Rating: 
Summary: Blah
Review: The only people who might like this book are young teens who haven't read anything better. The characters are seemingly interesting at first, but as you read further into this book you realise that these characters are pathetic beings and being pathetic might work for other characters in other books they don't work here. There's not much of a plot, which is a blessing because the screwed up characters are enough of a headache without tossing in some overly complicated and overly boring story. Sorry Poppy, but you just seem to be an even more twisted version of Anne Rice (you've obviously drawn a lot of inspiration from her). You'd be better leaving this book alone and picking up something more worthwhile that doesn't include grotesque events just for shock value.
Rating: 
Summary: A Lost Cause
Review: Weak attempt at a hip vampire/cult novel. Watch a Buffy rerun or read a Rice novel, and skip this underdeveloped mess.
Rating:
Summary: Repetitive and Shallow
Review: I had pretty high hopes for this book based on the Amazon reviews, but I was sadly disappointed.By the time I finished it, I felt like I'd read large snatches of the novel 3 or more times as Poppy Z. Brite repeated descriptive section after section while the plot crawled. I grew tired of kudzu, weak Bauhaus references, sticky wine, and the many flavors of spit. And that would lead to the other fault with the novel: goth lifestlye. To put it succinctly, dyed hair, thin bodies, Bauhaus and The Cure, razor wrist scars, liberal bisexuality, and eyeliner do not a goth make. It felt like the author had dabbled in the culture and picked up only the most superficial, banal aspects for the readership to connect with. The result? Shallow and stereotypical backdrops, which is a shame since the magical history of New Orleans and the gothic subculture deserves a richer treatment. The novel is not all bad, but it required perseverance to finish it. She does a nice job touching on the wonderment of herbal magick and the childlike vulnerability of Ghost's personality. But the novel's few small heights are not worth the long flat plateau of the read. Looking for a well-written, intelligent novel about the gothic underworld and their fascination with the underworld? I'm still looking too.
Rating: 
Summary: Best book I've read in a while.
Review: This book was breath taking. I'm not one to sit down and read for long periods of time, but this book pulls you down into the depths of its tale. The charactors, such as the lovely Nothing, welcome you to live their tale with them. Read this book, you will swallow it whole.
Rating:
Summary: Deeper then Blood
Review: How should I begin...the most complex character that I could find in Lost Souls was a tie between Nothing and Ghost. Ghost seemed to be on a plane all his own when it came to be good and evil. Ghost just seemed to be there to help anyone who came asking. He always looked for a way to make anyone else's life better no matter the cost to himself. I think he shows this by making the band Lost Souls? with Steve, and creating songs that anyone who's just feeling down on the world could listen to and feel like they've just made another friend. Nothing was one of those kids, and wound up hearing Lost Souls? songs. Nothing had the courage though to go out and find Ghost. Nothing wasn't really into being evil, but because of Zillah, he was sort of forced into situations that involved him taking people's lives. Altogether, I'd say this book is one of a kind, Brite is able to suck your soul into this book, and make you go through every emotion. Few times do I find a book that I can't stop reading, but this one made the number one book on that list. didn't matter what I was doing, I had this book with me at all times.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Amazing.....
Review: Ms. Brite describes the surroundings and the strange smells of the world so clearly that you could practically feel the things she describes. Her style of writing is unique and exquisite. I'd bought Lost Souls after reading Drawing Blood and when I knew so well that my Monthly tests were coming, I did the biggest mistake - I opened the book and read the first page. Then, it was all pure torture. I couldn't put the book down for even a minute no matter how much I'd tried to convince myself that my tests were just the following week! So there I was, struggling - half studying and half reading the book. I'd read lots of books by other writers and it was very simple for me to put them down, for usually, studying is more important to me. I finished Lost Souls in one day, for the fact that I didn't get anything I'd studied into my head. I really felt drawn into the book. It felt as if you're IN the story, invinsible, and watching the characters. Some parts even made my eyes brim with tears. Especially Steve's undying love for Ann. Ann just doesn't deserve it, it seems. This book is probably about souls which are struggling to keep themselves sane and at the same time experience the sensualness and perfectness of life. It is a very good book - an excellent masterpiece by Ms. Brite and it ranks five times higher than Drawing Blood. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Dark theme, great characters
Review: The story has a dark theme. Violence and death and sex in weird constellations (not as graphic as to insult, but you do have to be fairly tolerant not to be disgusted). The characters feel at home in dark dead-end sub-cultures, self destruction seems to be part of the story. But I guess that's normal in vampire stories (I'm not really into them). The story is lightened by two remarkable characters, the musician Ghost who has a sense for the supernatural and Nothing, a screwed up, lonely kid and vampire apprentice. They're believable even though they're set in a strange world; I found myself rooting for both of them. What attracted me was the portrayal of this dark world Nothing and his (vampire) friends move through and Ghost's tries to rescue Nothing from it. The relationship Ghost/Nothing is done nicely and brought to a neat conclusion. The whole story is actually carried by these two characters. It's also amazing how the author managed to create such a dark setting and make it appear a perfectly normal place to live in (at least as long as the book lasts - then you wake up in the real world again, thank goodness) Definitely an interesting read. It does feel very modern to me, as another reviewer said. No cobwebs, no garlic, no wooden stakes. There's cars and hitchhiking and (a single) gun instead.
Rating:
Summary: An unexpected driving force
Review: Although Ms. Brite redefines the vampire lore in her own unique way, this book seems to be carried from start to finish by the twisted nature of the relationship between it's characters. A quality read must include characters that you can identify with. Personally, I found it hard to relate myself to a culture of incestuousness and rampant homosexuality. Not to say that Vampires have to play by the rules of normal society, but this book leaves not a single character untouched by it's sicked amoral bite.
I was expecting something along the lines of the film "Near Dark". Unfortunatly this book is nothing of the sort. My recommendation is that for quality vampire reading, stick to Ann Rice. Sweet dreams princess.
Rating:
Summary: WOW
Review: Fantastic, I couldn't put it down. It had it all, vampires, style, New Orleans, character, plot, everything. One of the best books I have ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: A decent read but doesn't go far enough
Review: I read this book on the recommendation of a friend and I wasnt' disappointed. She takes the vampires in New Orleans theme started by Anne Rice and gives them an interesting twist. I like the idea of the Vampires not being undead things but a seperate race of beings. I also think that Ms Brite introduces us to some interesting characters. But it is here where I think the story is weakest. Most of the central charas in the book have the potential to be excellent. I particularly liked Ghost. However the author never really gets below the surface of these charas. They are all portrayed very 2D and that is what I found most frustrating. I kept looking for motivations and couldn't find them. I wanted to know how and why they think and act as they do and was left in the air. The charas were just thrown out as is. I think the problem with this novel is that it is a first novel from someone who comes from a short story background. But what works in a short story doesn't come thru as well in alonger work. That aside, I think most people who enjoy vampire homoerotic fiction will like this one ok. Let me warn the reader that it is also pretty graphic in nature and I found some scenes disturbing and a bit disgusting. This is not for anyone with a week stomach.
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