I enjoy vampire books. I read all kinds. From the sparkly vampires to the ruthless, bloodthirsty ones, vampire books are a guilty pleasure of mine. I was excited to get a review copy of this book and the synopsis seemed intriguing. Unfortunately, this book did not wow me. I think that Drain You had the potential to be a good book, if not for the main character Quinlan Lacey. Quinlan is a 17 year old girl who spends a lot of time in her underwear or “barely there” clothing. She drinks so much Diet Coke that at one point I thought there was a product placement deal for the book. Quinlan “works” in a video store. Note the use of quotations marks – she doesn’t really work that much when she is at work. I found myself hating Quinlan. She is self-absorbed, vapid, annoying, and rude. Quinlan’s parents are idiots. This seems to be a regular theme in young adult books. Her parents are so busy in their own lives to pay any attention to their daughter. On a school night Quinlan leaves the house at 11PM and her father says “…be back whenever.” Huh? Not sure that would be realistic. Quinlan’s disdain for her parents is an ongoing theme. She asks her parents “Are you guys retarded?” Her mother “corrects” her and says, “We are not you guys, we’re mom and dad.” Huh? How does she get away with calling her parents retarded?The stupidity was not limited to Quinlan’s parents. Quinlan was a little dense when the vampire James tells her he’s not safe. She thinks it’s because he is a heartbreaker. Later when James is covered in blood from his latest meal, Quinlan is concerned that he may be hurt. James’ sister Naomi, completely exasperated with Quinlan’s stupidity screams “He’s not hurt, you idiot, someone else is!”There were a few other oddities in this book. Quinlan has her life’s “bucket list.” One item on her list was to marry Leonardo DiCaprio. Strange. Why would a 17 year old want to marry a 38 year old man? Justin Bieber, maybe. Leo is old enough to be her father. Drain You did not work for me because I did not like the main character. Other readers may enjoy this book more than I did. Thank you to Edelwiess and HarperTeen for a review copy of this book. Review posted on Badass Book Reviews.
