Book Banter -- Glass Houses

Title: Glass Houses
Author: Rachel Caine
Length: 239 pages
Genre: YA/urban fantasy
Plot Basics: Claire Danvers is academically gifted and enters college in Morganville TX at age 16. But her brains aren't appreciated by the other girls in her dorm, especially Monica. Monica has it out for Claire, making threats that Claire is sure Monica will follow through on, so Claire leaves the dorm. She finds new housing with Eve, Shane and Michael, a trio of 18-year-olds who for various reasons decide to stick up to Monica with her. But in sticking up to Monica, the group also runs afoul of Morganville's big secret -- that the town is run by vampires...
Banter Points: So, at first, Word Nerd thought this would be like typical YA... campy plot, ragged writing, etc. How wrong she was. And she should have know that because, hello, Rachel Caine wrote this book. Which means the book had a great plot, with great rising action and a typical Caine cliff-hanger. Claire, Eve, Shane and Michael all are great characters with pasts and secrets and different personalities.
Bummer Points: The Oshkosh library system doesn't have book two. Not that it's just checked out. No, they don't have it at all. Sigh.
Word Nerd recommendation: Don't get hung up on the YA label. It's a fun book and everything that was wrong about Gossip Girl (see yesterday's Book Banter), this book's got right.