Bibliography: Fantaskey, Beth. (2009). Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN: 978-0152063849 (hc) 978-0547259406 (pb)
Plot Summary: Jessica Packwood is your average American teen, getting ready to start her senior year of high school. This year will be her year, but maybe she should be careful what she wishes for. On the first day of school Lucius Vladescu shows up. He is mysterious, handsome and has old world manners. He’s also arrogant and a snob. And a vampire who has come to the United States from Romania to claim his betrothed–Jessica, who it turns out, is also a vampire. What’s a girl to do? Lucius and becoming a vampire were not in the plan. But when a beautiful cheerleader sets her sights on him, and then a contingent of threatening vampires shows up, Jessica realizes she must do something…
Critical Analysis: This book was recommended to me after I read Hearts at Stake by Alyxandra Harvey and commented on one of the library listservs that I would happily take many more lighthearted or humorous vampire romances over Twlight wannabes any day. I think the beauty of Jessica’s Guide is that Fantaskey is presenting everything in a straightforward manner but not taking anything too seriously. To me, if you remove the vampires, you are still left with a somewhat satirical look at life in a middle American high school, and what happens when a teenage girl realizes there is more to life and to herself than what she has been lead to believe.
This is Jessica’s story, but the letters that Vlad writes home give the reader insight into his character and thoughts which are so on point for skewering that same middle American world. The added details of Jessica dealing with the changes that are happening to her as she prepares to become a vampire, and the addition of details from the book Vlad gives her are again so funny. And yet, with all the vampires, threats of war and violence, humor, cheerleaders, dates and dances, in the end the reader is rooting for Jessica to take a stand for herself and the person she realizes she loves. (It is obvious that Kirkus reviewers and I will have to agree to disagree on Fantaskey.)
Readalikes: Hearts at Stake by Alyxandra Harvey is another humorous, fun, lighter look at vampires. While the characters are teens, the Drake family and their friends are too busy fighting off other vampires and vampire hunters to worry too much about things like going to school. However, they do find time for a little romance.
Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey, yes this seems obvious as a choice, if you like something read more by that author. In this case, there are similarities in the set up, a normal high school girl discovers she and the boy she is coming to love are not what she thought, but this book was darker in tone and theme and I thought had a deeper message.
Review Excerpts: “Fantaskey makes this premise work by playing up its absurdities without laughing at them, endowing Jessica with a coolly ironic sensibility and Lucius with old-world snobberies that Jessica’s girlfriends find irresistible….The romance sizzles, the plot develops ingeniously and suspensefully, and the satire sings.”–Publisher’s Weekly
“Fantaskey’s fast-paced story is full of plot twists and turns that keep readers guessing until the very end. The story is highly entertaining with plenty of action, drama, romance, as well as self-discovery.”–School Library Journal
“Fantaskey’s novel is far more than a romantic fantasy. As Jessica wrestles with issues of identity, she must also grapple with her body’s physical changes and her newfound sexuality…. Jessica is a witty, spunky protagonist with authentic insecurities and inner conflicts.”–VOYA
“Populated with thoroughly flat characters, this vampire romance, despite charming moments, makes Twilight look like a feminist handbook.”–Kirkus Reviews
Reviewed from public library copy. Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.
