The Vampire's Beautiful Daughter by S.P. Somtow

The Vampire's Beautiful Daughter Reviews

• 
  Shomeret

  This book causes me to remember what I love about Somtow's work. He hasn't just written a book about a human boy who falls in love with a girl whose father is a vampire. It's about a number of themes. There's rites of passage and what they have in common. In this case it's the bar mitzvah, the vision quest and becoming a vampire. There's the theme of liminality which is what anthropologists call being a cultural outsider. I love liminal characters. There's culture clash. There's also some consideration of what is transitory and what is permanent. I thought this book was really wonderful and one of the best books I've read about vampires.
• 
  Debra

  I've wanted to read this book for a long time and finally got around to it. It's short but I really liked it.
• 
  Steven Foley

  While this was not a life-changing or riveting story that will stick with me forever, I did appreciate it. I appreciated the cultural sensitivity that the author put in with its main character (multi-ethnic) identity. Particularly I enjoyed the Native American background and the respect (author) gave to the character/Native peoples. I think that the character Rebecca and Johnny both having to make a life-decision is a great theme for ya readers. I also appreciated that some of the usual vampiric mythos was negated, while some traditional parts of vampire legends remained rooted. Lastly, the art inside the book is beautiful!
• 
  David

  Such an amazing new view of the teen Vampire Romance. I loved this <3
• 
  Betty

  ​Title: The Vampire's Beautiful Daughter
  Author: SP Somtow
  Genre: This is in that gray area between older child and young adult. The amazon.com notes say "12 and up."
  Setting: Los Angeles in the 90's.
  Reason for Reading: 50 PoC book challenge - book 28! I had read another book by this author some years back, Tagging the Moon which I highly recommend. I'm not doing very many repeats on this project but I thought the book summary sounded really interesting. I enjoyed reading it.
  Finished In: Days, perhaps a week at the most.
  Pages: 125
  Copyright Date: 1997
  Cover: A lovely cover by Gary Lippincott, who also did the illustrations for the book.
  
  Themes and Triggers: Death, teenagers, vampires, being mixed-race.
  Best part: What rang true for me in this book was the overall them of "Who do I choose to be?" There's some about others forcing you to choose between two parts of your identity, and then some other parts about actually deciding what you want your path to be. The tension between those two I found really interesting. I also almost always like (non-Twilight) vampire in high school type books.
  Worst part: Interestingly, this book did NOT entirely resonate for me in terms of its treatment of First Nations culture. The main character is a half Jewish, half Lakota teenager whose mother wrote a bestseller about Native culture. The way Somtow treats that culture is... kind of mixed, like it's a joke in some ways. He's Thai, not Native American, so it felt disrespectful to me. The thing I noticed especially (and this is a stupid thing) is when he said something about "the kitchen smelled like sage, but no one was cooking" and the sage smoke was actually coming from a ritual. But, the sage herb used in food is not the same as the sageBRUSH smoke used in rituals. The reasons I know that have to do with being a culturally appropriative New Age teenager in the 90's when I didn't know any better. But reading that still bugged me.
  Imaginary Theme Song:
  Grade: C+
  Recommended for: Fans of YA vampire fiction with NO SPARKLES.
  Related Reads: Vampire High by Douglas Rees. Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-fattah.
  
• 
  Althea Ann

  I'd been wanting to read this for a while, as I felt that Somtow would
  be able to do something dark yet extraordinarily beautiful on the
  theme of the vampire. However, although I absolutely love some of
  Somtow's books, he can be rather hit-or-miss.
  This wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't overwhelmingly wonderful,
  either, and was definitely aimed at an early-teen audience.
  The main character is a teen boy, Johnny. His family has recently made
  a lot of money after his mother published a book of his grandfather's
  stories and reminiscences (he's a native American), and his mom has
  insisted on relocating to a tony California neighborhood. Johnny
  doesn't really fit in at his new school, and he's got a bit of a
  not-one-thing-or-the-other identity crisis.
  However, when he meets a new classmate, Rebecca, he realizes that his
  issues aren't much compared to hers. Rebecca's father is a vampire,
  and soon, Rebecca must make an irreversible decision - will she become
  a vampire, at a grand 'coming-of-age' party, or will she remain human?
• 
  Corinne

  One of my all-time favourite books! I really liked the conflict between becoming a Vampire and staying a human for the daughter of Dracula! Also the fact that the ceremony to become a vampire was described and the boy is actually there and sees the girl he loves die voluntarily will stay in my mind for a long time. And her haunting him afterwards to "let her in" at night and also become a vampire is the sad and haunting part of this story. The description of his Hollywood schoolmates are also very hilarious (one sues his parents to get a transgender operation and appears on Letterman). All in all a book to laugh and cry at the same time. And there are some drawings which accompany the story.
  
  P.S.: Valentine, the main character of Somtow's Vampire triology, is also mentioned.
• 
  Jessica

  Read this ages ago, when it first came out, and thoroughly enjoyed it. During the first wave of sympathetic vampire stories (Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Diaries) and long before YA contained much more than S. E. Hinton and Lurlene McDaniels and almost no genre fiction at all, there was this delightful story of a young boy meeting a gorgeous girl . . . whose father is a vampire and who is about to choose if she will follow her father into darkness, or remain human. A slim little book, but full of vivid imagery and very different from the vampire books that I'd been reading at the time.
• 
  Lo

  I guess this would be FLB for boys. The protag seems to have wandered away from a Sherman Alexie story, headdress and all! Anyway, boy falls in hearts with cute gothy chick and finds out she is half vampire. Boy spends a lot of time with girl's sketchy friends in Hollywood, Laurel Canyon and the likes. This could be my teen years, what with all the boozing behind Ralph's and Vons, of course minus the stalking and feasting on prey.
• 
  ☮sum K☮

  this has got to be one of my favorite reads of all time!!!
  
  it's about a guy who is part indian who moves and meets a new friend, who just so happens to be half vampire. they both share the birthdate of halloween and both must choose what side to choose on their birthday.
  
  it's about how they fall in love and it's very cultural...
  
  you are def missing out if you do not read this book!!!
• 
  Katharine

  A short strange story. Veering precariously between spoof and serious, this book both mocks the subject of vampires as well as tackles the idea thoughtfully. Parts of the story are difficult to take serously, and other parts are somewhat haunting in a way. This book does have the distinct quality of young adult fiction, but it does seem that the author attempted to take the story serously.
• 
  Daphne

  What a cute little story. It was a little freaky at times but other than that i absolutely love this adorable little love story. Its definately different than your average love story but try it, you might actually like it.
• 
  Laela

  Half Jewish/Half Natvie american boy falls in love with Vampire's daughter. He must deiced between staying human and turning vampire.
  
  Found myself skiming this and frustrated with the 90's portions. The Native American parts were good.
• 
  Jennifer

  I hate having to give this two stars because it was so beautifully written and imaginative. This is the second book by Somtow I've read now, and I love his style. It's just I really did not like the ending.
• 
  Victoria

  Nicely written, thoughtful, disquieting. Not your ordinary teen vampire romance.
• 
  Elke

  To me the story was boring and predictable. Though the author brought some new ideas to it with the indian background of the boy, the story could not convince or keep my interest. Read it, forget it.
• 
  Allizabeth Collins

  Cute and interesting. Enjoyed the refreshingly new plot to the vampire genre, and even though I hated the ending I appreciate how it tied up the rest of the book.
• 
  Alyssa

  sooooo bad. forced myself page to page
• 
  Ariel Daniel

  Felt a bit off, could have been expanded upon more. Weird to think the guy who wrote this helped with Tár
• 
  McArthur Library

  What a difficult decision: Should Rebecca remain mortal or become a vampire like her father?
• 
  Sasha

  I loved this book in middle school!