Vampires

I read a review for this book that said throw out twilight and read these instead and I completely agree. this is a good story. It has romance and action and the characters are really likable while the only characters I liked in twilight were Alice and Jasper. ( )

this was actually a pretty good book, different aspect of the vampire spectrum, instead of the vampires being the good guys like how they are now days or well most of them....the vampires are the bad guys well most of them...and the romance is killer and this is coming from an Adult PNR perspective, even though I know this is a YA. ( )

I have to admit I was hesitant about this book at first – I opened the package from my sister to see ‘Fans of Twilight really should check this out’ plastered on the cover. Way to alienate a lot of your potential audience. After reading these I have to say that these are nothing like Twilight. The only similarity I can even see is that they both have Vampires. Its like saying ‘For fans of Twilight’ on the cover of Dracula.

Glass House

Always smarter than everyone else, 16 yo Claire Danvers thought college would be her ticket to a better life. But by the end of her first week at her new school, all of Claire’s clothing is stolen, her room is trashed, and her arch-enemy pushes her down the dorm stairs – with a promise to come finish her off later that night. Claire calls around, and finds a room off campus – and moves in that day.

The residents of her new house are… strange, to say the least. Eve: A punked out goth girl, Shane: an unemployed pretty boy, and Michael: a night owl musician. Michael figures out she is underage, and tells her she can only stay a few days until her parents come for her. However, her first few days there… strange things happen. Eve warns her about vampires, secret rooms in the house, and ghosts.

Things escalate quickly, and soon Claire learns the secret of the town… Morganville is run and controlled by vampires… and Claire is going to be their next victim. But Claire is smart and resourceful, and she figures out what the vampires want. The only problem is staying alive long enough to get her hands on it.

The plot starts out very slow, and I honestly couldn’t see where it was going at first or how it would get anywhere except for Claire being pulled out of school by her parents. But by the end of the book I was hooked. Vampires in Rachel Caine’s world are brutal and ruthless, a refreshing breath of air after reading a lot of the rest of mainstream urban fantasy genre.

I also like that the author stayed away from the horrid ‘romantic triangle’ (although she does tease you a bit at first). And the romance between Claire and … the other guy (I don’t want to spoil everything!) is very believable. I really found my self rooting for Claire and her roommates.

Overall I give Glass Houses 3 1/2 stars.

The Dead Girl’s Dance

This book picks up immediately where the last book left off, with Shane’s father responding to the SOS Shane put out during the final fight of the last book. Shane’s dad is a vampire hunter, and he has returned to Morganville after all these years to take out vampire menace once and for all. Shane had been sent ahead as a scout, but had changed his mind about helping his father - until the vampire attack on the house forced him to make the call.

Shane’s father kills a vampire, and Shane gets accused of the crime. In order to free him, Shane’s father kidnaps Monica, and will trade her for Shane’s freedom. Claire and Eve will have to attend the Dead Girl’s Dance to find help to save them both before it is too late. Meanwhile, Michael, frustrated by his inability to leave the house, makes a deal with the founder.

At the end, Claire will have to make a bone-chilling choice if she wants to keep Shane safe.

I really liked this second book more than the first. We get to see more that there is more to the dark side of Morganville than just vampires. We also get to see just how far the vampires will go to keep their town safe.

Claire develops more as a character. I love how smart … and naive.. she is. Actually a common trait of very smart people. Book smart and people dump. She can seriously misjudge people because she doesn’t have a lot of experience outside of the classroom. I was also glad to see Shane get more focus this time around, since we didn’t really learn a lot about him in the first book.

Overall I give The Dead Girl’s Dance 4 stars. ( )

Done reading this until the Fall when I get back to my bookshelf.