Hawkes Harbor -- S. E. Hinton

S. E. Hinton's last novel came out in 1988.  So, yeah--you could say that I was excited about reading a new one.  Finally.  S. E. Hinton Does the Vampire Novel--not only was I looking forward to a new book, but I was even more psyched that she was writing something so completely different than her other books.

I liked her ideas--the general storyline was great and I really liked what she did with vampires.  (Though it seems that people who are really into vampire novels don't like it so much.  Chrissy, let me know what you think of this one).

But.

Ultimately, it was mediocre.  There were moments--chapters even--of greatness.  But they didn't make up for the horrible romance-novel sex scene or the general flatness of the first half of the book.  I'd understand the flatness if it was confined to the parts where Jamie is under the Vampire's control--that would have totally worked.  But it carried over to the flashbacks, too.  At first, anyway. 

The second half picked up.  When Jamie is released from the mental institution--from there, I mostly liked it.  There were good parts, anyway.  (Especially when Jamie and Grenville Hawkes go on a cruise--there are some hilarious bits in there, mostly about their changing relationship).  It still didn't make up for the general crappiness of the first 145 pages, though.

If it had been written by someone else, I'd probably be harder on it--it might have even ended up in the Bad Books category.  But I couldn't ever put S. E. Hinton in the same place as G. P. Taylor or Eoin Colfer.  Since it's her, I'll probably give it some time and try it again.  Maybe it'll grow on me.