes like he's targeting male juveniles. He fails on all levels to properly display a woman. YES. HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HOW A FREAKIN' GIRL ACTS. Can I just say? Girls are far more complicated. We have cliques. We gossip. We can be evil, back-stabbing creatures. Our friendship doesn't rely on, "Hey, wassup? You like movies? I like movies! We're BFFs (like totally)!" Popular girls do not just go about befriending computer geeks in random. There has to be a connection. We don't make friends just because we both like one single thing.
He spent too much time describing the protagonist (whatever her name is)'s outfits. You don't need to go into detail EVERY FREAKIN' TIME SHE PUTS CLOTHES ON. We girls don't want to read about precisely how "slutty" her clothes were. Just tell us she was wearing a slinky dress. End. Cool. I don't need, "With sequins and a v-neckline framed with ruffs. I matched it with super-tall leather pumps with buckles on the side that made my hips sway like crazy. After doing my makeup (only thing he didn't elaborate on) and topping it off with a silk scarf that was gauzy and see-through..." LIKE, WHAT THE HECK? I GET IT. PLEASE BE MORE ECONOMICAL WITH YOUR WORDS SO I CAN SPEND LESS TIME READING YOUR BOOK.
So yeah. I had a problem with the book. In fact - the whole thing was a problem. The book IS a problem. The only thing bumping this piece of tree from one star to two is the idea. It was overall kind of meh once we got to the werewolf part, which is around the time that I stuck a twig down my throat and retched in my toilet. But the interview and narration-ish idea? Hm. OKAY. Hence, two stars. Oh boy, am I feeling generous today.
April 20, 2011
3 1/2 stars.....
This was a different spin on a very common thread in YA Fiction, the werewolf....It made me flash back to the the darkest powers series by: Kelley Armstrong some similar elements, but, still two different stories...Emily, the main character seems to becoming someone else as night someone who's completely the oposite of what she calls 'daytime Emily.' I liked this book, it kept me interested all the way through...Though I must say even when coming to the end of it...I'm still not exactly clear on what the vesper company is and there are a lot of questions and loose ends that need to be tied up...I'm pretty sure there's got to be a sequel, I would guess maybe a trilogy at least because the author left to much hanging in the balance and you just can't do that to us avid readers and not come back with another novel....
Sometimes I don't gage well with book written by male authors, I don't know exactly why that is, maybe it's because their descriptions of females are always either she's this gorgeous goddess or a geeky homely looking girl, but, this one was definately an exception. I liked how the story moved and I want to know more about the vesper company, what are the deviants, what did they do to Emily and her friends, and what are the Psychs? It isn't revealed until the end that what Emily thought was a girl who hated her, Amy, was something called a Psych? What's really going to happen to Spence and Emily...How does Dalton compared with the others members of this growing pack fit into this story...And what's up with Emily's best friend Megan? Is she involved in this too? How about Emily's parents...How did this vesper company get a hold of her when she was born? Ava and her two twins are they what Emily called 'Psychs?' And how about this Patrick guy? How does he fit in? And Dalton's girlfriend Nikki? And the doctor from BioZenith who was trying to kill her and the others? Why? I have so many questions he can'ts let me hanging like that...I need a sequel asap....Overall a good read:)
This was a different spin on a very common thread in YA Fiction, the werewolf....It made me flash back to the the darkest powers series by: Kelley Armstrong some similar elements, but, still two different stories...Emily, the main character seems to becoming someone else as night someone who's completely the oposite of what she calls 'daytime Emily.' I liked this book, it kept me interested all the way through...Though I must say even when coming to the end of it...I'm still not exactly clear on what the vesper company is and there are a lot of questions and loose ends that need to be tied up...I'm pretty sure there's got to be a sequel, I would guess maybe a trilogy at least because the author left to much hanging in the balance and you just can't do that to us avid readers and not come back with another novel....
Sometimes I don't gage well with book written by male authors, I don't know exactly why that is, maybe it's because their descriptions of females are always either she's this gorgeous goddess or a geeky homely looking girl, but, this one was definately an exception. I liked how the story moved and I want to know more about the vesper company, what are the deviants, what did they do to Emily and her friends, and what are the Psychs? It isn't revealed until the end that what Emily thought was a girl who hated her, Amy, was something called a Psych? What's really going to happen to Spence and Emily...How does Dalton compared with the others members of this growing pack fit into this story...And what's up with Emily's best friend Megan? Is she involved in this too? How about Emily's parents...How did this vesper company get a hold of her when she was born? Ava and her two twins are they what Emily called 'Psychs?' And how about this Patrick guy? How does he fit in? And Dalton's girlfriend Nikki? And the doctor from BioZenith who was trying to kill her and the others? Why? I have so many questions he can'ts let me hanging like that...I need a sequel asap....Overall a good read:)
April 5, 2012
Didn't know what to expect from this book, but that certainly wasn't it.
Maybe that's good...going into a book with little to no knowledge or expectations of just how 'epic' you think a book is going to be.
The story of Emily Webb starts out a little slow, and repetitive. The same thing happens to her 2-3 times before she figures out what's really going on.
I was this close to giving up at that point but thought I really should give it a chance. It's been so long since I've read and enjoyed a paranormal YA book that I just needed to suck it up and finish it for crying out loud.
I'm glad I did.
A new take on that maybe lacked a little in originality but not creativity. Does that make sense? Of course, it's not a 'virus released that turns everyone into a X', but sort of along that line. But at least it wasn't so over the top that you just think it's ridiculous.
This is the 2nd or 3rd book I've read recently where a male author does a pretty decent job writing from a female POV. He's no Tom Leveen, though. :)
I'm looking forward to Havoc...it's been a while since I've looked forward to a book in a mythical creature series.
Maybe that's good...going into a book with little to no knowledge or expectations of just how 'epic' you think a book is going to be.
The story of Emily Webb starts out a little slow, and repetitive. The same thing happens to her 2-3 times before she figures out what's really going on.
I was this close to giving up at that point but thought I really should give it a chance. It's been so long since I've read and enjoyed a paranormal YA book that I just needed to suck it up and finish it for crying out loud.
I'm glad I did.
A new take on that maybe lacked a little in originality but not creativity. Does that make sense? Of course, it's not a 'virus released that turns everyone into a X', but sort of along that line. But at least it wasn't so over the top that you just think it's ridiculous.
This is the 2nd or 3rd book I've read recently where a male author does a pretty decent job writing from a female POV. He's no Tom Leveen, though. :)
I'm looking forward to Havoc...it's been a while since I've looked forward to a book in a mythical creature series.
February 6, 2011
I *loved* that there were so many great pop culture references in this novel!
If I didn't understand a reference (like who the heck is Ellen Ripley?), I just asked The Nerd. (Apparently, she's the chick from Alien.)
It was so nice to see the main character of a book embrace her geeky side.
This was such a great plot idea -- I haven't read anything similar to it before.
The pacing of the plot was a bit slow...you don't quite know what's going on with Emily for a while. But once it gets there the action comes fast!
I really liked how it was told as a flashback. Emily is telling her story during an interrogation with the Vesper Company. It adds another layer of suspense to the book. Who is the Vesper Company? What do they want with Emily?
You can read the rest of my review on my blog.
If I didn't understand a reference (like who the heck is Ellen Ripley?), I just asked The Nerd. (Apparently, she's the chick from Alien.)
It was so nice to see the main character of a book embrace her geeky side.
This was such a great plot idea -- I haven't read anything similar to it before.
The pacing of the plot was a bit slow...you don't quite know what's going on with Emily for a while. But once it gets there the action comes fast!
I really liked how it was told as a flashback. Emily is telling her story during an interrogation with the Vesper Company. It adds another layer of suspense to the book. Who is the Vesper Company? What do they want with Emily?
You can read the rest of my review on my blog.
February 2, 2011
So, picture yourself watching Buffy for the very first time. First six episodes. Awesome, right?
Now picture the credits rolling at the end of the 6th episode... and a voiceover says, "Tune in next season for the continuation of the new series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer..."
Now picture yourself falling over in a dead faint because you have to wait a year to find out what happens next.
Well played, Jeff Sampson, well played.
Now picture the credits rolling at the end of the 6th episode... and a voiceover says, "Tune in next season for the continuation of the new series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer..."
Now picture yourself falling over in a dead faint because you have to wait a year to find out what happens next.
Well played, Jeff Sampson, well played.
July 25, 2022
Jai bien aimé même si jai été un peu surprise de la tournure des évènements, je ne my attendait pas du tout et sur le coup j'étais un peu mitigé mais la suite a lair incroyable donc jai hate de la lire.
January 31, 2016
Got to slow. No wow in it.
June 10, 2011
I read Vesper in a four week period, sitting down every once and a while to read a bit here and there. So this may be the reason why this book irked me to no end.
There are some books with brilliantly new ideas which are brilliantly done, although books like this are sparse and few. There are also books orbiting around a "used" idea, but is recycled and made into something totally different, although it still has that lingering feeling which reminds you of other books in that specific category. Vesper was a mix of both. It was on the verge of actually being something worth my picky-minded time, but then some little 90-degree bumps along the way completely ruined my assumptions.
I did not like the "recorded-interview" session thingy that began the book. It's been done before, actually by a lot of books I've read, and it really annoyed me because these faux-interviews never actually got to the point. They just semi-explain the whos, whats, whens, wheres, and whys in the story, and their little explanations are never really necessary. So it is reasonable, in my opinion, to say that Vesper could've gone better if it had been written in flashback mode WHILE the character was being interviewed. Or, even better, (since in the book, the main character tells her interviewer that she had already written an entire account on the events that had happened to her, which I don't really get because if she'd already written basically a mini-novel on her life (which she was forced to do), then what was the point of being interviewed? What I mean to say is, what is the point of having the interviewing actually be part of the book?) the book could've just been Emily's story that she had been forced to write down. You can make cupcakes any way you want, but adding too much frosting and sprinkles can ruin the overall taste of the cupcake.
The plot line was very jaunty and messy. Also, I understand that the main reason why the author decided to be so simple and keep to a main idea was to keep the reader's interest, but really, he was a little to brief. This book could've been longer and have had a lot more events that occured in it which would still have kept my interest.
The book focuses mainly on Emily and her newly discovered superpowers. And when I say focus, I really mean, "all i'm going to write about is Emily partyin, partyin, YEAH, until I get tired and introduce some new characters at the end so that the reader will want to read and find out more about what happens. Ha, see? I've written a book with almost no filling and all crust! More readers=MORE MONEY" We all knew that she was either going to find out that she was a myth-ey creature (vampire, werewolf), a creation, or "accident" by scientists, or had gotten traditional family traits (although that was very unlikely the minute her family is introduced). So the author decided to keep us going, chapter after chapter, with Emily going on midnight adventures, partying like a macho-pyscho, which was just as uncomfortable for the reader as it was for Emily, before actually getting on to the real stuff. We find out that Emily was generated by some weird eco-company or another, classmates were killed because of this and that, blah blah blah, etc., etc., etc., until she gets picked up by some nerdy guy from the eco-company.
The ending was the best part of the entire book. It introduced all action, (very BRIEF action, which only partially explained some of the stuff that had happened in the book) and had a pretty crummy cliffhanger. A really annoying cliffhanger. A cliffhanger that screamed "I"M GONNA MAKE MORE MONEY YAH, YES I WILL I JUST GOTTA MAKE THEM READERS INTERESTED, YAH."
And to be honest, I was hooked on that ending like a rebellious teen gets hooked on drugs. Okay, not the best example. But seriously, that ending drove me nuts like a squirrel after all its nuts which it had stored away for winter gets stolen by some bandits.
So, yes, I will definitely read the next book in this series. Although, at the end, I think the author could have explained what "Vesper" actually meant. That word gets introduced about 1/4 into the book, and the effect of it wasn't very powerful if you didn't know what it meant. Also, "deviants"? Really? That kind of stuff irritates me like a straight line. (Straight lines go on forever on a graph) Really, it's okay to introduce realistic, REASONABLE, words that actual people would use. Not every book has to have interesting words that sparkle on every page.
Although, on a positive note, I liked the pop culture references. A lot of books use normal similes, metaphors, etc., but this book didn't include any of that flowery Shakespeare stuff.
As for the characters, I liked that Emily wasn't beautiful, gorgeous, model damsel-in-distress material. That would have been over the top. She was someone very much relateable, although the quick personality changes when she turned into Cool Emily at night weren't very believable. (It was all, "I gasped. Me? Fat? This guy called me fat and wished I was dead instead of Gorgeous Emily just because he likes how Gorgeous Emily looks? I feel ready to cry. Really. I do." and then suddenly, Emily turns into Cool Emily and uses a line like this: "I laughed. Who cares what that guy thinks? He's not so skinny himself. Let's go party instead! Yeah! So much more interesting than staring at a depressing blog comment! *hops out window*" And this kind of thing happened everytime Emily Turned Cool. So half the book was tugging at my patience.)
Emily's bestie bugged the crap out of me. She was whiny, bratty, annoying, whiny, bratty, selfish, blahh.... So stypical. (I just merged stereotypical and typical, haha wow.) I'm not really sure why Emily was best friends with basically a female dog who hated everyone else. I would have dumped my lunch over her head.
I have a lot more to say about Vesper, but I won't bore anyone because then it would be longer than the book itself.
There are some books with brilliantly new ideas which are brilliantly done, although books like this are sparse and few. There are also books orbiting around a "used" idea, but is recycled and made into something totally different, although it still has that lingering feeling which reminds you of other books in that specific category. Vesper was a mix of both. It was on the verge of actually being something worth my picky-minded time, but then some little 90-degree bumps along the way completely ruined my assumptions.
I did not like the "recorded-interview" session thingy that began the book. It's been done before, actually by a lot of books I've read, and it really annoyed me because these faux-interviews never actually got to the point. They just semi-explain the whos, whats, whens, wheres, and whys in the story, and their little explanations are never really necessary. So it is reasonable, in my opinion, to say that Vesper could've gone better if it had been written in flashback mode WHILE the character was being interviewed. Or, even better, (since in the book, the main character tells her interviewer that she had already written an entire account on the events that had happened to her, which I don't really get because if she'd already written basically a mini-novel on her life (which she was forced to do), then what was the point of being interviewed? What I mean to say is, what is the point of having the interviewing actually be part of the book?) the book could've just been Emily's story that she had been forced to write down. You can make cupcakes any way you want, but adding too much frosting and sprinkles can ruin the overall taste of the cupcake.
The plot line was very jaunty and messy. Also, I understand that the main reason why the author decided to be so simple and keep to a main idea was to keep the reader's interest, but really, he was a little to brief. This book could've been longer and have had a lot more events that occured in it which would still have kept my interest.
The book focuses mainly on Emily and her newly discovered superpowers. And when I say focus, I really mean, "all i'm going to write about is Emily partyin, partyin, YEAH, until I get tired and introduce some new characters at the end so that the reader will want to read and find out more about what happens. Ha, see? I've written a book with almost no filling and all crust! More readers=MORE MONEY" We all knew that she was either going to find out that she was a myth-ey creature (vampire, werewolf), a creation, or "accident" by scientists, or had gotten traditional family traits (although that was very unlikely the minute her family is introduced). So the author decided to keep us going, chapter after chapter, with Emily going on midnight adventures, partying like a macho-pyscho, which was just as uncomfortable for the reader as it was for Emily, before actually getting on to the real stuff. We find out that Emily was generated by some weird eco-company or another, classmates were killed because of this and that, blah blah blah, etc., etc., etc., until she gets picked up by some nerdy guy from the eco-company.
The ending was the best part of the entire book. It introduced all action, (very BRIEF action, which only partially explained some of the stuff that had happened in the book) and had a pretty crummy cliffhanger. A really annoying cliffhanger. A cliffhanger that screamed "I"M GONNA MAKE MORE MONEY YAH, YES I WILL I JUST GOTTA MAKE THEM READERS INTERESTED, YAH."
And to be honest, I was hooked on that ending like a rebellious teen gets hooked on drugs. Okay, not the best example. But seriously, that ending drove me nuts like a squirrel after all its nuts which it had stored away for winter gets stolen by some bandits.
So, yes, I will definitely read the next book in this series. Although, at the end, I think the author could have explained what "Vesper" actually meant. That word gets introduced about 1/4 into the book, and the effect of it wasn't very powerful if you didn't know what it meant. Also, "deviants"? Really? That kind of stuff irritates me like a straight line. (Straight lines go on forever on a graph) Really, it's okay to introduce realistic, REASONABLE, words that actual people would use. Not every book has to have interesting words that sparkle on every page.
Although, on a positive note, I liked the pop culture references. A lot of books use normal similes, metaphors, etc., but this book didn't include any of that flowery Shakespeare stuff.
As for the characters, I liked that Emily wasn't beautiful, gorgeous, model damsel-in-distress material. That would have been over the top. She was someone very much relateable, although the quick personality changes when she turned into Cool Emily at night weren't very believable. (It was all, "I gasped. Me? Fat? This guy called me fat and wished I was dead instead of Gorgeous Emily just because he likes how Gorgeous Emily looks? I feel ready to cry. Really. I do." and then suddenly, Emily turns into Cool Emily and uses a line like this: "I laughed. Who cares what that guy thinks? He's not so skinny himself. Let's go party instead! Yeah! So much more interesting than staring at a depressing blog comment! *hops out window*" And this kind of thing happened everytime Emily Turned Cool. So half the book was tugging at my patience.)
Emily's bestie bugged the crap out of me. She was whiny, bratty, annoying, whiny, bratty, selfish, blahh.... So stypical. (I just merged stereotypical and typical, haha wow.) I'm not really sure why Emily was best friends with basically a female dog who hated everyone else. I would have dumped my lunch over her head.
I have a lot more to say about Vesper, but I won't bore anyone because then it would be longer than the book itself.
June 10, 2020
tf when did i even bring this book home😭
January 18, 2013
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: The pacing of Vesper is a nightmare that will leave readers bored for the first half and overwhelmed for the last, while the story itself never pulls it together.
Opening Sentence: I was halfway out my bedroom window when my cell rang.
The Review:
I’m still confused on how this novel’s plot came together, despite having read the sequel right after. As you can tell from the synopsis this is a character driven novel, not a plot driven one, which is why the pacing for the first 150 pages could put you to sleep. I don’t care how shy your heroine is; sneaking out her bedroom window to hard-core party with the cool kids usually isn’t enough to hold anyone’s attention. It takes our heroine a while to figure out Emily’s murder and her own nocturnal habits are connected, but when she does she starts thinking the other Emily’s possessing her.
Emily Webb (our heroine, not the dead one) is so horribly insecure at 16 that I almost couldn’t believe her character. She never leaves her house (except for school), has one best friend, and avoids confrontation like it’s her job. The personality flip that happens after Emily Cooke is shot brings out Nighttime Emily. With a voice in her head convincing her to do things she’d never considered, Emily sneaks out her window to crash parties and uses her sense of smell to judge people. That second part makes sense when you’re reading, actually, because it’s a paranormal. She’s cooler, stronger, faster, and all around better than the clumsy Daytime Emily.
This sounds cool. I expected to like the more confident Nighttime Emily, who I think the author wanted to overshadow Daytime Emily’s insecure self. Except Nighttime Emily turned out to be super boring, because the author never took the “wild child” side of her far enough to be believable. Daytime Emily could almost be a friend, but both sides of her, as well as all the supporting characters, fell flat. The author uses this Daytime/Nighttime adjustment period to set the stage for the actual plot of the novel, but frankly I couldn’t get into the characters enough to care that other kids were getting shot.
Her best friend is quickly convinced that Emily’s nighttime activities mean she’s trying to ditch her. Frankly, if Emily had ditched Maggie I might have enjoyed the book more. As a best friend she was whiny and obnoxious, falling into the stereotypical role of idiot BFF.
I enjoyed the transcript aspects of the book, where we discover a bit about the Vesper Company and what’s happened to Emily. However, the writing where Emily was narrating made her sound like a twelve year old, her insecurities and immaturities distracted me to the point where I couldn’t believe she’d actually take on Vesper with her fellow deviants. There is a tiny romance element, and I loved that it stayed small. I also enjoyed the various paths Vesper opened up for the sequels it’ll have.
Notable Scene:
“Seriously,” he said. “I don’t know who you are, but maybe we can call someone or—”
Rage burned inside me, an inferno in my gut. Lip raised into a sneer, I stood on my tiptoes and got in Mikey’s face. “I go to your school,” I said, jabbing a finger into his chest. “My name is Emily Webb. And you need to get out of my frickin’ way!”
I was angry again, more angry than I’d ever been before. With a cry, I shoved Mikey in his chest.
And he flew.
Pinwheeling his arms like a cartoon character, Mikey tumbled backward from the force of my shove. He smacked against a guy behind him, and both of them fell against a bench near the front door.
FTC Advisory: Balzer + Bray/Harper Collins provided me with a copy of Vesper. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
Quick & Dirty: The pacing of Vesper is a nightmare that will leave readers bored for the first half and overwhelmed for the last, while the story itself never pulls it together.
Opening Sentence: I was halfway out my bedroom window when my cell rang.
The Review:
I’m still confused on how this novel’s plot came together, despite having read the sequel right after. As you can tell from the synopsis this is a character driven novel, not a plot driven one, which is why the pacing for the first 150 pages could put you to sleep. I don’t care how shy your heroine is; sneaking out her bedroom window to hard-core party with the cool kids usually isn’t enough to hold anyone’s attention. It takes our heroine a while to figure out Emily’s murder and her own nocturnal habits are connected, but when she does she starts thinking the other Emily’s possessing her.
Emily Webb (our heroine, not the dead one) is so horribly insecure at 16 that I almost couldn’t believe her character. She never leaves her house (except for school), has one best friend, and avoids confrontation like it’s her job. The personality flip that happens after Emily Cooke is shot brings out Nighttime Emily. With a voice in her head convincing her to do things she’d never considered, Emily sneaks out her window to crash parties and uses her sense of smell to judge people. That second part makes sense when you’re reading, actually, because it’s a paranormal. She’s cooler, stronger, faster, and all around better than the clumsy Daytime Emily.
This sounds cool. I expected to like the more confident Nighttime Emily, who I think the author wanted to overshadow Daytime Emily’s insecure self. Except Nighttime Emily turned out to be super boring, because the author never took the “wild child” side of her far enough to be believable. Daytime Emily could almost be a friend, but both sides of her, as well as all the supporting characters, fell flat. The author uses this Daytime/Nighttime adjustment period to set the stage for the actual plot of the novel, but frankly I couldn’t get into the characters enough to care that other kids were getting shot.
Her best friend is quickly convinced that Emily’s nighttime activities mean she’s trying to ditch her. Frankly, if Emily had ditched Maggie I might have enjoyed the book more. As a best friend she was whiny and obnoxious, falling into the stereotypical role of idiot BFF.
I enjoyed the transcript aspects of the book, where we discover a bit about the Vesper Company and what’s happened to Emily. However, the writing where Emily was narrating made her sound like a twelve year old, her insecurities and immaturities distracted me to the point where I couldn’t believe she’d actually take on Vesper with her fellow deviants. There is a tiny romance element, and I loved that it stayed small. I also enjoyed the various paths Vesper opened up for the sequels it’ll have.
Notable Scene:
“Seriously,” he said. “I don’t know who you are, but maybe we can call someone or—”
Rage burned inside me, an inferno in my gut. Lip raised into a sneer, I stood on my tiptoes and got in Mikey’s face. “I go to your school,” I said, jabbing a finger into his chest. “My name is Emily Webb. And you need to get out of my frickin’ way!”
I was angry again, more angry than I’d ever been before. With a cry, I shoved Mikey in his chest.
And he flew.
Pinwheeling his arms like a cartoon character, Mikey tumbled backward from the force of my shove. He smacked against a guy behind him, and both of them fell against a bench near the front door.
FTC Advisory: Balzer + Bray/Harper Collins provided me with a copy of Vesper. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
May 23, 2011
Jeff Sampson, Vesper: A Deviants Novel (Balzer and Bray, 2011)
I really should have known what I was getting into with this. It's a young adult novel, the first in a projected series (really, folks, can someone just write a stand-alone novel these days? Please?), and it deals with the supernatural. Once you've established those three things, you've narrowed yourself to two or three choices. They're all overdone. They're all really, really annoying in the wrong hands, and 90% of the time they're in the wrong hands. While I'm not sure Jeff Sampson's hands are the right ones, they're a darned sight better than most of those who have been covering this same territory, and for that I am thankful.
Emily Webb is one of two Emilys at her high school. (We will refer to her as Emily W for now.) As the book opens, Emily W is going through some rather odd changes, not in her body but in her thought patterns. What's a geek who strives not to be noticed by her peers doing crawling out her window in the middle of the night? We've no idea. But when she gets to school the next day, she finds out Emily C, the class' other Emily, was found dead in her pajamas just a few blocks from Emily W's house. The connection should be obvious, and indeed it is to Emily W, but that doesn't stop her changing every night into someone who wants to crawl out her window, shed her mousy exterior, and rock the world. There's more to it than that, of course, as she enlists the help of a few friends, struggles to stay a normal high school girl, and try to figure out who wants her dead (and who the others are this person wants dead, since she can't be the only one, right?). Which is not nearly as complex as it sounds when I explain it, and that is to the book's good. But then comes the revelation of what it is she's becoming, and if you don't groan during that scene, well, you have more intestinal fortitude than I do, or you've read far fewer books of this stripe (while I don't think it's a spoiler any more given that it's mentioned in a lot of the Amazon reviews, I'm not going to do it).
That said, as I inferred in the opening paragraph, this could have been a whole lot worse. With sexy teen vampires rapidly approaching the saturation point (and as Captain Peacock was wont to say, “thank heaven for THAT”), the second-favorite mythology is being trampled on in a raft of books. A lot of them are mediocre at best. This takes a more interesting view of the situation, in that Emily doesn't simply pop up one night changed into a different thing, and the strongest part of the book is that “what IS she?” bit, which is roughly the first two-thirds of it. But even once we get past the groanworthy Big Reveal, and Sampson just keeps going on with the mystery angle, and while I'm sure Emily's, erm, gifts will be pivotal in later books in the series (the closing scene, which lays out come of the structure of the Deviants, pretty much ensures this), here it's not something that was absolutely necessary (though it helped, a bit of extra planning would have allowed a normal human to achieve the same effect), and that's a pleasant surprise.
Not bad, not bad at all. I'll be picking up the next book in the series. *** 1/2
I really should have known what I was getting into with this. It's a young adult novel, the first in a projected series (really, folks, can someone just write a stand-alone novel these days? Please?), and it deals with the supernatural. Once you've established those three things, you've narrowed yourself to two or three choices. They're all overdone. They're all really, really annoying in the wrong hands, and 90% of the time they're in the wrong hands. While I'm not sure Jeff Sampson's hands are the right ones, they're a darned sight better than most of those who have been covering this same territory, and for that I am thankful.
Emily Webb is one of two Emilys at her high school. (We will refer to her as Emily W for now.) As the book opens, Emily W is going through some rather odd changes, not in her body but in her thought patterns. What's a geek who strives not to be noticed by her peers doing crawling out her window in the middle of the night? We've no idea. But when she gets to school the next day, she finds out Emily C, the class' other Emily, was found dead in her pajamas just a few blocks from Emily W's house. The connection should be obvious, and indeed it is to Emily W, but that doesn't stop her changing every night into someone who wants to crawl out her window, shed her mousy exterior, and rock the world. There's more to it than that, of course, as she enlists the help of a few friends, struggles to stay a normal high school girl, and try to figure out who wants her dead (and who the others are this person wants dead, since she can't be the only one, right?). Which is not nearly as complex as it sounds when I explain it, and that is to the book's good. But then comes the revelation of what it is she's becoming, and if you don't groan during that scene, well, you have more intestinal fortitude than I do, or you've read far fewer books of this stripe (while I don't think it's a spoiler any more given that it's mentioned in a lot of the Amazon reviews, I'm not going to do it).
That said, as I inferred in the opening paragraph, this could have been a whole lot worse. With sexy teen vampires rapidly approaching the saturation point (and as Captain Peacock was wont to say, “thank heaven for THAT”), the second-favorite mythology is being trampled on in a raft of books. A lot of them are mediocre at best. This takes a more interesting view of the situation, in that Emily doesn't simply pop up one night changed into a different thing, and the strongest part of the book is that “what IS she?” bit, which is roughly the first two-thirds of it. But even once we get past the groanworthy Big Reveal, and Sampson just keeps going on with the mystery angle, and while I'm sure Emily's, erm, gifts will be pivotal in later books in the series (the closing scene, which lays out come of the structure of the Deviants, pretty much ensures this), here it's not something that was absolutely necessary (though it helped, a bit of extra planning would have allowed a normal human to achieve the same effect), and that's a pleasant surprise.
Not bad, not bad at all. I'll be picking up the next book in the series. *** 1/2
February 15, 2011
This was one of those books that I chose randomly from my reading pile, devoured in one sitting, then sat there staring at the novel for a while longer.. just thirsting for more. It's kind of like when you watch the season finale of your favorite TV show. They give you an ending, but they leave enough unanswered questions to keep you hooked for the next season. That's how this was. I read it, was perfectly satisfied with the ending because it ended at a good spot - but that didn't stop me from going, "Well, what's next? I want to know ... NOW!" I felt like Veruca Salt... I wanted to stomp over to my parents' house and scream, "Daddy, I want the second Deviants novel and I want it now," in a completely horrible fake English accent.
Well played, Sampson.
In all seriousness, I did love this novel. The interrogation transcripts placed between some of the chapters left you guessing about what was happening just as much as Emily's actions kept you guessing. It's a little confusing, but by the end it wraps up nicely. That's the easiest way for an author to win my heart with their novel: keep me guessing until the end! I don't like figuring things out too soon in the book... it makes the novel fall flat for me.
Emily, oh Emily. I loved her willingness to accept her geekdom. She was completely wonderful and all of the pop culture references made me nerd out right along with her throughout the book. Actually, I was probably nerding out a little more. I tend to do that. She was also a strong character and didn't go completely head-over-heels for the romantic interest and spend the rest of book talking about how gloriously perfect he was. This also won me over - have a love interest, but don't make that the whole story! The other characters were pretty spiffy too, though the two characters that caught my eyes the most (Spencer and Amy) didn't take the spotlight as much as I'd like. For the story, you get enough of each character. For the series? I need more. Lots more! ;) And the twists on a certain friendship and romantic interest? My head was spinning because I did NOT see either coming. At all.
Alright, so I'm sure that you've probably figured out that I'm in love with this book. I will sing its praises from the highest mountain tops.. well, if I could. The best way I can do this book justice is to just tell you that if you want a great YA paranormal read, you'll want to pick up this book. This is Jeff's debut novel and he definitely does not disappoint!
Well played, Sampson.
In all seriousness, I did love this novel. The interrogation transcripts placed between some of the chapters left you guessing about what was happening just as much as Emily's actions kept you guessing. It's a little confusing, but by the end it wraps up nicely. That's the easiest way for an author to win my heart with their novel: keep me guessing until the end! I don't like figuring things out too soon in the book... it makes the novel fall flat for me.
Emily, oh Emily. I loved her willingness to accept her geekdom. She was completely wonderful and all of the pop culture references made me nerd out right along with her throughout the book. Actually, I was probably nerding out a little more. I tend to do that. She was also a strong character and didn't go completely head-over-heels for the romantic interest and spend the rest of book talking about how gloriously perfect he was. This also won me over - have a love interest, but don't make that the whole story! The other characters were pretty spiffy too, though the two characters that caught my eyes the most (Spencer and Amy) didn't take the spotlight as much as I'd like. For the story, you get enough of each character. For the series? I need more. Lots more! ;) And the twists on a certain friendship and romantic interest? My head was spinning because I did NOT see either coming. At all.
Alright, so I'm sure that you've probably figured out that I'm in love with this book. I will sing its praises from the highest mountain tops.. well, if I could. The best way I can do this book justice is to just tell you that if you want a great YA paranormal read, you'll want to pick up this book. This is Jeff's debut novel and he definitely does not disappoint!
January 17, 2011
Vesper is different from your average YA novel. The tone was closer to your average teen than I've read in most other novels, Emily is a geeky girl that doesn't win the heart of a brooding, mysterious guy despite her... circumstances and the book is written by a guy. That last one may not seem like an important factor, but I beg to differ. Reading a YA novel written by a man rather than a woman is like reading a YA novel with a male protagonist rather than a female protagonist. The gender of the protagonist/author changes how the story unfolds.
That being said, here is what I thought about Vesper: the tone was conversational and thoroughly teenage, but bordered on contrived. I can recall several moments in the novel where Sampson's narrative just sounded like Sampson and not like Emily.
The plot of the novel was interesting, but not enthralling. In fact, the end of the novel was a much more exciting than the rest of it. I find myself wondering why Sampson didn't introduce the overarching conflict of his novel (and potential series) earlier in the narrative and if I just wasted my time reading a 300 page prologue to his next book where the real action happens.
A recurring theme I found in Vesper is sloppiness. Sloppiness in Sampson's creation of character (bordering on trite and contrived), and sloppiness in the pacing of the novel and the plot in general (heavily unbalanced towards the end of the story).
I don't know if I am invested enough in Emily Webb's character to continue with the series, because although I generally like Emily, I'm not too thrilled with how she is written.
Overall Grade: C +
Would I read it again? No.
Would I recommend it to others? Yes, if they're not too into the romance element and aren't too picky about the way it's written.
That being said, here is what I thought about Vesper: the tone was conversational and thoroughly teenage, but bordered on contrived. I can recall several moments in the novel where Sampson's narrative just sounded like Sampson and not like Emily.
The plot of the novel was interesting, but not enthralling. In fact, the end of the novel was a much more exciting than the rest of it. I find myself wondering why Sampson didn't introduce the overarching conflict of his novel (and potential series) earlier in the narrative and if I just wasted my time reading a 300 page prologue to his next book where the real action happens.
A recurring theme I found in Vesper is sloppiness. Sloppiness in Sampson's creation of character (bordering on trite and contrived), and sloppiness in the pacing of the novel and the plot in general (heavily unbalanced towards the end of the story).
I don't know if I am invested enough in Emily Webb's character to continue with the series, because although I generally like Emily, I'm not too thrilled with how she is written.
Overall Grade: C +
Would I read it again? No.
Would I recommend it to others? Yes, if they're not too into the romance element and aren't too picky about the way it's written.
January 18, 2011
I'm sure most of us have a badass alter-ego hidden within ourselves. It doesn't really come out unless we are fortunate enough to be cast in an Angelina Jolie action movie. Okay, maybe not most of you, I guess that's just my inner calling. Luckily, Sampson created a character I could live in the moment with. The initial introduction revolved around Emily's ordinary, homebody behavior while at night her feisty transformation appeared. For a good amount of the novel I didn't quite grasp the meaning behind her change. Despite that, the mysterious vibe surrounding her abilities was intriguingly delicious. While Emily struggles to make sense of herself, a killer is also running loose murdering Emily's classmates. I enjoyed the thrill behind this figure's undisclosed identity and looked forward to unraveling his twisted reasons.
The secondary characters, Dawn and Megan were decently written with distinct personalities. Dawn was Emily's step-sister, while Megan was her best friend. Both girls seem to fit into her life one way or the other. Now, I must say the story development was a bit slow. It took me some time to comfortably connect the dots to who the "deviants" were and what their role was in all this madness. Which brings me to the ending! I was going to rate this book a 3.5 but due to the action in the last 60 pages or so, I bumped it to a 4. The overall conclusion filled the action I was hoping to see and definitely gave me insight on what to expect next as a reader. I also want to lightly touch on the subject of a supernatural surprise that Sampson slapped me with. I wasn't expecting it at all! And, no worries, stating that there is a "supernatural" element doesn't spoil anything. I am curious to see the growth in this series and look forward to understanding Emily better.
The secondary characters, Dawn and Megan were decently written with distinct personalities. Dawn was Emily's step-sister, while Megan was her best friend. Both girls seem to fit into her life one way or the other. Now, I must say the story development was a bit slow. It took me some time to comfortably connect the dots to who the "deviants" were and what their role was in all this madness. Which brings me to the ending! I was going to rate this book a 3.5 but due to the action in the last 60 pages or so, I bumped it to a 4. The overall conclusion filled the action I was hoping to see and definitely gave me insight on what to expect next as a reader. I also want to lightly touch on the subject of a supernatural surprise that Sampson slapped me with. I wasn't expecting it at all! And, no worries, stating that there is a "supernatural" element doesn't spoil anything. I am curious to see the growth in this series and look forward to understanding Emily better.
April 20, 2012
I think it's appropriate to start this review by remarking that the concept of altered personalities and states has always interested me. So, naturally, I was drawn to this book via a combination of personal interest and high expectations. Unfortunately, these expectations weren't reached, but were instead blown completely off the face of the earth and into an alternate dimension of awesomeness. Short answer: I loved this book, so much so that I could scarcely put it down after picking it up! However, my intent is to review, not gush, so here we go.
"Vesper" follows a young sixteen-year-old named Emily Webb who has always sought to shy away from the limelight of the high school hierarchy. However, after another young woman named Emily dies, "Em Dub" begins to act strange when night falls. As she struggles to find out what's going on, she uncovers a conspiracy more deeply rooted than she could have ever imagined.
For me, "Vesper" had two really major high points: The level of character development and the story. When I found out about Emily's "changing of character" when night fell, I was excited to see where the story would go with it. Needless to say, it didn't lag or dissappoint in any way imaginable. I found the nighttime sequences to be both rousing and exhilirating. The "Daytime Emily" wasn't a letdown either as I was able to see a lot of myself in her. All the other characters were very well fleshed-out and enjoyable. Also, I enjoyed Jeff Sampson's writing style and the shifts in tone and syntax between Emily's two "selfs" felt natural.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who likes a good adventure/mystery story. Jeff Sampson is now officially one of my favorite authors and I can't wait for the sequel.
"Vesper" follows a young sixteen-year-old named Emily Webb who has always sought to shy away from the limelight of the high school hierarchy. However, after another young woman named Emily dies, "Em Dub" begins to act strange when night falls. As she struggles to find out what's going on, she uncovers a conspiracy more deeply rooted than she could have ever imagined.
For me, "Vesper" had two really major high points: The level of character development and the story. When I found out about Emily's "changing of character" when night fell, I was excited to see where the story would go with it. Needless to say, it didn't lag or dissappoint in any way imaginable. I found the nighttime sequences to be both rousing and exhilirating. The "Daytime Emily" wasn't a letdown either as I was able to see a lot of myself in her. All the other characters were very well fleshed-out and enjoyable. Also, I enjoyed Jeff Sampson's writing style and the shifts in tone and syntax between Emily's two "selfs" felt natural.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who likes a good adventure/mystery story. Jeff Sampson is now officially one of my favorite authors and I can't wait for the sequel.
July 10, 2013
Check out this review and more at: http://ApocalypseReads.blogspot.com/
What would you think this story is about if you read the above synopsis and compared it to the cover of the book? Obviously something paranormal. Maybe some sort of spiritual battle. You probably wouldn’t think about werewolves. At all. But, then you would be stuck in the same boat as me, staring at the book with a dumbfounded look as you realized that is exactly what it’s about.
If reading about werewolves doesn’t turn your smile into a frown then perhaps Emily’s character would. Quiet, geeky, keeps to herself-Emily almost instantly turns into trashy, slut-tastic, jump any male around-Emily overnight. Apparently, this is her alter ego. Right. I don’t know if this is a by-product of a male author writing from a teenage girl’s perspective (surely it’s not, right?), but it really irks me. Here’s a girl who seems pretty smart and level headed, but her alter ego is a tramp?! Of all the ways to go in a story like this, Sampson had to go there.
The one thing that could have redeemed this story also aided in its downfall. The story is a written account of what had happened to Emily, including transcripts throughout of a verbal interview being held in the present tense. It works as an attention grabber leading you to believe there is more to Emily’s story than her discovering she’s a werewolf, but by the end there are illogical sequences thrown in. You can’t end a story by adding random connections and abilities. I realize the purpose it to create suspense and make me want to find out what happens next, but it just left me shaking my head in disapproval.
A very superficial story at best, I’d pass unless you have some sort of hysterical love affair with anything werewolf related.
What would you think this story is about if you read the above synopsis and compared it to the cover of the book? Obviously something paranormal. Maybe some sort of spiritual battle. You probably wouldn’t think about werewolves. At all. But, then you would be stuck in the same boat as me, staring at the book with a dumbfounded look as you realized that is exactly what it’s about.
If reading about werewolves doesn’t turn your smile into a frown then perhaps Emily’s character would. Quiet, geeky, keeps to herself-Emily almost instantly turns into trashy, slut-tastic, jump any male around-Emily overnight. Apparently, this is her alter ego. Right. I don’t know if this is a by-product of a male author writing from a teenage girl’s perspective (surely it’s not, right?), but it really irks me. Here’s a girl who seems pretty smart and level headed, but her alter ego is a tramp?! Of all the ways to go in a story like this, Sampson had to go there.
The one thing that could have redeemed this story also aided in its downfall. The story is a written account of what had happened to Emily, including transcripts throughout of a verbal interview being held in the present tense. It works as an attention grabber leading you to believe there is more to Emily’s story than her discovering she’s a werewolf, but by the end there are illogical sequences thrown in. You can’t end a story by adding random connections and abilities. I realize the purpose it to create suspense and make me want to find out what happens next, but it just left me shaking my head in disapproval.
A very superficial story at best, I’d pass unless you have some sort of hysterical love affair with anything werewolf related.
January 5, 2011
Once in a while you'll come across a book that really keeps you reading. Not your average page turner, but something that really excites you & keeps you reading. This is one of those books.
Where to start? First off, I love how realistic the characters are. Emily doesn't have some unrealistic quirk to her & while she's definitely not one of the "beautiful people" she's not the specific target of anyone's ridicule. (Her friend Megan did have that dubious honor at one point in her past, though.) She could literally be one of any thousands of average teenage girls out there. That's what makes her nocturnal changes into the wild child Emily all that more potent. Another thing worth crowing about is that there's no romance in this book. Sure, Emily has hormones but those take a back seat to her fright over how she's been acting & how it's been impacting her daytime life. Again, another touch of realism. (There will probably be romance in the next book, though.)
The only thing about it I could say kept me from enjoying it as much as I'd like is that when we DO discover what's going on with Emily, it kind of comes a little out of left field. Sampson does a good job of trying to blend it into the story but when the discovery is revealed it's kind of "huh... that's a surprise- doesn't entirely make sense, but I'll run with it". It's not anything that will ruin the book for you but it might make you step out of the story for a minute.
Overall this really was well worth reading & I can tell that this series is going to be pretty popular, up there with greats such as Soul Screamers & Wicked Lovely.
(ARC provided by Amazon Vine)
Where to start? First off, I love how realistic the characters are. Emily doesn't have some unrealistic quirk to her & while she's definitely not one of the "beautiful people" she's not the specific target of anyone's ridicule. (Her friend Megan did have that dubious honor at one point in her past, though.) She could literally be one of any thousands of average teenage girls out there. That's what makes her nocturnal changes into the wild child Emily all that more potent. Another thing worth crowing about is that there's no romance in this book. Sure, Emily has hormones but those take a back seat to her fright over how she's been acting & how it's been impacting her daytime life. Again, another touch of realism. (There will probably be romance in the next book, though.)
The only thing about it I could say kept me from enjoying it as much as I'd like is that when we DO discover what's going on with Emily, it kind of comes a little out of left field. Sampson does a good job of trying to blend it into the story but when the discovery is revealed it's kind of "huh... that's a surprise- doesn't entirely make sense, but I'll run with it". It's not anything that will ruin the book for you but it might make you step out of the story for a minute.
Overall this really was well worth reading & I can tell that this series is going to be pretty popular, up there with greats such as Soul Screamers & Wicked Lovely.
(ARC provided by Amazon Vine)
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