Homecoming Masquerade by Spencer Baum was a rare gem among the rocks on my Nook. In a world where vampires are the social elite and the rich send their children to an academy with the hopes that one of the girls will be Turned at graduation. It is a popularity contest, among other things, and the girl with the most monetary support wins and will spend the rest of her eternity as a vampire. As for the other girls, the penalty for losing is death.
The participating girls show up to the Homecoming dance---a masquerade---wearing black to signify their entrance into the contest. For this year's senior class, the real contest really comes down to the manipulating Kim with her daddy's terrifying influence and money, and the newcomer, Nicky Bloom.
However, Turning is not Nicky's aim. Somehow she is exempt to vampire compulsion and she, along with her friend, Jill, use Homecoming as a way to get Nicky support to fulfill their ultimate goal of getting close enough to a vampire that they can kill them---and thereby take down the entire vampire race and restore the ruling order to humans.
This was actually an entertaining read, although not a whole lot happened, if I'm being honest. While the dialogue could be a little stiff for some characters, the brilliance of Nicky Bloom was intriguing, as was the conniving pettiness of Kim. The story took place all in one night, but flashbacks gave the reader insight into why the characters are the way they are. I suppose it could be considered boring because it does read like there's a lot of backstory, but I still liked it.
Baum was able to portray a world where vampires, though greedy and extremely dangerous and self serving, (politicians, anyone?) were not feared, but respected, while still holding on to the people's overwhelming need to remain human.
My rating: 6.5 out of 10.
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