Review: Crusade by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguié

CRUSADE by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguié

Pub. Date: September 2010

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Format: Hardcover, 470pp

Age Range: Young Adult

Series: Crusade, #1

Source: Publisher

The ultimate battle. The ultimate love.

For the past two years, Jenn has lived and trained at Spain’s Sacred Heart Academy Against the Cursed Ones. She is among the few who have pledged to defend humanity or die trying. But the vampires are gaining power, and the battle has only just begun.

Forced to return home after death takes a member of her family, Jenn discovers that San Francisco is now a vampire strong-hold. As a lone hunter apart from her team, Jenn is isolated—and at risk. She craves the company of her fighting partner, Antonio: his protection, his reassurance, his touch. But a relationship with Antonio comes with its own dangers, and the more they share of themselves, the more Jenn stands to lose.

Then Jenn is betrayed by one who was once bound to protect her, causing her to doubt all she had held as true. To survive, Jenn must find the courage to trust herself—and her heart.

CRUSADE is a fast paced and action-packed read filled with deadly enemies around every turn. This book is so different from most of the vampire books I read. Most of the vampires you typically read about stay hidden from humans, but the Cursed Ones as they are called have pretty much taken over in the human world. They still have the same strengths and weaknesses that you read about. It's the fact that these vampires are scary. They're not all sparkly and animal blood drinkers - nothing to romanticize about these vamps at all.

This book wastes no time pulling readers right into the war against vampires as the Salamanca Hunters fight to the death to rid a small village of their deadly enemy. The characters in CRUSADE come from a wide range of backgrounds and powers. I was intrigued about their training and the pairing up of each hunter to keep each other safe. Each character is unique, but Jenn, the main protagonist is probably the weakest link but the more relatable for it. When the team suspects a leak in their midst, things go wiry, then Jenn finds herself trying to navigate around without the protection of her team when she has to make visit back home. Ah Antonio, the mystery he holds. I wanted to uncover all of his secrets. As with Jenn, you couldn't help falling for him. What's unique about this series is the readers get to experience the lives of all the characters. Hunters, the Resistance, and Vampires. Then all of a sudden you might find yourself enchanted with the characters lives, and you want to know more about their background history. I enjoyed each and every character in this book. After I finished this book, there was nothing I could come up with that I didn’t like about this book. NADA. Great writing and unforgettable characters makes this book pack one helluva punch. I was so engrossed with this book that I did not want to part with it.

CRUSADE is a great start to an exciting new vampire series. I don't think I could ever get tired of vampires, especially with CRUSADE since it's so different from other YA vampire books. Once you start reading this book, you don't want to put it down. It's a nonstop rollercoaster ride that you'd want to take over and over again.

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars