Boys That Bite (Blood Coven Vampire #1)

Reader reviewed by Margay Justice

This is one of those books that is easily devoured in very few sittings. From the first page to the last, it is a wild, raucous ride into the lives of twins who are as different as night and day and who delve into the world of vampires. But only one of them does so willingly. Rayne, the ultimate goth girl, has literally done her homework on how to become a vampire and she is all too eager to become one of the living dead. Unfortunately for her, she coerces her twin, Sunny, to go along with her to the club where she is to be initiated and it is Sunny who is bitten in her place when Magnus, Rayne's sponsor, mistakes Sunny for her twin. She soon learns, however, that there is a small window of time in which the damage can be undone and her humanity can be saved. So begins the wild race to find the cure that takes them into the heart of danger.

Reader reviewed by Maura (Monster Of Books)

What I liked....I enjoyed that
it was a simple, easy read, that quickly got your attention. It's a
page turner and will leave readers wanting more by the end of the book.
Mari Mancusi brings out the old vampire myths in a new way, that will
definitely have you laughing. The humor kind of reminded me of the, Vampire Kisses Series
by Ellen Schreiber. I also enjoyed that Sunny was a type of character
who really resisted becoming a vampire, even if she was a bit
closed-minded, which put a spin on most YA vampire genre books. Also
the vampire was the type of character who wasn't like: "Don't become a
vampire! Live your human life!!" Instead he was a bit self-centered and
lonely and wanted Sunny to become a vampire. I would think, if I were a
vampire, that after living a million-bajillion years that you be a bit
self-centered and greedy. Are the characters relate-able? To me, not
really. But can you imagine them and understand them? Of course. The
authors makes a simple plot into a 272 page book, that's interesting,
fast paste, and you don't have to really think a lot while reading it.
It's not complex, which is nice. So I definetly recommend this to
anyone, even if you hate the vampire-genre.
What I didn't like.....
I found the main protagonist, Sunny, thoughts to be really annoying at
times. I don't like to label people/characters, but I found Sunny to be
way to preppy. Also in the book the word: "vampire" was brought up like
every page. I understand that she doesn't want to become a vampire, but
do we really need to hear about it every second? Though these two
things that I disliked are rather my complaints then stuff that would
be wrong with the book. But also, it would make sense for the main
character to be thinking about it a lot because if I were in this
situation I'd probably do the same thing. But I just wished, the word:
"vampire", was toned down a bit.
Also, at the end of the book you get
to see Rayne's POV. Basically she narrates the ending, and I found
from her thoughts that she's identically like Sunny. Like I understand
that they're twins, but for moments on end I felt like I was listening
to Sunny not Rayne. Was that suppose to be that way? I don't know. When
Rayne talks, she sounds different from Sunny.
In All...
it was a great book that anyone would love to read and I absolutely
recommend the book. I didn't really find anything wrong with book, just
one person complaints.

Reader reviewed by Erica

Boys That Bite
Mari Mancusi
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Release Date: April 6, 2008
Pages: 276

Rating: 5 Stars

This is not your typical boybites-girl love story.

Technically Sunshine can't get killed-because she's immortal. Well, not quite yet. Due to the worst case of mistaken identity with her dark-side-loving twin sister at a Goth club called Club Fang, Magnus, a vampire hottie, went for Sunshine's innocent neck. Now if she doesn't reverse it in time, Magnus will be her blood mate forever and she's doomed to be a blood-gulping, pasty, daylight-hating vampire. That would seriously bite.

And now, after the unfortunate slaying of the vampire leader, Sunshine, her sister Rayne, and Magnus must find the one thing that can solve her problem: the Holy Grail. They wish it were a joke but it's not. It's absolutely necessary that Sunshine gets out of this in time, because somehow she scored the hottest prom date in her school, the mouth-watering Jake Wilder. So she just can't be a vampire for the prom-let alone the rest of eternity.

Boys That Bite was a refreshing take on vampires! It varied from so many books that have vampires cut from the same exact stone. For example, in Boys That Bite, the vampires actually had to sleep. (Though the romance aspect is still there)

Boys That Bite was well written with well-rounded characters. It was smart and had comical moments. The plot took its twists and turns, I was convinced I had different parts completely figured out, but then something completely different would end up happening.

The ending sets the stage for the next book, Stake That, which I cannot wait to read!

Reader reviewed by Bookmac

This wasn't bad. Wasn't great. Entertaining, definitely. Okay, let me say a couple things before i review this book. 1.) I love books where the romantic characters go somewhere, leave the main scene, take a vacation. Why? Not really sure. 2.) As much as I love Vamp books, they're starting to get a little old, I need something really new, something that has that whole paranormal feel but without all the fangs. :) 3.) Why do authors have to pick such, well "sucky" (pun half intended) names for their books, Boys that Bite? Anymore books like that and I'm going to get a rep...and not a good one.

Okay, okay, enough of my commentary, back to the book.

Boys that bite, is the first novel in Mancusi's vamp series. I liked that it started off quick, as much as i love those deep books with the meaningful beginnings I like to be brought right into the action sometimes. So It starts off with Sunshine (yes Sunshine MacDonald, i know) aka "Sunny" going to a goth club with her goth identical twin sister. Sunny, not into the crowd, follows a hot guy outside where he "surprise, surprise" bites her.

Apparently he was supposed to bite her sister cause they made this contract, yada yada, and now Sunny has a week before she loses her mortality. Great if you want to be a vampire, but if you planned on living a nice normal long life, then this whole situation is kinda, well...

So Sunny and her blood mate, mega yummy Magnus, set off to try and "reverse the curse". Their adventures lead them all the way to London, where Sunny realizes she might actually - dare she say it - like Magnus...ooh!

Some parts were a little unrealistic, okay the whole plot was, but you know what i mean. And there were some parts that were a little cheesy, but it was pretty good. The ending is a cliff hanger, but not one that makes you scream and be like "ohmigawd!" just a surprising one.
I won't be rushing to read the sequel anytime soon, but I'll definitely try to read it.

Reader reviewed by Lana

Boys that Bite tells the story of identical twins Sunny and Rayne- yes they've heard all the jokes. Sunny is eager to connect more with her gothic-cigarette smoking- twin Rayne and thinks that by going to a club with her might allow her some insight into the mind of her twin. But the plan backfires. When Sunny goes to club vamp wearing a tank-top advertising BITE-ME she never thought anyone would take it seriously. Especially not a gorgeous future leader of the undead, Magnus. So when he mistakenly bites her and not Rayne she has one week to un- undeadify herself before the change becomes permanent and she is forced to remain a creature of the night forever. Although Sunny wouldn't mind as long as Magnus is there with her.... A great quick read with tons of humor and sarcasm that, along with some unconventional romance, makes it a book you'll be loathe to put down.

Reader reviewed by c-alexis

Before Twilight, I never gave much thought to reading books about vampires. Mostly it was because Dracula scared me real bad since I read that when I was 10 years old. Nevertheless, I decided to give this book a chance.. and I'm torn between saying that I don't like it and that it was interesting. Perhaps it was both. The concept of a vampire program and matching with a sponsor is pretty cool. But the rest of the plot failed to meet its potential. A lot of the events in the novel did not make much sense. If I was to become a vampire tonight, I wouldn't drag my sister (much less a twin sister) to meet my sponsor who's going to turn me. That is just the beginning of the plot's dismay. The most powerful vampire is killed in a paragraph without much of a fight. I say... take the chance to reading it if you will. But you'll have to bite me first before I read its sequel.

Reader reviewed by edith

this book is about identical twins,sunshine an rayne, and how one of the twins wants to be a vampire(rayne. but the wrong twin gets bitten(sunshine) and how they have to figure out how to turn her back into a human. inbetween getting bitten and finding the one thing that will turn her in to a human again(the holy grail)she gets to explore her newfound vamp powers, like atracting guys, super strength, super speed and all of those fun things.

Reader reviewed by Bria

i love this book. Sunny is your avearage high school. She is worried about boys, the school play, and her weird sister Rayne. One night Sunny goes to this club, and this really hot guy invites her outside. When their out there he bites her. Chaos ensues from there.

I love this book. Sunny is fun and lovable. This is a fresh new look at the old vampire books. Finally a vampire book for teens. I love this book, and can't wait for the sequel.

Reader reviewed by Jocelyn

Boys That Bite is Mari Mancusi's entertaining story of a case of mistaken identity. A really, really bad case of mistaken identity, but an understandable one; Sunny and Rayne are identical twins, and, as their names suggest, they are as different as night and day (or sun and rain).

Rayne wanted to become a vampire. Eternal life? Sounds great! Not so much, though, to Sunny, who just wants to be a normal, happy high school girl. Unfortunately, Sunny is the one who gets bitten by Magnus, a good looking vampire who was supposed to be Rayne's blood mate. No fair! Rayne was the one who took all the classes and got on the waiting list (yes, Mancusi's vampires have classes and waiting lists to become one of them), but Sunny is the one who scored eternal life with a hottie!

Unfortunately for her, Sunny doesn't want any of it. She wants to be able to stay out in the sunshine, keep to her vegetarian lifestyle, and go to the prom! And she doesn't want Magnus, either...right?

In order to reverse her transformation, Magnus and Sunny have to find the Holy Grail. Don't worry; it sounds a lot harder than it is. Not to say that that's an easy task, though. But does Sunny even want to be human again...or is she falling for a creature of the night?

This is a fabulous vampire story! I've read a few lately, and this one is, I think, the best. Sunny is a fabulous character, and the rest of them are quite realistic (well, as realistic as a vampire can be in Magnus's case) as well. The plot was fun and absorbing, with adventure, vampires (and putting vampires in any story makes it way cooler...at least to Buffy-addicted readers like me), and even romance. This take on vampires is very different from most (these vampires are high-tech and organized), but that makes the book, if anything, cooler. Mari Mancusi is a fantastic writer, and this book had me hooked right from the beginning! The ending was a little bit of a cliffhanger, but not unbearably so; there's plenty of resolution in the ending as well. Fortunately, there's a sequel--Stake That!, which is currently on my to-read shelf.

Reader reviewed by Audra Mills

I love this book. I have always wanted to be a vampire and this brings my dreams to life. I think that in this book the vampire communtity is very organized and i like that. And plus magnus seems VERY hot! I pretty much love this book!

I have read it at least 10 times and it just keeps getting better. I never thought I'd like a book as much as I liked Twilight but this book proved me wrong. I cant wait until the next one.

I am an aspiring author and i hope to be as good as her. I hope my book gets published someday.