Uninvited (review)

Jordan would like to get rid of her ex-boyfriend, but now that he's a vampire stalking her bedroom each night, a repeat of last year's simple dumping just won't do it. In fact, her resistance to Michael is wearing down after three months of nightly visits wherein he alternately begs, cajoles, threatens, and seduces her into letting him into her room. She's certain she's scared off her potential new boyfriend for good, she hates herself for her too-frequent drunken binges (and her mother for never noticing them), and she can tell that soon Michael's adept plays on her social anxieties (he was one of the school gods, while she knows she is even more invisible without him) are going to result in her accepting him as her only real option. While she is still plotting his destruction, Michael discovers a new way to get to Jordan through her vulnerable friend Lisa, who is much more easily swayed. Methodical plans give way to a frenzied beach showdown, with Jordan attacking Buffy-style, armed with little more than a stake and hope. Readers will be immediately sympathetic to Jordan: even when she royally screws up (and she does often), she is so endearing in her vulnerability and resiliency that she is easy to forgive. She and her motley group of supportive but mostly clueless friends and family are well developed and intriguing, each facing their own demons (though none as literally bloodthirsty as Michael). Fans of realistic fiction who don't mind a measure of horror thrown into their drama will find this a solid exploration into the psyche of an outsider who's not really seeking insider standing so much as a degree of peace about her current status.