In 2005, “Twilight” took American teenage girls by storm. The series twisted traditional ideas on nocturnal vampires from eating young girls to dating them. After the series ended, many readers felt empty without vampire romance, but they won’t be disappointed for long. The “Diary of a Vampeen” series was made for former Twilight fans.
The author, Christin M. Lowell, alludes to “Twilight” with her characters. ”Diary of a Vampeen” is a fictional young adult story about a relatable character named Alexa (Lexi) Jackson. Although she is a normal fifteen year-old girl bullied by the stereotypical high school antagonists, Lexi isn’t your normal size-zero protagonist unaware of her beauty. Instead, she suffers at the hand of bullies who make fun of her because she is plus-size. However, Lexi isn’t alone. By her side, she has her trusty, bubbly and super hilarious best friend Mel. Along with her slightly obsessive boyfriend Matt, Lexi thought she had all that she needed in the world. That was until she met Kellan. Tall and tan with glimmering emerald eyes, Kellan was a mysterious dream to Lexi. Though Lexi was loyal to her boyfriend, something about Kellan entranced her, and on the days leading up to her 16th birthday, she began to realize exactly why.
Lexi is easily my favorite character because I relate to her. She starts off as a slightly introverted plus-size girl who finds her prince charming only to find that he is a little more bite than bark. She faces many hardships; she isn’t the stereotypical perfect heroine that can do no wrong and is victimized to garner sympathy from the reader. Lexi makes mistakes frequently – especially when it comes to her love life. Still, she tries to learn from them. While she is only 15 years-old, her life forces her to mature quickly to stay alive. As I read, I found myself getting frustrated with her because she would make regrettable decisions with awful outcomes later on. While that may get aggravating for the reader, it makes the book more loveable because it proves how human Lowell made her characters.
If you’re are like me, you missed vampire-love-triangle action. You missed staying up late at night reading fanfiction and maybe even writing some of your own. You missed drooling over vampires. “Diary of a Vampeen” offers all that and more! Don’t miss out.
