Review: Throat by R.A. Nelson

Title: Throat
By: R.A. Nelson
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal  Fiction
Publisher: Knopf Books (January 25th, 2010)
My Copy: Advanced Reading Copy via Publisher
BookWhisperer Rating:


About the Book:
R. A. Nelson takes us on a supernatural thrill ride, a modern-day vampire story set on a NASA base and filled with space-and-science intrigue. Seventeen-year-old Emma feels cursed by her epilepsy—until the lost night. She's shocked to wake up in the hospital one morning, weak from blood loss. When her memories begin to return, she pieces together that it was a man—a monster—who attacked her: a vampire named Wirtz. And it was her very condition that saved her: a grand mal seizure interrupted Wirtz and left Emma with all the amazing powers of a vampire—heightened senses, rapid speed—but no need to drink blood. Is Emma now a half-vampire girl? One thing soon becomes clear: the vampire Wirtz is fierce and merciless, feared even by his own kind, and won't leave a job undone.

Throat is a strangely inventive storyline that captured my attention immediately. The idea of a young girl with epilepsy that is attacked by a vampire was very original and interesting. It was quite a journey to explore that world for this young girl after having discovered a she carries vampiristic characteristics while still human. More interesting was the actual account of her trying to medically find an explanation for her symptoms. In most stories this is avoided at all costs. It was nice to see the reality of this young girl having to process the evidence of being something other than human. This was a good read that I found intriguing, but it was a mild struggle. This story is just over 500 pages, but it was a lot of information that may not have been exactly essential for the story. With the extent of detail and structure this story was border lined overload. I felt that this story was lacking the ability to grab the reader and glide you through the rest of the story. This was mostly due to the abundance of information provided. It was not a quick story or even a exhilarating story that would allow readers to over look the length. Overall, Throat was still entertaining and exciting to read.