Book Review of "Vesper" by Jeff Sampson

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Title: Vesper (Deviants #1)

Author: Jeff Sampson

Classification: YA Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal

Source: ARC from the Publisher

Overall Grade:
C +
Would I read it again?
No.
Would I recommend it? 

Yes, if they're not too into the romance element and aren't too picky about the way it's written.

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Summary (from Goodreads):

Emily Webb is a geek. And she’s happy that way. Content hiding under hoodies and curling up to watch old horror flicks, she’s never been the kind of girl who sneaks out for midnight parties. And she’s definitely not the kind of girl who starts fights or flirts with other girls’ boyfriends. Until one night Emily finds herself doing exactly that . . . the same night one of her classmates—also named Emily—is found mysteriously murdered.

The thing is, Emily doesn’t know why she’s doing any of this. By day, she’s the same old boring Emily, but by night, she turns into a thrill seeker. With every nightfall, Emily gets wilder until it’s no longer just her personality that changes. Her body can do things it never could before: Emily is now strong, fast, and utterly fearless. And soon Emily realizes that she’s not just coming out of her shell . . . there’s something much bigger going on. Is she bewitched by the soul of the other, murdered Emily? Or is Emily Webb becoming something else entirely— something not human?

As Emily hunts for answers, she finds out that she’s not the only one this is happening to—some of her classmates are changing as well. Who is turning these teens into monsters—and how many people will they kill to get what they want?
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My Thoughts:

Vesper is different from your average YA novel. The tone was closer to your average teen than I've read in most other novels, Emily is a geeky girl that doesn't win the heart of a brooding, mysterious guy despite her... circumstances and the book is written by a guy. That last one may not seem like an important factor, but I beg to differ. Reading a YA novel written by a man rather than a woman is like reading a YA novel with a male protagonist rather than a female protagonist. The gender of the protagonist/author changes how the story unfolds.

That being said, here is what I thought about Vesper: the tone was conversational and thoroughly teenage, but bordered on contrived. I can recall several moments in the novel where Sampson's narrative just sounded like Sampson and not like Emily.

The plot of the novel was interesting, but not enthralling. In fact, the end of the novel was a much more exciting than the rest of it. I find myself wondering why Sampson didn't introduce the overarching conflict of his novel (and potential series) earlier in the narrative and if I just wasted my time reading a 300 page prologue to his next book where the real action happens.

A recurring theme I found in Vesper is sloppiness. Sloppiness in Sampson's creation of character (bordering on trite and contrived), and sloppiness in the pacing of the novel and the plot in general (heavily unbalanced towards the end of the story).

I don't know if I am invested enough in Emily Webb's character to continue with the series, because although I generally like Emily, I'm not too thrilled with how she is written.
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Overall Grade:
C +
Would I read it again?
No.
Would I recommend it? 

Yes, if they're not too into the romance element and aren't too picky about the way it's written

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