Hearts at Stake (review)

Lucy and Solange have been BFFs since before they can remember, spending most of their time trying to escape and/or annoy Solange's five overbearing brothers while getting into various kinds of mischief. All this is changing, however, as Solange approaches her sixteenth birthday, the date on which her "medical condition" will turn her from a sweet, ordinary teen girl into a bloodsucking vampire princess, fulfilling a prophecy that threatens to take down the currently reigning vampire queen. Things get even more complicated when the queen's murderous intentions are revealed and Solange falls under attack from the royal court, from various infighting vampire clans, and from Helios-Ra, a group of humans dedicated to the destruction of the vampire race. A refreshingly humorous and high-action addition to the often brooding vampire genre, this story refuses to take itself seriously, instead offering a light-hearted and genuinely entertaining romp through the underworld. Lucy and Solange alternate narration, and while Lucy is by far the more interesting of the pair (especially as her relationship with Nicholas, Solange's handsome older brother, heats up), both girls are charming with their biting wit, fearless bravado, and generally angst-free demeanors. There are some tenderly insightful moments too, particularly between Solange and her brothers, and the emphasis on various types of relationships (i.e., mother-daughter, brother-sister, mortal friend-vampire friend), makes this a rather unusual take on the vampire world.