Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

No. of pages: 348
Rating: 10/10
Series: The Morganville Vampires (Book 1)

Synopsis: It's a small college town filled with quirky characters. But when the sun goes down, the bad comes out. Because in Morganville, there is an evil that lurks in the darkest shadows - one that will spill out into the bright light of day.

Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation. The popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks on the school's social scene: somewhere less than zero. And Claire really doesn't have the right connections - to the undead who run the town.
When Claire heads off campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Hew new roommates don't show many signs of life. But they'll have Claire's back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood...

Review: After a particularly nasty attack from the 'popular' girls in her dorm, sixteen year old Claire decides it's time to look for somewhere off campus to stay, even if she promised her parents she would stay in the dorm. As she meets the occupants of Glass House, who all seem pretty weird to straight edged Claire, she considers that maybe it's just time to pack up and go back home to her parents. But overnight Claire learns things about Morganville that mean not only can she not go out at night, but she also cannot leave now she knows so much about the undead rulers of the town...

I went in to these books thinking they would just be of the light vampire entertainment type that has become popular since Twilight. Not that I don't enjoy Twilight, but I just thought it would be of the same type of story, where the vampires are lovely and to be adored etc. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that in this series, vampires are actually bad guys, and will drain you in a second if you turn your back. It's nice to have something a bit different, and not only that, but the story is interesting and they're well written. Claire is believable as the slightly nerdy, genius kid that has managed to get into uni two years early, but is bullied for being that exact person. The other cast of characters are great too - Eve, the Goth girl, Shane, the dead beat, and Michael, the mysterious owner of the house, are all wary at having a sixteen year old in the house when they're all eighteen, not to mention they all know the truth about Morganville and Claire doesn't when this book starts. Definitely recommended to fans of supernatural YA books, this is a great beginning to what I hope will be a fantastic series.