Review – Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Length: 212 pages
Publisher: Magic Carpet Books
Release Date: September 1, 2002
ISBN-13: 978-0152166694
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed from Mom
Rating: 3/5 stars

“Kerry’s got a tough night ahead of her. What begins as a simple lost-and-found trip to the Laundromat turns into a nightmarish odyssey of murder, vampires, and–quite possibly–true love. Vivian Vande Velde puts a terrifying spin on what should be a typical night in a small town.”

This is the second book I have read by Velde (I also read Cloaked in Red which was okay). Like Cloaked in Red this book was okay but not great. It was a quick read, but it was also one of those stories where I am not really sure what the point was.

In this story our heroine, Kerry, gets accidentally involved in a conflict between some vampires and a religious zealot who is set on wiping vamps out. As things progress she ends up helping out the male vampire (Ethan) that she found in trouble in the first place. The whole thing leads to Kerry doing things that are more and more dangerous and illegal. Kerry is constantly questioning who to trust; the religious zealot or Ethan (the hundreds of years old vampire).

There really isn’t much love or romance in this story. Kerry and Ethan don’t ever really trust each other enough to develop more than a friendship of convenience. At times there are hints of something more developing between them but it seems to be pretty one-sided and is never acted on. Vampires are definitely not romanticized in this book.

The book is decently written and the writing was easy to read. This is one of those books that describes a brief blip or fantastic event in someone’s (Kerry’s) life and then just kind of ends. As such, it left me feeling kind of unsatisfied.

Overall this is an okay read but it felt somewhat pointless and unsatisfying. Definitely not one of the best paranormal books I have read. It was okay but not great.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Goodreads Reading Challenge
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge