This was a fairly interesting read, it's different from the vampire books that have been coming out lately. There is no girl falling in love with a vampire, or wanting to be a vampire. There is very little in terms of romance in this novel, which is ok. Overall it is a good read, I didn't love it, but I liked it.The story revolves around Ellen, who is dying of a blood disease that no doctor can figure out. She is living with her grandmother because it's closer to the hospital and her doctors. She finds her great-great grandmother's diaries and decides to read them, doing so causes her to realize that maybe some of the horror stories are true after all, or at least they were in 1878.Throughout the novel you get to read the excerpts from the diaries, which is pretty interesting, they are read as diary entries, sometimes with Ellen pausing to put in her thoughts. I thought the books was well written, it was a bit hard to put down, but I just wasn't in love with the story. Still a good read that I would recommend to vampire lovers.