Sarah GrayCritiques

So, this book made me cry, repeatedly, and surprisingly, in a good way. I'd had this book on my to-read pile for a while and I was reluctant to read it because books about dead babies don't exactly make for fun, light reading. Thankfully, this book, while heartbreaking at times, is also filled with hope and gratitude. After learning that one of her twin sons had a fatal condition and would not live long, the author made the decision to donate his remains to medical research and this book tells the tale of how those donations were used and the incredible resulting research. There's a lot of information about how organ donation works, the medical research which can only be done with human tissue donation, and intriguing hope for treatments made possible by donations. And yes, I'm sentimental enough that a story about people helping others and medical research that leads to curing disease brings me tears of joy.

The clothes Scrooge's life with vampire influence in a bloody recasting of the Christmas story, using all of the scenes from the original work, only twisted. Amusingly, she also borrows from Dickens to give Scrooge's youth the events from David Copperfield.

This lost a bit of momentum for me in the second half, still, it’s an entertaining, fast-paced read.

With a zombie apocalypse taking their parents, Florence has made it her mission to protect her nine year old sister, Liss. Along the way, Florence has developed rules for survival, all of which she’s passing on to Liss, chief among her rules is avoid interacting with other people, however, that rule is about to be tested big time.

I loved the relationship between the sisters, it draws you into the story immediately, you see how much they care about each other so it’s easy as the reader to become invested in them, too.

I liked Kean well enough (though it surprised me that his behavior at the mall didn’t leave Florence angry and require an apology, it just seemed a bit out of character for her to end up cool with it, laughing even), but the more standout supporting characters for me were Trouble and Henry. I liked the fairly unique complication each brought to the plot, with Trouble not speaking english, and Henry in a wheelchair, they added some interesting challenges to the standard survival tale.

The first half of this book I probably would have given five stars, it’s more simplistic, the basics of finding food, shelter, and other supplies, not knowing if you can trust other people you cross paths with, that’s the kind of survival story I most enjoy, sort of reality based I guess where you can envision yourself in the characters’ shoes. I don’t want to spoil anything by saying where these characters end up, just that along the way circumstances change, and for me, it kind of felt like the shift from the more basic survival stories of the first season of Lost or the first couple of seasons of The Walking Dead compared to the later years when they turned into something somewhat more convoluted that I just don’t find quite as engaging.

That said, it’s not like the book went super far off the rails, it’s still interesting, I wasn’t tempted to quit reading at any point, it’s just a personal preference thing where the simpler story of the first half connected with me more, the character decisions and the action just felt more organic.

Lastly, I just want to note that there’s a fun choose your own adventure style bonus chapter at the end of the book where the reader as Florence, must make the right decisions in order to reach her sister at their father’s house.½

Along with great information on the value of medical research to save lives, the author shares incredibly personal and touching stories of people who made the decision to face the death of a child with a desire to make that death meaningful.

When a mother to be hears that one of her twins has a fatal birth defect, she investigates donation as a way of giving his life meaning. A year after his death the author realizes she needs to know what happened to his donation. This leads to a journey that not only provides comfort but changes the mother’s life. This story will change the way you think about donating not only for transplant purposes, but also for research.

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.

Rating: 2.5 of 5

Perhaps having recently read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens made it difficult to enjoy Sarah Gray's reboot, A Vampire Christmas Carol. (Or I could just be really burnt out on vampires and their rampant [over]use in books, film and TV.) Gray's was a strong idea and she did manage to create an interesting backstory and explanation for Scrooge's character and lifestyle. But something just felt off for me.

The first four chapters were rather clunky and hard to connect with. Also, the narrator seemed judgy and somewhat offensive. It took a good deal of work for me to push through the prose, which didn't quite hit the mark. (Keep in mind I loved the original and have no issue with older styles of prose.) I wonder, if Gray would've transplanted Scrooge, and the new world she'd crafted for him, into today's world, being able to then write more modern prose, would she have crafted a story easier and more enjoyable for today's readers? I also would've liked to have seen a lot less of the original text; long passages were copied verbatim.

Overall, 2.5 stars, and that's mostly for Gray's idea as well as Dickens' underlying themes remaining intact.

Status update, 1/5/2012, page 27: Almost quit when the narrator said, "I am known to skip forward and back in a good tale, relying on the notion that anyone with a little good sense and the interest will follow."

Read for the Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge

This book takes the original Dickens story and adds vampires as the guiding force that made Scrooge the man he was prior to his encounter with the Christmas ghosts. An interesting twist on a holiday classic.

Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: An old favorite with a new twist

Opening Sentence: Marley was dead to begin with.

The Review:

For this piece, I won’t give you a complete run down of the hero or heroine, because I am going to assume that the three of you have already met. That’s right, as in the classic A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens; we follow the life and times of one Ebenezer Scrooge, and all his associates and family members.

Ok, so a lot of the characters and events here are the same as the other stories. Scrooge still starts out all cranky and miserly and downright nasty. Scrooge still employs Bob Cratchit, who still has a family including Tiny Tim. Ebenezer’s nephew Fred also appears. Mr. Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his deceased partner, Jacob Marley, and by three spirits, Christmas Past, Present and Future. And afterwards, he is reborn nice and friendly and generous. And as a reader, I was happy to get on with the part where he becomes a changed man.

There are also some very notable differences. We get to spend much more time with his past love, Belle. Belle, bless her heart, has never given up hope for the return of the man she once knew, and as thus has never married in this version. We also get to see more of the current lives of Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim and Ebenezer’s nephew Fred.

Also, in this here book, there has been one very large plot twist added. Scrooge’s London is being overrun with creatures of a paranormal nature. Vampires. Vampires? Dickens with Vampires, you say?!?! Why yes, and I’ll be darned if the story isn’t that much better with them. And here’s why…

I like it because it gives me a more concrete reason why Scrooge is so… well, Scrooge-y.

I like it because it gives Bob and Tiny Tim and Fred some more importance in the world.

I like it because it makes the woman of the story strong and independent.

And well, I like it because there are vampires in it.

We are introduced to The King and Queen of Vampires, Wahltraud and Griselda, and their army of vampires. We find out that vampires in this world have slaves they call minions, who like vampires, ingest human blood and thus become sensitive to sunlight. Scrooge has even unknowingly hired one of them, a Mr. Disgut. There is also rumor of some prophecy concerning Scrooge’s offspring, (that’s right, offspring) and the downfall of all vampires. I won’t tell you more, because that would need a spoiler alert.

Well, forgive me my ignorance, for it has been quite a few years since I have read the original, but I hazard to say that Ms. Gray sticks pretty close to the classic Dickens version of the story, (at least to the Jim Carey movie version I just saw not too long ago) with the notable exception of those pesky vampires and their minions. Now for all those with bittersweet memories of being forced to read good old Chuck’s handy work in all its non-vampirish glory, this story might not be for you. And then again, it might. Though, I have to say, as a teen, I would have been much more excited about reading this version, cause vampires are just that much cooler J Where was this my freshman year?

Notable Scene:

Griselda squealed with delight and threw her arms around her husband, embracing him close. “And so Ebenezer Scrooge is ours?” she begged, looking up at her walking-dead husband in eager anticipation. This project, tedious in time and effort, had taken nearly a full human lifetime. But it would all be worthwhile for Wahltraud and Griselda if Scrooge went the way of Marley. In fact, it would be better, for they had great plans for this human.

Wahltraud brought his lips to Griselda’s and they kissed. Then nipped like pups at play. She was the first to draw blood, he the first to howl with pleasure. “Tell me all,” she cried. “Have we the cellars, my precious? Have you gained them for me?”

You see, Wahltraud and Griselda were not wine purveyors, Prussian brewers, or even ordinary English citizens. Unbeknownst to Scrooge and most of London, they were not even human. Wahltraud was the undisputed King of Vampires, Griselda his crowned queen, and Scrooge her pet project which had kept her busy the last half-century. But, how could Scrooge have known? How could anyone have known? You might say if Scrooge had scrutinized his situation with more care, he might have realized that the events played out in his life up to this day were not of his own making. But, again, I get ahead of myself.

Back to Marley…Dead as a door-nail.

FTC Advisory: Kensington provided me with a copy of A Vampire Christmas Carol. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

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.

This book takes the original Dickens story and adds vampires as the guiding force that made Scrooge the man he was prior to his encounter with the Christmas ghosts. An interesting twist on a holiday classic.