I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Vesper by Jeff Sampson Series: Deviants #1
Also by this author: Ravage
Published by HarperCollins on 2011-01-25
Genres: Adolescence, Fantasy & Magic, Friendship, Social Issues, Young Adult
Pages: 320
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
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Emily Webb is a geek.And she’s happy that way. Content hidingunder hoodies and curling up to watch oldhorror flicks, she’s never been the kind of girlwho sneaks out for midnight parties. Andshe’s definitely not the kind of girl who startsfights or flirts with other girls’ boyfriends.Until one night Emily finds herself doingexactly that . . . the same night one of herclassmates—also named Emily—is foundmysteriously murdered.The thing is, Emily doesn’t know whyshe’s doing any of this. By day, she’s the sameold boring Emily, but by night, she turnsinto a thrill seeker. With every nightfall,Emily gets wilder until it’s no longer just herpersonality that changes. Her body can dothings it never could before: Emily is nowstrong, fast, and utterly fearless. And soonEmily realizes that she’s not just comingout of her shell . . . there’s something muchbigger going on. Is she bewitched by the soulof the other, murdered Emily? Or is EmilyWebb becoming something else entirely—something not human? As Emily hunts for answers, she finds outthat she’s not the only one this is happeningto—some of her classmates are changingas well. Who is turning these teens intomonsters—and how many people will theykill to get what they want?
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.
I suppose one big reason is because this book is not all, I LOVE HIM EVEN THOUGH I MET HIM LIKE 10 MINUTES AGO BUT WHO CARES IT IS LURVEEEEE. No, dude. The main focus isn’t even the romance. The main focus is wtf is going on with Emily Webb. That is awesome. Also, again, I am on a roll with these non-triangle-y books. No one is fighting for the affections of Emily, because she is a normal girl who is average in the looks department. Plus, you know, in real life, triangles don’t exactly happen like in the books.
I found Emily really easy to relate to. I mean, unlike her I actually am terrified of horror movies. However, many of her nights are not spent partying which reminded me of high school (Def not the greatest time of my life FYI), as I was not a partier either. Plus she’s got a giant stack of books in her room. She is a movie fanatic and she even has her movies alphabetized. Urm, my movies were pretty much the same way when I was her age, and I too had a computer list of all my owned films. Anyways, she’s consistently dropping pop culture references. For some people, that grates. For me, it is AWESOME. I like it when characters can also inhabit my world and don’t always live in some kind of bubble where they don’t watch tv, read books, or do homework. Plus, Emily is very sarcastic. SO YAY CHARCTER I FIND ENDEARING.
Also, I totally had no idea WTF was up with Emily and did not guess what a Vesper was until it was basically laid out for me.
I think Vesper by Jeff Sampson was a great book to cycle in among all the grown-up books I’ve been reading lately, as it didn’t contain any of the stuff I got bored with in YA. No triangle. No so obvious from the first page-ness. No insta-love. Characters with real interests.
AND IT’S GOT MYSTERIES. AND IS PARANORMAL.
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I’m glad to see a positive review for this! I’ve been wondering about it a lot, and the premise sounds awesome!
The premise is pretty good, however, I will say that he takes something that has already been done and does it in a completely new, different awesome way.
I love mysteries steeped in the paranormal! I will have to check this one out. I was worried it was all romancy.
It’s got some romance elements, but none of the annoying ones that seem to pop up all the time. Plus, the romance is more like a side factor, not the whole book.
I’ve been a little dubious about this one, but I’ll definitely give it a chance now. The MC sounds great. Thanks for the review!
Liz, it is SO worth giving a chance, especially because I am pretty sure you like awesome MCs.
This sounds like my kind of book!
Well if you like heroines who don’t suck, then yes, this is totally your kind of book.
this book looks fantastic! I love the book trailer!
I haven’t seen the trailer yet, but may have to check that out soon!
This sounds like the type of book I want to pick up! You know I’ve been getting bored with the same things so this might be a good one for me! I haaaate the OMG I MET YOU TWO SECONDS AGO AND WE ARE GOING TO MARRIED AND HAVE BABIESSS.
Good lord do I hate that baby fever. I do think Vesper would be a great choice for you!
Love Emily already from your description.
She’s quite awesome and totally a character I would not mind hanging out with, both Good Emily and Bad Emily.
Too bad I can not wait to hit the library. But I will probably buy it simply because I like the sound of it.Vesper has a bit of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde feel too it with the Daytime Emily and the Nighttime Emily. During the day she is shy, but at night her stomach starts to cramp and she turns into a thrill seeker.
I never even though of the Jekyll and Hyde comparison, but that’s a lot better than what I came up with!
Vesper was super interesting and original, but I had a hard time with the pacing of the novel and how it ended. I felt like I just finished a different book than I started reading… if that makes sense!
– Alyssa
Book Review of “Vesper” by Jeff Sampson