I received an Advanced Release Copy of the story "A Vampire in Disguise 1: A Friend in Love" by Amelia Wilson in exchange for an honest review. In this story, Yarra is the clairvoyant main character who is college-aged. Though Yarra knows about her powers, she does not know how to channel or control them. As such, she typically has multiple sporadic and unprovoked visions of the future, each involving people she knows as well as people she has just met. The story is a first person narration of the one year of her life where she meets and falls for Avice. One of the things she finds so fascinating about Avice is that she only has one recurring vision of their future together - one that does not seem to end well. While this would typically bode that the two would not become involved, Yarra fixates on this one vision to the point that she must see it through to figure out the path that leads to that one outcome. Despite the grim details of this one vision, Yarra decides to pursue her relationship with him to discover her true feelings for him, as well as explore the mystery surrounding this seeming barrier she has in seeing their future together.
I greatly enjoyed the narrative structure. The story claims to start in the present, though it really reveals much more about the day of Yarra's and Avice's first date. The very next chapter skips back to one year before the present, and each subsequent chapter jumps forward 2 months at a time until the final chapter which is back into the present. In this structure, Yarra is able to reveal the details of her horrific vision (the one of her and Avice) right from the start. This draws the reader in by knowing where the story leads and becoming attached to the story prior to even having all of the details. It definitely grabbed my attention from the get-go and kept me wanting to know how their lives ended up at that one, fateful moment in Yarra's vision.
I was intrigued about the character names and was curious as to whether they were so unique out of sheer imagination on the part of Wilson or if they were reflective of the setting of the novel in some way. It was unclear (due to a lack of development and explanation of the setting) as to where or when the story takes place. The few details that are provided about the setting sound contemporary, but there is no concrete evidence to determine the actual setting.
In terms of the characters' supernatural abilities - Yarra being clairvoyant and Avice being a vampire - Wilson pulled on previous knowledge of these species tropes, yet did so in a way that still felt authentic to her own style and voice. Specifically in the development of the vampire race, Wilson provides background into the races evolution, history, conflicts, purpose, social divides in feeding etiquette, behavioral survival patterns, and mystique in keeping their people secret. While many of these aspects match common myths and takes on the vampire species, Wilson also uses Avice to debunk some other "misconceptions" that Yarra seems to believe about his kind. The traits, interactions, and information had me alluding to my own memories of the Twilight Saga and the HBO adaptation of The Southern Vampire Mysteries in the original series True Blood, The intermingling of differing supernatural species and their interrelated historical backgrounds seemed reminiscent of these other renditions of these mythical beings.
There were a few aspects of the text that could have been more clearly defined:
First, Avice has a tattoo that neither he nor Yarra are capable of discussing until he accidentally reveals himself as a vampire. It is unclear as to what this barrier in their discussion of his body art actually is. I assume that the barrier is broken once Yarra discovers his true being, but it still left me with some questions on the topic.
As well, Yarra's vision of Avice is one that is highly dangerous and ultimately deadly, though she continues even after her first date with him. While I am able to hold my suspension of disbelief for the paranormal creatures, I wasn't able to continue that suspension into believing that a young woman would pursue the beginning of a relationship with a man that she knows is going to harm her. Then again, I guess that is the draw of the bad-boy persona, and it isn't too far-fetched from reality to hear stories of girls who fall for boys that are evidently bad for them. Wilson even makes note of this seeming irony - Yarra mentions that even she doesn't understand how she can fall for someone when she knows of the danger it will bring her later - but it just seemed somewhat unrealistic in parts.
Also, at one point, Avice references a phrase - "Difsa Er Zaksijo" - and while he translates this phrase for the reader, it is never explained what language the original is (either real or made up) or any more information regarding that language or its origins. I would have appreciated more development in that background to make it more understandable and believable as a whole, coherent history.
Finally, one of the biggest moments in the climax of the story is left out entirely. Yarra, after meeting Avice's family, attempts to help them settle a long-standing battle with another group (which reminded me of Breaking Dawn). However, none of the battle or its details are discussed in the story at all. Wilson skips over all of this information, even though it seems to be one of the biggest points and driving factors in the entire plot. I was highly disheartened at the missing detail and development in this part of the story. It definitely left me wishing that Wilson would take this story further and turn it into a longer version (novella or even novel) in order to provide those details and make the plotline more fully conceived.
Overall, the premise of the story was one that I could definitely get into, and the characters were complex enough that I was invested in their stories, the conflicts within the plot drove me to want to continue reading, but the development of the setting and detail in the storyline left me wishing for more. Even so, the story ends off in a place that leaves the author open to write more about Yarra and Avice in the future with a chance of some new conflicts on the horizon. I would love to read more work from Amelia Wilson in the future and look forward to the possibility of more.
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