Letters to Elise: A Peter Townsend Novella

Gr 9 Up—This novella by Amanda Hocking gives background to one of the characters in Amanda Hocking's "My Blood Approves" series. Written in letter form, Peter Townsend describes the events of his life before meeting Alice. The description of his human life, his transformation into a vampire, his great love affair with Elise, and the story of her death are all detailed in his letters, written to Elise. Fans of the series will be interested in this latest addition, but they may be disappointed. While details of the story provide interest, Peter's melodramatic proclamations of love become repetitive. The narration also switches between talking directly to Elise and describing details that we can assume she would already know. The audio version does a fair job in delivering the story, but listeners may be thrown off by a female narrator reading Peter's words. Purchase only where there is heavy interest in this series.–Rebecca Flannery, Lyman Memorial High School, Lebanon, CT