A Classic is Vamped Up

Little Women, the beloved classic written by Lousia May Alcott has been amped or rather Vamped up to now become....
Little Vampire Women............
Christmas wont be Christmas without any corpses." The dear, sweet March sisters are back, and Marmee has told them to be good little women. Good little vampire women, that is. That's right: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy have grown up since you last read their tale, and now they have (much) longer lives and (much) more ravenous appetites. Marmee has taught them well, and so they live by an unprecedented moral code of abstinence . . . from human blood. Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy must learn to get along with one another, help make society a better place, and avoid the vampire hunters who pose a constant threat to their existence. Plus, Laurie is dying to become a part of the March family, at any cost. Some things never change. This horrifying—and hilarious—retelling of a timeless American classic will leave readers craving the bloodthirsty drama on each and every page.

Lynn Messina is the source of this romp through the American Civil War Vampire style.

Be careful Bill. (You know I love you [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]) There may just be worse than Lorena out there.

I'm actually tempted to give this a whirl.

Renee

This worries me and makes me curious all at the same time :)

Little Vampire Women

After finding this title while searching through available e books I surrendered to my curiosity and made the purchase…..

It is Christmas eve and we are introduced to the March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. They are the same sisters we met in the original classic with one exception, they are vampires. Orphaned sisters who were turned by Mr. and Mrs. March many years ago when they decided that, as a vampire couple, nothing could complete their undead lives but to have a family.

The storyline loosely follows the classic with Mr. March being what they call a “humanitarian”, meaning that the March family does not feed on human blood but like the vegetarian vampires of that other vampire series feed only upon the blood of animals, has answered the call to the American civil war leaving his little nest to carry on as best they can despite their many little trials and tribulations.

In this world the vampires have their own society that parallels the human one with some intermixing as both are aware of the other’s existence and there are humans who like the fangbangers of the Sookie Stackhouse stories enjoy being bitten and seek out the vampire’s society in order to assuage their need.

Vampires in this world normally choose their mates from the humans around them, bringing them over in the normally accepted way that vampires are created in literature by draining the victim and then giving the chosen their blood followed by burial after which the mate rises on the third evening.

There are certain differences in the characters besides being vampire of course. Instead of being a tomboy Jo is overwhelmed with desire to be a defender, which is a vampire who defends all against the ever threatening slayers, and to that end instead of writing stories she designs defense strategies and her dearest wish is met when she joins Gentleman Jackson’s Preparatory Salon for the Training of Vampire Defenders where she studies diligently.

Mr. Lawrence is brought over by little Beth after receiving his gift of the piano in a moment of impulse, making life difficult for Laurie for as he is forced to evade his grandfather’s advances to feast upon his blood until Mr. Lawrence learns control and follows the March credo of animal blood only.

Laurie himself desires nothing more than to be turned and first woos Jo as in the original story and follows his storyline primarily true to form and obtains his goal with Amy.

Aunt March is still the autocratic old dame however she hires her nieces not only for their companionship but also as defenders of her person as she is exceedingly paranoid that she is the intended victim of slayers because her husband Uncle March was assassinated because he was a renowned defender. Uncle March’s training room is what entices Jo rather than the original library.

John Brooke is perhaps the major departure from character, far from being the bashful lover, he is a undercover slayer and minion of the very powerful slayer Dr. Bang, who was in the original storyline was the doctor who cared for Beth during her illness. His wooing of Meg is a means to infiltrate the March family and assassinate Aunt March as well as follow out his leader’s orders. After the discovery of his duplicity Meg chooses to turn him and make him her mate as he had been successful in engaging her affections. After his turning he exposes all of his former confederates and the hunt for his leader is on.

Dr. Bang is also a departure from his original character, rather than being the caring physician he is a diabolical slayer who using the collective information from the slayers of the past develops a disease known as Chilly Death that can, at the very least, incapacitate vampires and at it’s worst bring about their final demise. It is this disease that affects Mr. March causing Marmee to rush to his side as well as being the disease that Beth falls prey to while visiting the Hummels eventually leading to her death as in the classic version.

So this author has taken a beloved childhood classic and put a vampire spin on it, adding blood and violence and very frequently eye rolling additions to the vampire lore. Granted, there were occasional chuckles but I have to admit there were more WTF was this woman thinking moments. Am I glad I read the book? Well, yes I admit that I was curious so I have taken care of that. Am I glad I purchased this book as an e book which is far more economical than hardcover or even paperback? Oh heck to the max yes! I would have been rather annoyed if I had paid hardcover prices for this. Do I recommend this book? Well, not really, unless you’re a fan of parody and can find it at a book swap or flea market.

My apologies to the author but it’s my opinion.


Renee

Thanks for the review Renee! I may still purchase this as an ebook down the road...