READING : Throat by R.A.Nelson

Throat by R.A.Nelson

Publication date: January 25th, 2011
Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Genre: YA Paranormal
Rating: 3/5

Throat, is a modern-day vampire story set on a NASA base and filled with space-and-science intrigue. Seventeen-year-old Emma feels cursed by her epilepsy—until the lost night. She's shocked to wake up in the hospital one morning, weak from blood loss. When her memories begin to return, she pieces together that it was a man—a monster—who attacked her: a vampire named Wirtz. And it was her very condition that saved her: a grand mal seizure interrupted Wirtz and left Emma with all the amazing powers of a vampire—heightened senses, rapid speed—but no need to drink blood. Is Emma now a half-vampire girl? One thing soon becomes clear: the vampire Wirtz is fierce and merciless, feared even by his own kind, and won't leave a job undone.

Throat tells the story of a 17 year old girl, Emma, who has epilepsy and has become a vampire. Wanting to save her family, she runs off and lives alone in a semi-deserted NASA base, where she is biding her time until she engages in a battle to the death with Writz,  the old and powerful vampire who turned her.
I liked the new and unique take on vampires in Throat. They are divided into two categories: the good who are called Sonnen and the bad who are called Verloren. Sonnen are the peaceful ones, who believe a possible solar eruption (Sonneneruption) will save them and turn them back into humans. Verloren on the other hand, are the mean and ruthless ones, wanting nothing to do with the Sonneneruption and to remain vampires forever. So I was satisfied by the story, it was something I haven't read before.
As for the characters, I liked Emma's character a lot. She is strong, independent, ferocious if need be, but also caring and compassionate. She tries to come to terms with the fact that she is not actually a vampire, because she had a seizure when Wirtz turned her, but a human with vampiric characteristics. She wants to find out out where she fits in all this, what her place is, because she is practically not a Sonnen and surely not a Verloren, either.Other characters were OK too. I wish we'd get to know the bad guys a little better, though. They appeared only in brief instances and the size of the book could definitely handle a couple more.
Speaking of the book's size, yeah. It's long. I have an ARC of Throat and it's 534 pages! And that for me is its biggest drawback. Not the length itself, but the fact that the story dragged A LOT! For me, it could have been 200 pages less and still be OK. I felt there were so many unnecessary stuff put in there, not pushing the story forward but taking a lot of space and ultimately tire the reader. The battle in the end for instance, was nearly 70 pages!
I think Throat is a good paranormal story with a fresh take on vampires and interesting characters, which could definitely have been a lot shorter.