Series: American Vampire #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Published by: Roc on May 7, 2013
Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
Source: Author
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Fortitude Scott’s life is a mess. A degree in film theory has left him with zero marketable skills, his job revolves around pouring coffee, his roommate hasn’t paid rent in four months, and he’s also a vampire. Well, sort of. He’s still mostly human.
But when a new vampire comes into his family’s territory and young girls start going missing, Fort can’t ignore his heritage anymore. His mother and his older, stronger siblings think he’s crazy for wanting to get involved. So it’s up to Fort to take action, with the assistance of Suzume Hollis, a dangerous and sexy shape-shifter. Fort is determined to find a way to outsmart the deadly vamp, even if he isn’t quite sure how.
But without having matured into full vampirehood and with Suzume ready to split if things get too risky, Fort’s rescue mission might just kill him...
*I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
An anti-alpha vampire hero worthy of his name!
Twenty-six year old Fortitude Scott’s life currently sucks, literally. He’s a college graduate working a dead end job at local coffee shop, shares his apartment with a jerk of roommate and has a girlfriend who’s less than committed, oh yeah…did I forget to mention he’s also a transitioning vampire? Fort tries to live his life as far from his vampire family as possible but when his brother Chivalry requests his presence at their mother’s home he reluctantly accepts the invitation. There he meets a new vampire with a fetish for young girls. When young girls in his mother’s territory go missing, Fort is forced to embrace his vampire lineage and work alongside a sexy shifter to catch the powerful monster preying on the innocent.
When I was first introduced to Fort I thought “Oh, no…not another emo vampire” but as the story progressed I realized I might have judged him too soon. Fort is definitely not the tall, dark and brooding alpha heroes I swoon over, but his struggle to keep his humanity intact made me connect with his character. He hasn’t fully transitioned and prefers to live as a human for as long as he can, instead of living with his wealthy mother Madeline, and siblings Chivalry and Prudence (don’t you just love those names?) who are the quintessential vampires, predators who see humans as a food source and nothing else. While Fort may seem a bit whiny and self-deprecating at times, he longs to do the right thing which is admirable and usually ends with him getting into some sort of trouble. His internal monologue and pop culture references will have you laughing out loud, to say the least.
“It crossed my mind that we were having a collective hallucination. Maybe I was seeing her, and they were seeing a camel. Or I was dead and heaven consisted of an anime fetish. Except she wasn’t wearing a schoolgirl’s skirt and kneesocks so maybe not that.”
I knew the story was about to get a little more interesting when Suzume Hollis appears as the kitsune shapeshifter and Fort’s new bodyguard…and I was not dissappointed. Suzume exudes a fun and flirty vibe that shines a bit of light to the unfolding dark and twisted plot. She’s everything Fort is not, she speaks her mind, has confidence and is a total bad-ass, which makes for a great pairing and plenty of witty banter. Their friendship plays a big role in Fort’s growth throughout the story and hints at a possible romance down the line (which I’m totally on board with!).
The world building in Generation V is unique and breaks away from the traditional vampire lore. Vampires are not made, but born via “vampire-made surrogates” and are not immortal beings. The addition of the kitsune lore adds even more allure to the story and really speaks to the author’s creativity. I really love that Ms. Brennan introduced an unexplored supernatural being instead of sticking to the “usual” vampire vs. werewolf we typically see in this genre…bravo! The vampires in her world are stronger, darker and a bit creepy, giving the story an edge. Generation V is a vampire coming of age story with an anti-hero you’ll grow to love, a villain you’ll love to hate and a paranormal world worth revisiting!
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This is on my TBR too! All the blog reviews ive read for this book are good.
I love an original story and this was just that. The characters are great and there’s a good blend of action and humor. Hope you enjoy it Braine!
I’ll have to try this out. I like that he isn’t the norm & like you I love an original story. Great reveiw Lori 🙂