Review: Children of the Vampire by Jeanne Kalogridis

Children of the Vampire (The Diaries of the Family Dracul #2) by Jeanne Kalogridis

Publication Date: September 1st 1995
Details: Hardcover, 301 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Press
ISBN: 9780385314121
Source: Either I bought it or my mom did. 🙂

Jeanne Kalogridis:
Website | Goodreads

Buy Children of the Vampire:
Amazon | Book Depository

Summary

It is Amsterdam, 1871, twenty-five years before the start of Stoker’s novel, and twenty-five years following Arkady Tsepesh’s flight from his family’s ancestral castle with his wife and young son, Stefan, after learning that he and his family are bound by an ancient covenant to serve their ancestor, Prince Vlad Tsepesh, who is also known as Dracula. For Vlad is a vampire, and the fated firstborn sons in every generation must bring him the victims he needs to survive. Arkady had tried to break the covenant and failed. He is now a vampire, separated from his beloved wife and son, with one all-consuming desire – to destroy Vlad before he draws Stefan into eternal service through the blood ritual. But Arkady has come too late to Amsterdam. Vlad kidnaps Stefan, and spirits him away to the castle in Transylvania to undergo the blood ritual. Arkady enlists the help of Stefan’s stepbrother, Abraham Van Helsing, in his thrilling battle against Vlad, as he seeks to free his family and put an end to the age-old blood covenant – even if it means he must destroy his own son.

Review

I’m not sure what exactly I can say about this book that I didn’t say about the first one. I came out of this one feeling basically the same way. I thought it was well written. I was pulled right in from the first page and I didn’t want to put it down.

I will say that, just like with the first book, there was a character that annoyed me. It was a different character and he wasn’t as bad as Arkady, but I still wanted to smack him at times. I also found this one to be predictable. I guessed everything, so I wasn’t surprised by anything. That was a bit disappointing and why I dropped my original four star rating down to three.

Other than those couple of problems, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. So far this is an amazing vampire trilogy and I’m so glad that I’m reading it. I can’t wait to read the third and final book, Lord of the Vampires, but at the same time, I don’t want it to end. Maybe I will wait a bit before picking it up. I’m just not sure how long I can wait. I want more.

3 out of 5 stars