The Society of S

 

Summary (from the publisher): "If you ever want to hide from the world, live in a small city, where everyone seems anonymous." That's the advice of twelve-year-old Ariella Montero, who lives with her father in Saratoga Springs, New York, in a house haunted more by secrets than by memories. The Society of S traces her journey south, to Asheville and Savannah, and on to Florida, as she learns that everything she knows about her family is a lie.

When she finds her mother, she learns the truth: Ariella is a fledgling member of the Society of S.

"S" stands for "Sanguinists: " a sect of environmentalists concerned with ethics and human rights -- although they happen to be vampires. S also stands for synesthete: a person able to see words and letters in colors. The letter S is lucky for Sara, Ariella's mother, who gravitates to cities such as Savannah and Sarasota. But will it be lucky for Ariella?

Susan Hubbard's novel is an intricate literary mystery that raises provocative questions about the way we live now. Ariella's voice will lure you into a world where you'll meet the "others" among us: vampires who cope with their special nature and need for blood in a variety of ways, ranging from the savage to the mundane to the scientific.

Review: This is the first novel in the Ethical Vampire trilogy and it follows the mysterious childhood of Ariella, who discovers that she and her parents are member of the Society of S, a group of vampires. Ariella spends most of the book piecing together the mystery and living alone with her father since her mother mysteriously left the family on the day of her birth.

I enjoyed this very distinct imagining of vampires and the perspective of a child of a vampire and mortal. For the first part of the book, I was unsure of the setting. The way this was worded leaves the time period ambigiuous, and something about the bookish, scholarly upbringing Ariella's father gives her led me to believe it was historical fiction. It wasn't until Ariella meets Kathleen that she mentions cell phones and televisions and I finally was able to determine it was contemporary. However, I sort of enjoyed the old meets new/timeless vibe of the narrative.

I was disappointed in the details provided in this book. Hubbard is very vague concerning the details of how the vampires actually survived or lived in the modern world. Also, I didn't think the person who emerged as the villain had sufficient motive. It felt as if Hubbard needed someone to pin blame on so randomly chose him. The first half of this novel was the best, but after Ariella leaves home to look for her mother, the plot starts to feel sporadic and scattered. However, I did enjoy the characterizations of both of Ariella's parents and hope that their story is expanded upon in book two.

Stars: 3