I got this book expecting a cheesy version of Wuthering Heights with Vampire attacks kind of things. I was completely wrong. The book keeps the characters true to themselves (except for the ones who are vampires, of course), follows the story line quite well, and keeps you wanting more. ( )

For a mash up, this one was actually pretty good.

I'll admit it has been a few years since I read Wuthering Heights and there are some parts that I only vaguely remember, but Gray does a decent job of seamlessly inserting vampires into the original text. At times I found myself questioning what the actual version was because the mash up story fit so well together.

I would recommend not reading the back cover of the book before starting it, because it contains a huge spoiler that really isn't revealed until the book is nearly over.

Overall, I think this was a good monster mash up and enjoyed it about as much as the original. ( )

Together, they would brave satan and all his legions...

That last part of Wuthering Heights always struck me as a little odd, even in a book that is peppered with such theatrical (but oh so beautiful) passages. I guess it must have stuck out to Ms. Gray as well, for what would have inspired her to add vampires to Emily Bronte's masterpiece? But I seem to be getting ahead of myself, more on that later.

First, In the interest of full disclosure, I must reveal that I'm kind of a... sucker... for these mashups. Many of us have read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies or Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters or even Android Karenina. I read nearly a dozen of these type of books last year. I even read Mansfield Park and Mummies and Emma and the Werewolves (neither of which I would recommend). But I would recommend Wuthering Bites to those of us who read the original over and over again and might want to mix things up a bit.

Many of the most revered and quoted passages of Wuthering Heights are left untouched or barely altered, which made me very happy. What I was not looking for was awkward passages of vampiric sex or sensual bloodletting or even, heaven forbid, flying. Thankfully Ms. Gray had the fortitude to largely remain in the same voicing - the narration with either Nelly or Lockwood telling the tale. The greatest chunk of new material is towards the end.

While I was reading, it occurred to me how easily the original Bronte work lent itself to be inundated with vampires. It seemed in places much more natural than what has been done with some of the Austen material. The Cathy/Heathcliff passages alone are filled with opportunity. (SPOILERS here for those who haven't read Wuthering Heights) Specifically: Cathy's tendency to fling open her windows as her illness progresses; Cathy's dream of her own death and how the angels refused to allow her into heaven; Cathy's appearance at Lockwood's window, begging to be allowed in; Heathcliff's transformation into a powerful, charismatic gentlemen with a dangerous dark side; Heathcliff digging up Cathy's coffin in the kirkyard and damning her to walk the earth. There's also quite a few deaths in the novel - nearly a dozen - and some like consumption or 'brain fever' give themselves over to the vampiric tale quite well.

I didn't give it a five-star rating because there was one notable instance where I felt Ms. Gray was a little heavy-handed and I came out of the story entirely. But for the most part I was very satisfied with my walk on the moors with the fanged beasties. ( )