Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

First book in the Morganville Vampires series.

"College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation, where the popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks in the school's social scene: somewhere less than zero. When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don't show many signs of life, but they come out fighting when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood..."

A lot of YA vampire series (and adult ones for that matter) currently seem to have the cuddly kind of vampires, rather than the evil ones. This isn't one of those and it's a nice change to have vampires as evil creatures again. The vampires here are evil, can't come out in daylight and they're in charge of the town, stopping humans from being out after dark. Oh it's nice to be back in a world where that happens!!

I find it much more common for books to be written in first person than third, so I was a little surprised to find that this is written in third. It doesn't stop you getting in to Claire's head or really getting a feel for the place, but it does get a little confusing at a few of the action sequences I found.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It's a little predictable at times (2 girls + 2 guys in the same house = 2 couples for example), but it's still enjoyable, quickly paced and well written.

Claire is just 16, being a bookworm and incredibly smart she's skipped a couple years of school and has just started her first year at college. Unfortunately she finds herself instantly on the wrong side of the nastiest girls in school, the queen bee is Monica Morrell and she would love to see Claire dead. Seriously. The girl is crazy. So to protect herself Claire moves out of the dorms and in to the house of Michael Glass. Michael initially tells her she can't stay, she's 16, the rest of the roommates are all over 18 and for the guys, that could mean trouble. But he knows she's in danger and gives her time to find somewhere else. But because so much happens, she ends up staying.

Claire has no clue she's living in a vampire town but as soon as she's told, things get even trickier for her. She quickly finds herself the target of a vampire by the name of Brandon, and chaos ensues. She finds firm friends in her room mates, Michael - who is never seen in daylight, Eve - a goth who is crushing on Michael and Shane -hunky, tough, hotheaded and full of pain at the death of his younger sister. And together, they're just trying to survive.

The characters are not the most well rounded, but they're still fun. The bad guys are not always obviously bad, and not always as bad as you might think. The ending it very sudden and a heck of a cliff hanger, leaving you wanting more.

Overall 4/5, just. I'm 21 and reading this I can see how anyone much older than me wouldn't enjoy it so much. I'm used to hanging out with teenagers the age of the characters because of youth work, so I don't mind the flatter characters so much. But if you want a better rounded story and characters, read Vampire Academy.