Review: Vesper by Jeff Sampson

Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: FeBalzer + Bray / HarperCollins; 1st edition (January 25th 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061992763
ISBN-13: 9780061992766
Source: Purchased from FullyBooked

Book Summary: Emily Webb is a geek. And she’s happy that way. Content hiding under hoodies and curling up to watch old horror flicks, she’s never been the kind of girl who sneaks out for midnight parties. And she’s definitely not the kind of girl who starts fights or flirts with other girls’ boyfriends. Until one night Emily finds herself doing exactly that . . . the same night one of her classmates—also named Emily—is found mysteriously murdered.

The thing is, Emily doesn’t know why she’s doing any of this. By day, she’s the same old boring Emily, but by night, she turns into a thrill seeker. With every nightfall, Emily gets wilder until it’s no longer just her personality that changes. Her body can do things it never could before: Emily is now strong, fast, and utterly fearless. And soon Emily realizes that she’s not just coming out of her shell . . . there’s something much bigger going on. Is she bewitched by the soul of the other, murdered Emily? Or is Emily Webb becoming something else entirely— something not human?

As Emily hunts for answers, she finds out that she’s not the only one this is happening to—some of her classmates are changing as well. Who is turning these teens into monsters—and how many people will they kill to get what they want?

If you need a book which will make you keep on reading then this is it!

The book started off in an interrogation room and a girl, Vesper 1 (Emily), was being question about the series of events which would be later on be revealed within the book.  Emily is your ordinary geek girl.  Reading books, watching DVDs, and basically a girl, choosing hanging out with her best friend than going out on a Friday night, that’s Emily Webb.  Nobody really and truly knows her except her bestfriend, Megan and she’s fine with that.  Well, Megan thought she really knew Emily.  Until one night, the other popular, pretty Emily Cooke got murdered and all the changes started to happen to OUR Emily.  Emily Webber is your ordinary awkward geek by day, and yet transforms into sexy, confident girl by night time.  She does extraordinary things by night and wakes up confused the next day.  Everyday, things started to get weirder and weirder and Emily thinks that she’s being hunted by the ghost of the other Emily.  With a murderer running rampant and still on a mission to shoot random teenagers, Emily is thinking if everything that’s happening are all tied together.

I instantly got hooked with this book.  I liked the idea of the author to include transcripts of the interrogation, especially on the very first page of the book.  It brought out mysteriousness and definitely a feeling that there is something that you don’t want to miss out on.  I kept reading and reading and before I knew it, I’ve finished the entire book and even asking for more!

The premise is a breath of fresh air.  When you are reading a YA novel, there’s always ALWAYS a love story involved.  But in Vesper, it delved more on self-discovery and friendship.  Although there is a promise of a love story in the succeeding books.  That’s not too bad either as I liked all the teenage boy characters in the book.

I liked the pacing of the book… how it gradually builds momentum and gives you the feeling that you want to ride with it.  Overall, it is an intriguing read, fast-paced, and has a lot of things to look forward to on the next installment of the series.

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