A creative paranormal concept that unfolds its secrets and leaves the mysteries lurking, The Homecoming Masquerade was a page-turning read. I enjoyed the premise and dark aura surrounding the setting, the political and secretive organizations lurking throughout the course of the novel, but found so many of the characters either bland or too similar to each other to easily diffrentiate.

The Homecoming Masquerade starts out with Jill, a girl revealing to her friends that Nicky Bloom is entering the More...

In one word: genius!!! i was looking for something to get me through my tedious commute and this having been a freebie i expected little...boy was i surprised. first off a big complaint is too much backstory or too many characters. i didnt particularly get hung up on these which may be because im a speed reader but i think that the backstories while maybe longer tham neccessary are important to understand motivations of the characters. as for too many characters i dont think that the author inte More...

I thought this book was interesting, but at times it seemed dry. I was really into certain parts of the book and then the book seem to drag on with no end in sight on other parts. The book was like a long prologue at times instead of a full story. Even though the story became dry after a while it did have some very interesting moments. The past was always brought up, but became a dry side story instead of exciting me about the rest of the story. The majority of the story was based around gossipi More...

Complex story (but not difficult to read) story with tons of characters. Each character has their own, fairly detailed, background usually that revolves around being fabulously rich, but still essentially being a pawn in the game of politics.

At times the amount of characters can be a little difficult to remember, especially when you have to start remember why they're important and what their background is like. Coupled with the weaving of the two main characters' personal storylines, this can be More...

If you're looking for an action packed book, look elsewhere. After reading the blurb I got a completely different thing from what I expected to get.

This book feels like one long background story, that goes on and on and on. The narrator's voice wasn't very engaging, I felt like I was reading a lecture about the past of every person we meet, well every IMPORTANT person we meet.

The characters were not very engaging either, because we were told so much about their past that there was no place for More...

The series has the potential to go the distance, but I'd like a bit more backfill on some of the characters. And while some has been let out in drubs and drabs, I'd love a bit more solid footing to understand some of the characters motivation.

With that said, the story generally moves at a relatively consistent pace, so there is almost always something going on. The characters are fascinating, and flesh out more as the plot thickens, which helps to keep the reader engrossed in the story & won More...

I was going to give this 2 stars, but added the extra one because it was such a relief to find a vampire book where there is no 'romance' between human and vampire. It was a case where the story was fun to read, but a day or two after finishing, you look back and ask "So what was really accomplished?"

The answer is, sadly, not much. Most of the book is told in flashback, which can be a useful tool when used sparingly but really kind of grates after a while. It's as if the author knows that nothin More...

Originally posted on my blog Books Forget Me Knot.

The novel opens up right in the center of the interesting and unique story line with Jill as the introductory character. Jill is a student at Thorndike Academy who is involved in a secret organization (the Network) that involves their attempt to overthrow the reigning power of Vampires in government. Jill is an expert computer hacker as she has been working with the Network for years, gathering Intel from her class peers through text messages, in More...

I was really excited to read this book as it sounded interesting, but once I got into it, the excitement died off.

In the beginning, the book is interesting, but the middle really gets boring. It picks up again near the end and drops off for the next book.

The book is set in Washington, DC. The most powerful people in the are are the Immortals, aka vampires. There are humans that don't like the immortals and want to bring them down. Jill Wentworth and Nicky Bloom are leading the offensive agains More...

This book is a dark allegory of what American politics has become. The vampires are like the wealthy politicians and the wealthy humans are sheep. The human slave farms are comparative to what middle and lower class people deal with on a daily basis; Brainwashed to serve a government that doesn't care about them and will drain them dry when they've stopped being useful. I don't know if the author intentionally made this book seem this way, but that is what I got out of it.
I have read a few book More...

Awesome Book!!!! I have read so many negative comments about this book & I disagree with them all. I loved how The author went into such detail with each character & I didn't find it at all dry or boring. I can relate to the world of politics & popularity the author describes, even though I live in a small town in the south. It doesn't matter where u live, there will always be ppl that do whatever it takes to be on top, & they don't care who they have to step on to get there. Spe More...

"The Homecoming Masquerade" is a tale of mystery and intrigue. Although the story has vampires, I believe that they are secondary to the overall nature of the plot. Additionally, I've always been curious if there is a difference in the way a male author approaches romance vs. a female and I must say Spencer Baum does this seamlessly.

Prestigious individuals from all over the country (senators, CEO's etc.) know the importance of sending their students to Thorndike Academy. Anyone who wants to be p More...

Hmm. I gave this 3 stars because ultimately, I was intrigued enough to finish it. Yes, there are problems: Baum doesn't seem to be able to build her world seamlessly, so instead there are constant diversions and flashbacks, even from what seem to be very minor characters, and a lot of those flashbacks cover the same instances from different points of view, without necessarily learning anything new. But I like main character Nicky and her cool-girl vibe, I want to know what's up with love interes More...

I was going to give this two stars, but I took one away because of how supremely irritated I was that nobody involved in the production of this book was aware that discrete and discreet are two different words. They are, in fact, discrete.

This wasn't really a book. It was the first third of what might be a moderately entertaining one. It was an okay bit of set up, but nothing really happened. It's the beginning and has set all the characters up for what should be the middle of one book. You can' More...

After reading the whole sample avaible at kindle store, I decided I don't want to read the whole book.
I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either. None of the characters seems interesting, and frankly I was put off how the supposed elite acted. The Kim&Nicky word duel was so juvenile, I rolled my eyes.
The author is trying to introduce something new to the genre, which is good, but he overdid it. The whole sample was speculation about who would do what. I prefer showing instead of telling. More...

This took me awhile to finish, not because it was poorly written or had a terrible storyline but because it was easy to put down and pick up where you left off due to the slowness of it. It wasn't bad, just slow moving at times. Nicky wants to overthrow the underworld of vampires with the help of some classmates at Thorndike and the "Network". This book has a dystopian feel similar to Hunger Games without all the killing. Looking forward to the second book, just hoping it doesn't move as slow or More...

I just finished this book and I have to say it was really good! I would recommend it if you like a bit of potential vampire suspense and horror - (i'm a Laural K Hamilton fan !) although it hasn't quite got there yet in this volume, I'm sure the author will be quite gruesome in the sequel due out in the autumn. It has a Good story, connectable characters and a potential to be a big hit in the next book, thats if he carries on enlarging the plot and keeping his characters wrapped in mystery and i More...

A quite little story, but not enough to entice me into reading the series. The plot lacked depth as well as excitment. It was a entertaining, but only a 2 deminsional read. I would probably read the series, if it was gifted to me. I would not venture to get it, because there are so many other exciting and complex books that are on my wish list. The good thing about this book was that it only took 4 hrs to read, which is nice in a way. I would have rather had a longer read with a more complex boo More...

"The Demon Queen and the Locksmith", also by Baum, is one of my favourite books, so I was really pleased to find this. It's a much more conventional story than Demon Queen, firmly part of the "adolescents battle a society of evil vampires" YA genre, but fun for all that. The world building, again, is really good, and the central idea is an enticing one, with the elite girls competing to become a vampire, backed by their rich and influential families - and the loser getting eaten. While the plot More...

The Homecoming Masquerade is an amazing book. The book describes events in detail. The story as about deception and secrets within a vampire filled high school. The plot was very conflicting because it kept talking about other non-supporting characters. The author would jump around talking about different characters through out the book. Even though it could be hard to follow sometimes I really enjoyed the vampire mystery.

A story with a lot of promise which I just didn't feel delivered.

The whole book is so drawn out, I do wonder if it would have worked better as a short story. I like a book to keep me hooked, intrigued... this book kept me hooked by only my own hopes that just 'something' would happen

I just didn't mesh with this book at well, I didn't really enjoy the characters and although at times I loved how this book was written, especially the characters emotions (When we were lucky enough to get a glimpse) More...

I really had fun with this book! While not a fan of vampires I decided to give this one a chance and was incredibly impressed. The author succeeded in making a story surrounding a high school dance without being cliche and the setting lands the book somewhere outside the realm of urban fantasy into a delicious melding of fantasy and suspense with political intrigue for sprinkles. YUM!

Okay so to keep it short this book was pretty awesome. I just love the books where everyone knows that creatures of the night exist, I'm a bit tired of them always living in secret. The vampires are in charge and the humans know their place in society, which I absolutely love, I'm sick to death of all these weak vampires when come on they're superior in every way to humans, if they where real then they definitely would be the boss of us puny humans. Anyways about the book, there is a lot of cons More...

I really really enjoyed this book and I can't wait for the next in the series.

The Homecoming Masquerade was well written, exciting and gave you a real feel for the characters and the world they lived in. The premise is excellent and is followed through really well. The ending was enough of a cliff hanger to make you want to read the next one, without leaving everything unfinished.

Jill and Nicky Bloom are undercover agents on a mission to take down a very wealthy family. Along with vampires who think they can pick kids from the high school to be vampires like them. And gauss what the loser gets? Well they get to be the winners first midnight snack. As the mission goes under way the contestants for this gift are the young ladies wearing black to the homecoming dance. And of which Nicky is one of them, along with the girl's who's family they are trying to take down. A vampi More...

I enjoyed this story. It's not really meant to teach any lessons or stimulate your thinking or any of those things that critics love to talk about, it's just there to entertain you and help you forget about the real world for awhile. It certainly isn't for everyone, but what book is? Good luck to you Spencer!

Loved it! A story about vampires with some classic beliefs (how to kill them, seductive powers, sucking blood) but in a very new setting quite unlike the Twilight Saga for instance.
There are quite a few explanations and background stories in the book, which I like, but if you're not a fan of that, don't read the book.