BY OLIVIA EBERSOLE (’16)

Bunny slippers, Texas and early college admission all have one thing in common: “Morganville Vampires”.

This series by Rachel Caine, which starts with “Glass House” is my number one book series, other than, of course, “Harry Potter”.

Caine begins the series with a young girl, Claire Danvers, who had gained early admission to Texas Prairie University in the small town of Morganville, Texas. Upon receiving terrible treatment from girls at the dorm she moves to the Glass House to room with the other three main characters, Michael Glass, Shane Collins and Eve Rosser.

Within the first three chapters Caine has already hit on two major issues: bullying and domestic abuse.  Using humor and somewhat campy writing Caine brings light to the issues without getting too heavy.

Soon in the novel Claire learns the reason why Morganville seems to be off the radar, the town in run entirely by vampires.

Upon learning this as the reader I began to think the book would be cheesy and annoying, but as I continued to read I realized that the book was nothing like I expected it to be.

Caine uses the conflict of vampires versus humans to explore the causes and effects of unnecessary hatred and bigotry.  Claire becomes deeply involved in the “politics” of the town and somewhat of a buffer between the two species.  Caine uses this to demonstrate the terrible actions that bigotry can and has caused and warning readers what could happen if history repeats.  Readers really take a step back and look at how they act and think and learn a multitude of lesson about themselves and society.

Caine also questions human nature by showing that while there are vampires, they are not always blood crazed animals.  By changing one of the main characters into a vampire Caine explores the effects a change in nature can have on friends, family and lovers.

Along with these multiple dark topics Caine uses humor to lighten the subjects and easy to read writing that keeps one hooked and reading non-stop.  Caine truly develops each character with dialogue, description and individual back stories make you fall in love with each and every one.

At the same time she uses the elements of dialogue, description and back stories to show that no one is truly good or evil.  There is no black and white, only gray.  Every “villain” in the series has its moments of goodness and every “hero” has moments of crossing to the dark side.

To keep the series fun and relaxing, Caine adds teen romance.  Romance that is in no way perfect nor easy, but all around heart warming.  She uses romance as a comfort for the readers but also brings in real relationship issues, keeping the novel believable.

Claire herself is a character that readers can relate to and look up to.  She comes into the town as  a scared girl and becomes a strong women.  She’s somewhat awkward, making her relatable but also super smart and confident without being cocky making the reader want to be just like her. Claire is the perfect main character for the Morganville story line.

The series itself is very long, with a total of 15 books, but the plot twists, action and suspense make the books fly by and still leave you wanting more.  This series is one I re read multiple times for fun and comfort since I feel like a connected to each character.

Overall Caine’s “Morganville Vampire” series is a fun yet intense read with relatable characters and great plot.  This is one series I would recommend buying all at once, because once you start, it is impossible to stop.