Maggie is a hunter’s apprentice – following in her mother’s
footsteps to take down all the creepy monsters that lurk in the world
(including gross ghosts and sidhe which may or may not have eaten an eyeball)
But she can’t be more than an apprentice yet because she
is still a virgin. Virgin blood drives Vampires into killing frenzies making
them strictly off limits. If Maggie wants to face the big leagues she needs to
tackle an entirely new experience: The Sex
And while teenaged boys may be daunting, a new kind of zombies and a vampire cover up may be far more dangerous.
When I first saw this book, I saw the synopsis of “teenaged
girl has to lose her virginity to fight vampires” and, I admit, I rolled my
eyes and thought “I don’t want to read this.” I then sharpened my snark and
prepared to read.
Then I heard that Booksmugglers
and Cuddlebuggery had read this book
and loved it – this meant that I now had someone to blame should I hate it for
many many many years to come. The promise of snark and eternal shame did make
things look much brighter
Alas, I have little of either because The Awesome was, indeed, awesome in many
ways and all the terribleness I both dreaded and was ready to skewer just didn’t
arise.
It was awesome in the way the whole quest to lose her
virginity was treated. There was no massive putting of hymens on pedestals. There
was no forcing Maggie into sexual encounters she didn’t want. There was no
terrible romance tropes marauding all over everything and neither she nor Ian felt
particularly exploited, used or mistreated by the other. Even with The Sex
being the stated goal for hunting purposes, both Maggie and Ian are clearly
interested in their sexual encounter before going ahead
And that sex is perfectly imperfect. As befits two very
inexperienced teenagers. It isn’t terrible and they both enjoy it and they like
each other and the whole experience but it is certainly not an epic passionate
time of skilful sexual maestros causing people to go blind and pass out from
the 8 fold multiple orgasm of doom either. It’s awkward and fumbling and not
always done right and the bedrooms are messy and alcohol doesn’t help things.
It’s excellent, I think it’s the first time I’ve read a sex scene where it was improbably
perfect screaming orgasm time while still being happy and fun.
I also liked that Maggie and Ian built a friendship and relationship as well – which was also sweet and fun with them actually enjoying non-romance time together.
