Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

Claire Danvers has lived on campus in small college town Morganville, Texas for a while now, and so far, nothing has agreed with her. Being the youngest enrolled student hasn’t made her any friends, but making queen bee Monica look like a fool has definitely made her some powerful enemies. The danger extends beyond just the normal hazing rituals, and when Claire is shoved down several flights of stairs, she decides she’s tired of being terrorized by Monica. She moves off campus into the Glass House, thinking everything will be better now. Unfortunately, Claire has just entered an entire new world of danger. It turns out that there’s a lot about Morganville—and its inhabitants—that Claire never knew.

I put off reading this book for a while because I figured the whole vampire genre had already pretty much been used up. Boy, was I wrong! Glass Houses captured and maintained by interest from the very start. It really doesn’t matter that Caine’s interpretation of the vampire isn’t very original because everything else about her fictional town of Morganville is. Caine presents such an interesting scenario where vampires and humans coexist even if the humans are at the bottom of the food chain, outsiders on campus really don’t have a clue about their undead neighbors, and insiders who leave forget all about what makes Morganville so unique. The plot and action in this novel is without a doubt enthralling, and the characters are realistic enough within their situations. I don’t even mind the huge cliffhanger at the end because I can’t wait to read the continuation of the Morganville Vampires series.

The first installment in the Morganville Vampires series has definitely convinced me that it is a very worthy addition to the vampire genre. I recommend this novel to fans of Firespell by Chloe Neill, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, and the City of Bones trilogy by Cassandra Clare.

Rating: 4.5

Review copy from publisher Penguin