False Advertising at its Best: Vesper by Jeff Sampson

Just the facts:

Overall: 1 Star

Addiction Level: I ignored the hubby and puppies until I finished the book. (It only took one sitting.)

Believe-ability: Some aspects were real; others were not.

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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? (Synopsis taken from Goodreads).

            What would you think this story is about if you read the above synopsis and compared it to the cover of the book? Obviously something paranormal. Maybe some sort of spiritual battle. You probably wouldn’t think about werewolves. At all. But, then you would be stuck in the same boat as me, staring at the book with a dumbfounded look as you realized that is exactly what it’s about.

            If reading about werewolves doesn’t turn your smile into a frown then perhaps Emily’s character would. Quiet, geeky, keeps to herself-Emily almost instantly turns into trashy, slut-tastic, jump any male around-Emily overnight. Apparently, this is her alter ego. Right. I don’t know if this is a by-product of a male author writing from a teenage girl’s perspective (surely it’s not, right?), but it really irks me. Here’s a girl who seems pretty smart and level headed, but her alter ego is a tramp?! Of all the ways to go in a story like this, Sampson had to go there.

            The one thing that could have redeemed this story also aided in its downfall. The story is a written account of what had happened to Emily, including transcripts throughout of a verbal interview being held in the present tense. It works as an attention grabber leading you to believe there is more to Emily’s story than her discovering she’s a werewolf, but by the end there are illogical sequences thrown in. You can’t end a story by adding random connections and abilities. I realize the purpose it to create suspense and make me want to find out what happens next, but it just left me shaking my head in disapproval.

            A very superficial story at best, I’d pass unless you have some sort of hysterical love affair with anything werewolf related.