Review: The Dead Girls' Dance by Rachel Caine

The Dead Girls' Dance by Rachel Caine

Morganville Vampires #2

Claire has her share of challenges. Like being a genius in a school that favors beauty over brains; homicidal girls in her dorm, and finding out that her college town is overrun with the living dead. On the up side, she has a new boyfriend with a vampire-hunting dad. But when a local fraternity throws the Dead Girls' Dance, hell is really going to break loose.

Claire and her friends were granted protection from the founder as long as they do not cause any more trouble. So, of course the inevitable happens and trouble finds them. Shane's dad is completely set on his vendetta against the vampires. He doesn't care who he has to sacrifice to achieve his goal, even his own son, Shane. With Shane mixed up in the mess with his dad, Micheal's inability to leave the house and Eve's general death wish, its up to Claire to save the day yet again. However, this time shes in danger of losing something very near and dear to her heart.

This book is extremely intense, and the stakes are even higher than the last one. Once it got started, it never really stopped. The danger was very real in the last book, and involved all four of them equally. However, this time around it really hits home so much harder even though the biggest threat is only to one of them. It's funny how some things really seem to sink in more than others, even if the overall danger is less.

The ending of this book surprised me. It didn't really follow Caine's history of ending every book on a major cliffhanger. Well, I guess the ending could be considered a cliffhanger, but considering Claire's character and the nature of the vampires in Morganville, it really isn't a surprise. I had actually assumed the ending of this book was a point that was inevitable in the series anyway. However, since I just said this book really doesn't have a cliffhanger, I bet the next book has one heck of a doozy ending.

I enjoyed this book, and I really like the direction the series is taking. There definitely isn't a slow progression of events. There is a lot going on at once, and the action just keeps coming. This book had plenty of shocking events, and really kept me guessing. I'm finding the more I read, the more I love Claire's character and her inner strength. She really is admirable, and of course the rest of the characters are pretty great too. I cannot wait to read more of their story in the next book.

Rating:

Buy now at Amazon:
The Dead Girls' Dance (Morganville Vampires, Book 2)

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200 Followers Contest

Okay everyone, I hit 200 followers today, so I think its time for a contest. The giveaway is for one of the books listed bellow, which will ship from The Book Depository. So as long as they will ship to you, you are good to enter. I picked out a variety of books from my favorite authors. Hopefully at least one will be of interest. I know I love them all!

            

Once I hit 250 followers, and every 50 more afterwards, I'll add another winner for a choice of a book shipped from The Book Depository from the list above!

To enter, please enter the form below. You must be a follower and fill out the form or you will not be entered. You can get extra entries by spreading the word about this contest, as well as posting the button from the bottom of this post on your blog. Also, if you purchase anything through the Amazon referral banner below, you get 10 extra entries. I plan to use ALL commissions from that for future giveaways. I love giveaways, and this will help me be able to do more of them.

This contest will end at 11:59PM November 3rd. I will announce the winner(s) on November 4th. The winner(s) have three days to respond, or I will choose another one. Thanks for entering, and Good Luck!

Enter the Form Here

Make a purchase through this banner to support future giveaways and get 10 extra entries!




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Review: Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

Morganville Vampires #1

College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation. When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don't show many signs of life, but they'll have Claire's back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood.

Clarie really just can't catch a break socially. Shes is a genius literally, and started college as a freshman even though she is only 16 making her target number one for bullying. Claire knows she has made a mistake when she makes the "leader" of the nasty girls look stupid. As the brutal bullying gets worse, Claire knows it's only a matter of time until they finally kill her. When she answers an add for an open room to be a roommate in a house with three others, she is desperate. However, she quickly realizes nothing is as it seems, not her new roommates nor the strange town. For parents that refused to send her far away in fear of her safety, they sure made a bad decision to send her to the creepy town of Morganville. 

Wow, I really love Claire's character. She is very strong, but she doesn't realize it. Her determination to not quit is amazing. I mean what normal sixteen year old girl is going to have the determination to continue to go to class even though it more than likely could end up in her death? At any point she could have called her parents to get her out of there but she never even once thought of it. Claire becomes even more determined to stay after she gets her roommates tied up in her mess and she sets out to fix things. For a girl way over her head she keeps her cool very well and I find that extremely admirable.

Ah, yes I now distinctly remember all of the cliff hangers at the end of each book of Caine's Weather Warden series. So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the ending of this book was a cliffhanger as well. If this series is like the Weather Warden books, I would recommend always having the next book ready so the shocking endings won't last long. I would hate to be stuck with one of these endings and have to wait to get the next book.

All in all this is a pretty decent start to the series. At times things did seem to move a little slow, but since it didn't happen too often, it wasn't a big deal. I am eager to see where things go in the next book. I also hope to see the "bad" characters become more substantial. In this book they are talked about as such threats, but I just didn't feel they were completely fleshed out enough to be truly menacing. If you enjoy a quick urban fantasy read, then this is the book for you.

Rating:

Buy now at Amazon:
Glass Houses (Morganville Vampires, Book 1)

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Follow Friday & Book Blogger Hop (13)

On fridays I participate in both Follow Friday and the Book Blogger Hop.

Follow Fridays is hosted by Parajunkee's View, and is just Fridays.

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy-for-Books, and runs Friday to Monday. There are new rules for the hop, so make sure to check out Crazy for Books for the details.


This week's question from Crazy for Books:

When you read a book that you just can't get into, do you stick it out and keep reading or move to your next title?
I have to stick it out, no matter how much I don't care for it. There is two reasons for this. One, there is always the chance it could get better. I'm even the same way with series, just because the first one isn't good doesn't mean the rest of the series won't be. The second reason I have to finish is that even though I don't like the book I still need to know what happens. It would drive me insane to not know the ending.

This week's question from Parajunkee:

What is your reading suggestion this week?

Well, if you have read Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, then I definitely recommend Beautiful Darkness. Otherwise I recommend you read Beautiful Creatures, then Beautiful Darkness. Awesome!

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Review: Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.

Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems. 

After not being claimed for darkness like she feared, you would expect Lena to be happy to be able to stay with Ethan. However her guilt from her Uncle's death is threatening to consume her and causes Lena to pull further and further away from Ethan. When Ethan starts having mysterious visions again, this time without Lena, he knows she is in trouble, but he just isn't sure what the danger really is. When Lena really starts to take a turn for the worst, Ethan may just be the only person who can save her from herself, but what happens when she doesn't want to be saved? 

The teen love angst was majorly stepped up in this book. It really surprises me to say this, but I actually think the angst added to the story. Usually this is something that will turn me off of a series, but it was handled perfectly in this book. Everything between Ethan and Lena is thoroughly strained, ripped, torn apart. It's almost as if all of their differences grew together and formed an impenetrable wall between the two of them. However, while the issues between them made for a terribly nail biting read, if they can overcome those obstacles, they will only come out the other side that much stronger. I really enjoy these two together and I hope their relationship will stand the test of time despite the road blocks along the way.

A lot of questions get answered in this book. Many of those answers are ones you will never see coming. Things are really starting to come all together and the events in the past have woven a very intricate web to lead into the present. It's amazing to see how everything has led up to the current events, and its hard to believe there is still plenty we do not know. This book really has just the right amount of revelations to really keep the pace going, but it leaves plenty of mystery as well. This is a really fine line to follow, and can be one of my biggest pet peeves in a book. Too little information and the book is very frustrating, but too many revelations can become boring as there is no mystery left. I am very impressed with the way this series is progressing and handling the "information and mystery" issues.

If you thought the stakes were high in the first book, this one steps it up that much further. Be prepared to sit on the edge of your seat the entire book. I couldn't read it any faster! This book will definitely grip you every bit as hard as the first one. After the revelations in this book, I cannot imagine the direction the next book will have to take. If you enjoyed the first book, this one surely will not disappoint. If you are anything like me, as soon as you finish this book, you will be counting down until the next one.

Rating:

Buy now at Amazon:
Beautiful Darkness

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