Gothic Fantasies for T(w)eens

Go to a bookstore and head directly to the teen/tween section and what do you see? This is a no-brainer, so let me just tell you instead: there would be one section for the likes of Meg Cabot and Cecily von Ziegesar, one section for RL Stine and Russell Lee and the gang who specialize in horror, a section for all Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew mysteries...

But wait, that's not what's important or interesting here.
What I'm more interested here, ladies and gentlemen, is the section on vampires, werewolves and the rest of the supernatural that seem to overpopulate the shelves these days.

Don't believe me? Just go! Go sit there and absorb all there is to absorb about our fanged and furry friends (and a few winged ones as well). Let's just face it, hey? Ever since the 90s, or more accurately, since LJ Smith's ever-so-popular The Vampire Diaries graced the bookshelves around the globe, there has been an invasion of vampires and werewolves and witches in the horror genre (remember Christopher Pike?), and almost twenty years later, there's no indication whatsoever that the craze is dying out. Oh the woes.

What I'm saying, however, is that not all the books in this genre is crap. There are, despite recycling old plots and characters, some pretty awesome ones (excluding, of course, the Twilight Saga). For instance:

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• Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead - A young adult paranormal romance series consisting of six books, Vampire Academy tells of Rose Hathaway, a seventeen-year-old Dhampir (half-vampire and half-human) who is training to be a bodyguard for her Moroi best friend Lissa Dragomir. While learning how to defeat the Strigoi (the undead vampires) of St. Vladimir's Academy, she also finds herself falling for her handsome (*rolls eyes* aren't they anything but?) instructor Dmitri. Note to self: protagonists are usually either pretty or handsome; if stated otherwise, the books tak laku.

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• Wicked by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie - Here comes the witches, and it's like Romeo and Juliet all over again. Wicked is the story of an ancient family feud between a coven of witches called the Cahors and a coven of warlocks called the Deveraux. Holly Cathers, a witch descendant of the House of Cahor finds herself fighting romantic feelings for Jer, the warlock from team Deveraux. It's kind of a fun/tragic book with loads of stuff about witchcraft and religion thrown into the loop.

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• The Wolves of Mercy Falls Trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater - Consisting of the books Shiver, Linger and Forever, the story is about Grace, Sam and the werewolves with a bit of family drama added into the mix, all written from several key characters' points of view. I shan't tell you much, though, only that it's an entertaining read (check out my review of the last book, Forever in the October issue of MYC! News). The good thing about this series is that the author holds no disillusions about the 'wolves' physical features (as in, not all 'wolves are hunky teenage boys with six-pack), unlike a certain Ms. Meyers.

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The Fallen by Thomas E. Sniegoski - If anybody remembers, there was a TV show adaption of this series which stars Paul Wesley (Stefan Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries). Anyway, this is a four-book series which consist of The Fallen, Leviathan, Aerie and Reckoning and it tells of Aaron Corbet, a Nephilim (there's already a half-vampire and a half-werewolf, so why not a half-angel, eh?) who is pursued by a group of angels called the Powers who believe that Nephilims are abominations and must be thus destroyed. And then there's a girl. And a dog. Hmmm.