Throat by R.A. Nelson

Summary Per Amazon:
Seventeen-year-old epileptic Emma’s truly bad day ends with crashing her mother’s car and swimming to consciousness in the presence of a vampire intent on making her his next victim. She stops him before he kills her, but he threatens harm to her family if she doesn’t bend to his will. Rather than endanger them, Emma runs away and eventually decides to eliminate the threat—if she can.

Review:
Having read Breathe My Name by R.A. Nelson, and finding it an original and enjoyable thriller, I settled into this book with great anticipation, and came away only mildly disappointed. The pace of the book is slow at times and contains a lot of old-fashioned Germanic words and ideas that sometimes made me want to skip ahead to the juicier parts of the plot. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that that the character of Emma was a feisty, strong female who retained her true self even after "vamping out." Emma is a girl who knows what she wants and goes after it with gusto, refusing to back down and standing up for herself and those she loves. And, it was refreshing to see vampires as they used to be... bloodsucking fiends with a dangerous side. Don't expect any Cullenesque vamps to show up in Nelson's book! Although, Nelson does do a wonderful job of showing that even monsters have some humanity from time to time in the friendship that Emma forms with three adolescent vampires who conspire to teach her the ins and outs of her new life. Emma's love affair with a young science geek who works for NASA is sweet and surprising, with Sagan (the boyfriend) being drawn as wonderfully sincere, romantic, and utterly adorable. However the pace at which the relationship unfolds does make it seem a tad unbelievable, as does Sagan's almost-at-once acceptance of Emma's revelation of her vampiric nature. The end of the book sees good triumph over evil and is satsifying enough to not leave the reader wanting more.
All in all, this book is a good one for avid fantasy fans and those of us addicted to beings of the toothier variety! While the writing does not grab you and suck you in from the beginning, sticking with the story is worth it. And if nothing else, the cover art is beautiful and smart!

Report Card: B