Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Review: Vampirates: Demons of the Ocean by Justin Somper

    Vampirates: Demons of the Ocean
  • Reading level: Ages 9-12
  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (April 1, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0316014443
  • ISBN-13: 978-0316014441
  • Vampirates Website 

Twins, Connor and Grace, never dreamed that there was any truth to the Vampirate shanty their father sang to them before he died, but that was before the two were shipwrecked and separated from each other. For Connor, who is taken aboard a pirate ship, there's the chance to learn to swordfight, but for Grace, aboard a mysterious ship of vampire pirates, the danger is great. What will it take for them to find each other?


We listened to this book on Audio CD in the car together.  The reader was really good!  He had a British accent and used different voices for the characters.  Even his girl voices were good.  I was actually kind of surprised, as a mom, by how much I enjoyed this book.  It did have some battle scenes, and the vampirates do drink blood from "donors" on the ship.  There are a couple of deaths, but nothing very detailed.  Overall it was a very original idea and a fun read for the kids!  But, who cares about what I thought, here's what the kids have to say....

Reagan:

If you like pirates and vampires, you're in!  There were so many things that I liked about this book.  I love books about pirates, and my friend recommended this book to me, and I'm so glad I read it.  My favorite character was either Grace or the Vampirate Captain.  Grace was so demanding, she was so curious and would risk her own neck to find out the secrets of the Vampirate ship.  I liked the Captain because he was AWESOME!  He was so calm at frightening times, but could still command his crew.  I can't wait to read the next book!


Bransen:

This was one of my favorites!  It is my third favorite book.  I really liked how there were Vampirates in it because I've never heard of Vampirates before.  I thought that it was cool that Connor wouldn't give up believing that his sister was alive, even after no one else believed him.  My favorite character was either Lorkin or the Vampirate Captain.  Lorkin wanted to protect Grace from the evil vampire, and he did whatever he could to save her.  I liked the Captain because even though he was a vampire, he seemed nice.  I would recommend this book to boys and girls!  If you like battles, vampires, or pirates you'll love it!



4 comments:

Enbrethiliel said...

+JMJ+

Aside from the vampire and pirate tropes, would you recommend this to someone who really liked Percy Jackson and the Olympians? I'm thinking along the lines of fun, if often hair-raising adventure and quirky minor characters. I'll expect this series to be more scary, of course, but does it run along those same lines, in general?

Andye said...

I would say, as an adult, that it's not quite as good as the Percy Jackson books, but it's along the same lines. I don't know that I would read them on my own, but I didn't mind listening to the audio with the kids.

My kids liked it a lot, though! My 8 year old son said it was one of his favorites (he says that about a lot of books). But they were BEGGING me for the next Percy Jackson books. They're asking for the next one in this series, but don't seem quite as obsessed with it!

Don't know if that helps at all. I expect there's going to be a lot more to the storyline in the next books in this series. This one seemed to be setting a lot up.

Rea Rea said...

any kind of reader would love this. well that is what i think. i am a all reader

Faith said...

I really liked this book! The first three are very clean and good, then in the fourth it gets to kissing and romance, and I think they cuss once in the fourth as well. But I haven't read the fifth, so....