Randomness And Stuff 2

Cracked Coffins - Review

Vampire books have received a bad rep in recent years, due to the vast increase of cliched, Twilight-style, melodramatic novellas. However, there are a couple hidden gems in the manic world of Dracula offspring's, and Cracked Coffins is close to being one of those.

Warning: Spoilers for Cracked Coffins.

Throughout the book, we follow the troubled, abusive mishaps of Marianna, a teenager with a deep, dark past. Half of which she isn't even aware of. Throughout almost the entirety of her life, she's been tracked and stalked by a two-thousand-year-old vampire from Ancient Rome. Weird, right? Well, it makes sense as you read it, believe me.

The character of Marianna is conflicted, going through multiple phases and traumatic experiences. Losing one of her friends to the vampire whom is named Derendrius, losing a potential boyfriend. She resorts to stealing, smoking an excessive amount of cigarettes and being forced to watch her younger self-chat with her nemesis, Derendrius. The arc she goes through is great and by the end, you really sympathise with her.

As for her mates, Daina and Camilla, they're good supporting roles, even they go through arcs. Daina goes from a whining brat to a better friend and person in general. Camilla transforms from Marianna's BFF to her mate who's unsure of what to think, having been in multiple conflicts with her.

Now, for the antagonist of this book, the big baddie Derendrius. He is gold. Solid gold. His character is flawlessly consistent, his mood can change at an instant from your wannabe pal to an extremely abusive control freak. The vampire has odd reasoning for being the ultimate stalker of poor Marianna is because he reminds him of his old, old, lover before he turned into a vampire.

Also, when she was five, she told Derendrius she loved him, and he took that literally. Very literally!

The tone was bleak when it had to be, but it was also funny at times. The humor was clever but not too forced. The intense scenes were gripping and could make you sweat slightly. I was enthralled at times, wondering just how she would get out of whatever sticky situation she found herself in.

So, with all the in-depth characters, consistency, jokes, drama and realism involved. Oh, and also the book having zero major vampire cliches. I give Cracked Coffins a 8/10.

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