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[Previous entry: "Patricia McKillip's MOON-FLASH -- A Second Look (Rebekah)"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "Fantasy Art Exhibit in New York City"] 09/06/2005 Entry: "Books with Vampires, Vampires, Vampires (Laurie)" Here are a few review snippets from recent reads. Warning, I'm getting nearly impossible to please in my old age.
DEAD AS A DOORNAIL by Charlaine Harris I enjoying this one quite a bit even though I haven't read the book (or two?) released prior to this one. Apparently, I missed out on some big, shocking happenings with Sookie and Bill. Despite all that, there was enough back-story to get me up to date and I had a lot of fun with all of the new characters. Sookie was still a very likeable and down to earth character, which was nice.--Laurie UNDEAD AND UNEMPLOYED by MaryJanice Davidson I was very much looking forward to this one because UNDEAD AND UNWED hit all of the right notes for me. Unfortunately, for the most part, I was seriously disappointed. Nothing much at all seemed to be happening besides lots of quips being thrown about. Sadly, they lacked the bite and fun of the first book, or maybe I'm just a complete crab. Also, the sexual tension, which was so much a part of the first book, seems to be nearly non-existent here :( Eventually things picked up. This was an amusing enough read, but it did not live up to the promise and originality of UNDEAD AND UNWED. Still, I like Davidson's sass and will read the next in the series.--Laurie
SUNSHINE by Robin McKinley It took me months to finish this book! I kept picking it up and putting it down for other books that interested me. The beginning reminded me a lot of Nancy Baker's KISS OF THE VAMPIRE, where a young woman is abducted and jailed with a vampire. This time it's a young woman who makes her living cooking cinnamon rolls (yum, I think I could live with that job) in a family run coffee shop. She has a close group of friends and a likable boyfriend and seems very content with the way her life is going until she's abducted by vampires and chained up with only a hungry, dying vampire for a companion. The writing is different from McKinley's usually lyrical style (DEERSKIN, BEAUTY). The tone is more modern both in slang and subject matter, and I enjoyed it very much in the beginning despite stumbling over some of the narrative. As the story progresses, and our heroine "Sunshine" has plenty of time to reflect on her past, we learn she possesses some inherited magical power that increases when she's in full sunlight. In this world vampires and "Other" creatures are commonplace. Though the beginning grabbed me, I'm sorry to say I can't say the same about the rest of the book. Midway through it became a real struggle to finish and I ended up doing some major skimming to get to the end and ended up feeling "eh" about the whole thing. I didn't find it witty or all that interesting in the end.--Laurie --DEAD AS A DOORNAIL at Amazon (Book 5)
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