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2.5/5

Vampire Addiction is the first book in the young adult paranormal romance series, the vampires of Athens, by Eva Pohler. Vampire Addiction is the story of Gertie, who is a book worm that didn't want to go to Athens for a study abroad year. Her parents had to force her to go, so right off the bat Gertie and I butted heads a little. I just couldn't wrap my head around someone not wanting to learn all kinds of things by experiencing a new culture like that, especially someone who is as much of a bookworm as she is. I guess I just equated bookworms with people who have a thirst for knowledge and would love to be able to learn about Athens, while being in Athens! She came across as very immature to me. However, the book did get better, and I ended up liking Vampire Addiction.

Once Gertie gets to Greece, she is immediately taken under the wing of her host family. I loved how involved her host family was. weird things did start happening right away, and soon we are swept up in a whirlwind journey. The vampires of Athens were brought into the story line pretty quickly, and I have to say Vampire Addiction seemed like the perfect title for the story because Gertie was obsessed with them. It seemed like every other word out her mouth was about vampires. every single person she met knew, within their first or second conversation, that Gertie was reading interview with a vampire and that she was fascinated by them. I thought that was a little overboard. Which leads me to my main annoyance with Vampire Addiction. I felt like this book was very cool, but I felt like it lacked finesse. There wasn't very much showing, just a lot of telling. It felt a little abrupt and jumpy.

However, I still enjoyed Vampire Addiction, and that was mainly due to the plot line of the story. even though I felt like the pacing was a bit choppy, I like the blending of mythology and vampire lore a lot. It is something that I haven't seen done much, if at all, and it was a very cool take on subject. I also love the idea that if a vampire drinks from a human that they inherit some of the vampires superpowers for a little while. That is cool, and I could totally see how that would be addicting. Those elements were what kept me interested in Vampire Addiction. I liked this novel, but I didn't love it. I would recommend it to fans of vampire stories that are looking for a unique twist on the lore.

This review was originally posted on Book Briefs