Review: Demon in My View by Amelia Atwater Rhodes

Today’s review is going to be about a book in a series that is near and dear to me:  Demon in My View by Amelia Atwater Rhodes . I first read Demon in My View when I was about 12 or  13, when it first came out. This one has been around for a while. I’ve loved it ever since and my review might be a bit biased because it’s been a part of my “library” for so long.

First I want to say a little bit about the author.  Amelia Atwater Rhodes wrote her first novel, In the Forests of the Night , when she was only 13.  Demon in My View was written two years later. I think that’s pretty impressive, personally.  It was the authors young age, so close to my own, that initially drew me in, but what hooked my was her intense characters and a unique spin on the vampire mythos. Her characters are vivid, complex, and believable. She also has extensive back stories for her characters ( many that span a few thousand years) that she gradually reveals in her books.  Amelia  Atwater Rhodes also has a blog and message board/ forum that you can go to here and read more about her universe , the characters and upcoming releases.

So, on to the review.  Demon in My View  takes place  in the fictional town of Ramsa , New York. The main character is Jessica Allodola, a high school senior.  Jessica doesn’t fit in at school; her classmates automatically avoid her for some reason. She is even referred to as  “the leper of Ramsa High.” She doesn’t understand why everyone avoids her, but her sharp tongue and sarcasm might have something to do with it.  However there is one thing that does set Jessica apart from her peers; she is a published author and her new book “Tiger, Tiger” has just come out under the pen name of Ash Night, so no one knows that she is the author.  But then all of a sudden there are two new students at school who both somehow know that she is Ash Night. One is the annoyingly friendly Caryn, and the other is the mysterious and handsome Alex, and they both want Jessica’s attention for very different reasons.

I first read this when I was in middle school, so like I said, I’ve loved this book for a long time. But when I was 12 my taste and ability to critique literature wasn’t as mature and discerning as they are now( ahem). The authors age should be taken into  consideration, she was only 15, so don’t go into this expecting War and Peace or anything.  At times  I think it’s pretty apparent that it was written by a teenager, because the writing can be a bit cheesy and melodramatic, but considering that it’s a vampire novel that that kind of thing can be expected. But hey, at least they don’t sparkle.

All in all I think for what it is, that this book, and the whole series, are quite good and deserve looking into if you’re a fan of vampire novels. 

My grade: A+ ( taken with a grain of salt).

NB: On the dust jacket of the book it says for ages 12 and up. Looking back, it might be a little too violent for middle school aged kids, but that’s how old I was when I read it and I turned out fine ;).