The Becoming (Anna Strong Chronicles, #1)

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Becoming (Anna Strong Chronicles #1)

3.51 of 5 stars 3.51 · rating details · 3,068 ratings · 240 reviews

My name is Anna Strong. I am a vampire. How I became one is the reason for this story. I tell it all the way it happened. It may not be what you expect.

She's a bounty hunter--tough, beautiful, and trained for the unexpected. Until the night she's attacked and left closer to death than she can imagine. She awakens to an indoctrination into a dark new world where vampires wa...more

Mass Market Paperback, 293 pages

Published November 28th 2006 by Ace (first published December 31st 2004)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Best Adult Vampire Books

93rd out of 944 books — 5,689 voters

Best Heroine in Urban Fantasy

53rd out of 199 books — 278 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jun 07, 2008 Brownbetty rated it 2 of 5 stars

I gave this book two stars because it was not actually technically flawed, and if you suspect there is a 'but' coming up, you are correct!

Anna, the protagonist, is made a vampire when she bites her rapist back. Then, she is possessed by some sort of vampiric rapturous lust, which Anna, the book, and Avery, the vampire who helps her cope with her new status all feel means that it was not rape. "It's frightening you because you realize you were a participant, not a victim."

I'm sorry, I whited out...more

15 likes · like · see review

Jan 20, 2008 Inara rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels-vampires, novels-paranormal, novels-urban-fantasy

Title in German:
Verführung der Nacht

Anna and her partner David are bounty hunters and one night while chasing an escaped criminal she gets attacked and accidently turned into a vampire. First she can´t believe what she had become but soon other vampires are getting interested in her. First and foremost the enigmatic Avery who plays his own game regarding Anna..
It´s a fast moving story with action, excitement and a stubborn independent and feisty heroine who doesn´t want to leave her friends in d...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 02, 2008 Rachel rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: no one

Recommended to Rachel by: stupid amazon.com

Shelves: fantasy

I was pretty disappointed by this novel- it struck me as boring and predictable, and not in any good ways. I found some of the character's actions really surprising and didn't seem logical or fit with the character at all- until I realized that Stein needed them to something in order to move the plot.

The romance was entirely absurd, the sex scenes contrived nearly to the point of being unreadable, the plot didn't make sense, even after the denouement. I was left with all sorts of unanswered ques...more

5 likes · like · see review

Jan 29, 2009 Jess rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, urban-fantasy

I thought this was an interesting take on vampires. Anna Strong is a bounty hunter and is attacked one night on the job by a vampire. She ends up in the hospital and eventually discovers what happens to her. Dr. Avery explains that he is also a vampire and he takes her under his wing to teach her all about her new "family".

But meanwhile, the vampire who attacked her is still on the loose, Avery has explained that she must kill him and on top of all of that her partner David has gone missing.

Ther...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jan 24, 2011 Natasha rated it 3 of 5 stars

An intriquing read!
I read the first few novels in this series last year, and I only recently remembered them upon seeing the cover for a new novel being released. I was shocked
I forgot about it because it was actually a pretty good read. I think I enjoyed the first two in the series much for the the third, but I'll be re-reading them again to find out why soon.

Anna Strong is anokay herione. She's not my favorite, but she's fun enough that you'll want to read on with her story.
Anna was unwill...more

5 likes · like · see review

May 08, 2012 Jammies rated it 2 of 5 stars

This has the potential to be a pretty good series, but the author really needs to watch her substitution of possessive nouns for plural nouns, or get a good copy editor who will catch those errors for her. I was up to 15 when I quit counting.

1 like · like · see review

Oct 18, 2007 Celia Powell rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: didnt-finish, really-awful

Argh, this was just too dreadful, I couldn't get further than halfway. A really awful I-just-got-turned-into-a-vampire story. Honestly, the heroine meets a vampire who says he's going to guide her in the ways of vampires, blah blah blah, she falls in bed with him, wakes up the next morning thinking, "Woops! What about my boyfriend?" Then Mr Hunky Vampire walks past again and all thoughts of boyfriend disappear off the page as they leap into bed together. I didn't believe in this character at all...more

4 likes · like · see review

Dec 10, 2012 StrangeBedfellows added it

Here's another of those books I've been putting off forever, only to find I should have left it on the shelf. The Becoming was summarily unappealing. The biggest shortcoming was the flatness of characters. Some lacked that spark which makes characters interesting; some were downright unlikable. I think it was the author's failure to create compelling characters that produced such a lack of urgency, as with poor acting in low-budget films. And so I was bored and didn't care what happened in the b...more

like · see review

Oct 27, 2012 Amanda rated it 2 of 5 stars

Book Name: The Becoming: Anna Strong #1
Author: Jeanne Stein
Premise: The first Anna Strong adventure.
Thirty year old Anna Strong is a bounty hunter-- tough, confident, at the top of her game. But when she is attacked one night in a parking lot, her life is inexorably changed. She awakens in the hospital to find she has become Vampire and her destiny is no longer with the living, but among the undead. With her mentor, the vampire doctor who treated her in the hospital, she strives to make sense of...more

like · see review

Sep 17, 2012 tagfee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: vampires

Mal wieder ein Buch in dem Vampire die Hauptrolle spielen! Anna Strong, Kopfgeldjägerin, wird bei der Observation eines geheimnisvollen Verdächtigen überwältigt und muss im Krankenhaus feststellen, dass sie vergewaltigt worden ist. Ihr Arzt verhält sich sehr seltsam, ihre Wunden heilen innerhalb weniger Stunden und sie kann keine feste Nahrung zu sich nehmen. Und dann wird Anna auch noch von einer mysteriösen Gruppe verfolgt...

Alles in allem war "Verführung der Nacht" toll zu lesen. Die Hauptfig...more

like · see review

Jul 06, 2012 Lindsey rated it 1 of 5 stars

If anyone's thinking of reading The Becoming by Jeanne C. Stein and giving the Anna Strong series a try, may I recommend that you don't waste your time or money and just skip it. As a fantasy book, the world that Stein presents us with is rather thin and unoriginal. As a crime/paranormal type book, well... there's not really a whole lot to worry your pretty little head over. If you're just looking for a story about interesting, well-developed, realistic characters then you're not going to find t...more

like · see review

May 17, 2012 Faye rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012, vampires-characters

Again with the vampire genre huh? I know, no need to tell me. It just so happened that I removed my files on my phone so I can concentrate in reviewing for the Licensure Exam but I do read, a little bit at a time. I know again, poor me. Haha.

Mostly, I read in Wattpad (I'm not advertising) but my phone had a glitch and all the stories I had were removed so here goes reading the first book from Anna Strong Chronicles.

It is quite okay, but right now I'm reading the book two and I must say that the...more

like · see review

May 14, 2012 Cecilia Quick rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'd rate this book as a "meh". I had read a short story about this character in the book "hexed" and it interested me enough to read her origin story. It started off strong (so to speak), with great action in the opening, and then fizzled. The heroine is a bit of a dolt, which always annoys me. I was really put off by the character's cavalier attitude about being raped, which seemed to garner no emotional reaction from her. She had a more true response to her house being burned down. She wanders...more

like · see review

Mar 03, 2012 Fangs for the Fantasy rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Becoming as actually a good book, and has a strong female protagonist. Anna Strong is a private investigator and she and her partner David are trying to Donaldson a man who jumped bail in San Diego. They track him to a bar and think that they will have no problem him hauling him back to jail in time to appear in court the next day. Unfortunately for them, Donaldson is not the human they expected. He very quickly knocks David unconscious and then rapes Anna in the back of her car.

Anna awakes...more The Becoming as actually a good book, and has a strong female protagonist. Anna Strong is a private investigator and she and her partner David are trying to Donaldson a man who jumped bail in San Diego. They track him to a bar and think that they will have no problem him hauling him back to jail in time to appear in court the next day. Unfortunately for them, Donaldson is not the human they expected. He very quickly knocks David unconscious and then rapes Anna in the back of her car.

Anna awakes days later to discover that she has been raped. David argues with Avery, Anna's doctor about her being released but in the end he consents and she returns home. Once home she realizes that she is hungry and attempts to eat some lasagna but the smell immediately nauseates her and she is forced to throw. Suddenly, out of the blue, Avery shows up at her door and informs her that she is a vampire and wants to know if she has any questions. At first Anna is disbelieving until she notices that she can read his thoughts, her reflection starts to disappear in the mirror, and her body is healing at a rapid rate.

Life for Anna as a new vampire is not easy. Though she is granted immortality, a mystery quickly develops where her house is burned down, her best friend is kidnapped, and there is an attempt on her life. Anna is desperate to find and save David even as Avery, her vampire mentor encourages her to forget about him an move on because David is mortal. Anna is tempted because Avery quickly becomes her safe space, protector, and her love but she cannot let go of her ties to David.

Though The Becoming is just over 200 pages, the story is well rounded and extremely fast paced. In the Anna Strong series, vampires are able to walk in the sun because they have evolved, though they still need to drink blood from humans in order to survive. They are able to communicate telepathically however this communication can be interrupted by things like White noise and radio waves. Vampires also fear vampire hunters who believe that they are a threat to humans and when it comes to certain vampires, they are absolutely right.

Read More (less)

like · see review

Aug 01, 2011 Madame X rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal-urban-fantasy, vampires

THE BECOMING starts with a bang - as the book opens, protagonist Anna Strong is only moments away from a violent, but impermanent, death. Stein leads us through the attack, and then skips to the moment when Anna regains consciousness in the hospital. The doctor looking after her, Avery, doesn't seem to have much concern for hospital procedure - Anna has no memory of the attack, but Avery fills her in on all the gruesome details while Anna is still groggy and weak. He sends Anna home that very sa...more THE BECOMING starts with a bang - as the book opens, protagonist Anna Strong is only moments away from a violent, but impermanent, death. Stein leads us through the attack, and then skips to the moment when Anna regains consciousness in the hospital. The doctor looking after her, Avery, doesn't seem to have much concern for hospital procedure - Anna has no memory of the attack, but Avery fills her in on all the gruesome details while Anna is still groggy and weak. He sends Anna home that very same day.

...Then shows up at her house later that afternoon, chipper as can be, to tell her what he couldn't before: actually, she's a vampire. He seems surprised that she hasn't already figured it out, and doesn't have any patience for her shock and disbelief. He wants to help her out, tutor her in vampire ways, but he expects her to be excited and happy about her new state pronto.

Avery is a total jerk. But he's suave and good-looking and willing to help, and Anna is completely smitten. She follows him back to his palatial home where he has a pretty easy time getting her into bed with him, despite the fact that she has a boyfriend of two years, Max.

At this point, I put THE BECOMING down. I have no patience for books about supposedly independent, kickass heroines who can't wait to fall into the arms of a big, strong man and let him solve all their problems. But this book had received so many fantastic reviews, and so many of the reviews had praised the twists and turns in Stein's plotting, that after a few days I decided I should pick the book up again and see what happens. Maybe Anna Strong would turn out to be more than just a doormat.

Well, everything I've described happens early on in the book. The plotting does have a lot of twists and turns, and I'm not going to spoil them. The problem that I had at the beginning never quite went away - either because Anna is a little stupid, or the author is a little clumsy, I'm not sure. I'm a little curious to find out what happens in subsequent books; Stein does have an interesting setup here, and if subsequent books are an improvement on the first, they could be very good. But as far as the becoming is concerned, my verdict is a great big, "MEH." (less)

1 like · like · see review

Jul 09, 2011 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars

Anna is a bounty hunter, and one day, an assignment goes wrong, and the person she and her partner are tracking (who should be an easy catch), turns out to be a vampire and attacks them. In the struggle, Anna and the vampire accidentally exchange blood, and Anna starts her transformation. Jeanne C. Stein creates an interesting vampire world. In her vision, vampires are not required to be creatures of the night-they have adapted and evoloved to be able to tolerate sunlight. They do still have to...more

like · see review

Jul 03, 2011 Bell Curran rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: vampires

Wow, Stein really did NOT do her research on what happens in a hospital after a woman is sexually assaulted. When the doctor is telling Anna that she's been in the hospital for about ~24 hours after being raped and having her throat cut, he tells her, "'Because there was evidence of penetration, we had to run pregnancy tests. They were negative. However, there are other tests that will take longer to process. We'll screen for sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis...' A brief hesitation. 'HIV....more Wow, Stein really did NOT do her research on what happens in a hospital after a woman is sexually assaulted. When the doctor is telling Anna that she's been in the hospital for about ~24 hours after being raped and having her throat cut, he tells her, "'Because there was evidence of penetration, we had to run pregnancy tests. They were negative. However, there are other tests that will take longer to process. We'll screen for sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis...' A brief hesitation. 'HIV.'"

First of all, if you had sex 24 hours before, you can't be pregnant. It's not physiologically possible. It takes days for the sperm to reach the egg, fertilise it, and then for the egg to migrate to the uterus and implant. Pregnancy is defined as starting with implantation, which is what triggers a series of hormonal changes in the body that doctors can measure. Medical science doesn't generally weigh in on when life begins, but it does define when pregnancy begins, and it's not for at LEAST a week after sex.

So if you go to the hospital after a sexual assault, the only reason they would give you a pregnancy test is to determine whether you were *already* pregnant prior to the assault, which may be important information for women trying to decide whether to have an abortion or carry the pregnancy to term. But it *wouldn't* be for the purpose of telling the woman whether the rape has left her pregnant.

What an ER *would* do for a sexually assaulted woman is offer her emergency contraception (EC), which is essentially a higher dose of the same hormones found in regular oral contraceptive pills (levonorgestrel [+ sometimes ethinyl estradiol]), taken up to 5 days after sex to prevent pregnancy. That's PREVENT pregnancy, not terminate one. EC has no effect on an existing pregnancy. See Princeton's awesome Emergency Contraception website for more info about EC: http://ec.princeton.edu

Second of all, a decent ER wouldn't be taking a passive attitude towards the possibility of HIV infection, either. There's a treatment called post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) that can be started up to 3 days after sex (or exposure to blood, infected needle, etc) to significantly reduce the chance of ending up with an HIV infection. (Like EC, the sooner you start it, the more effective it is.) It's a course of antiretroviral drugs and rather than a one- or two-dose EC treatment, it takes up to 4 weeks and can have some nasty side effects, but it's thought to be fairly effective at reducing the risk of seroconversion.

That's enough Reproduction 101 for today, kids. I'm getting back to the book now that I've got that off my chest.

Update 4 July 2011:

OK I've finished reading it, and maybe I shouldn't be so indignant over Dr Avery's failure to offer emergency contraception and PEP to a rape survivor, since there are a lot of ways that he goes off protocol when handling Anna. That's partly because Dr Avery recognises that she's been attacked by a vampire and is turning into one herself, and partly because (view spoiler)

Overall I liked this book. I'd avoided it for a long time because I hate books that are narrated in first person present tense. (I know everyone raves about the Hunger Games but I just can't get past the first page because of the stupid verb tense!) But once I got a few pages in, I hardly noticed it. I only give it three stars instead of four because I didn't get that feeling of connection with any of the protagonists that makes me want to keep the book on my shelf to re-read in a couple of years. No one is especially unlikeable (except where they're supposed to be), but no one stands out as especially appealing or memorable, either, except for the bad guy, and as he is dispatched at the end, I can't look forward to more of him. Too bad, because he's a really good bad guy -- but for that reason, it's really satisfying when he gets offed. Anna is smart and self-sufficient and not too whiny. However, her relationship with her boyfriend Max is a complete mystery (and not in a "tell me more!" sort of way, more like in a "Huh? How can she love a guy she sees only every couple of months, can never reach on the phone, and cheats on so easily?" sort of way). And several reviewers here have commented on the way the author describes the psychological aftermath of rape, which doesn't ring true for me. (The one author who does this particularly well is Patricia Briggs -- holy moly is that scene ever powerful when Mercy crawls into the bathroom: it makes me feel like I'm going to cry just thinking about it.)

But I digress. Overall the writing was solid, the story moved along at a nice pace, and there was a good mystery that was wrapped up neatly enough to satisfy at the end, but there were enough unsolved mysteries to make me want to read the next book in the series. A solid entry in the UF genre, and I suspect that when I read more books in the series, I'll develop more of a feeling of connection with Anna and crew. (less)

1 like · like · see review

Jan 21, 2011 Hobart rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-reads

(3.5 actually, but goodreads won't let me do that) This was just what the doctor ordered, over the last couple of months, I'd tried out a handful of new (to me) urban fantasy series, and had to force myself to finish them. Not this one. A fun ride from start to finish.

It's the kind of start to a series that reminded me of Kitty and the Midnight Hour -- and judging by the fact that of Carrie Vaughn books are now on my shelves at home, that's a good thing. It's very much a start to a series, a go...more

like · see review

Dec 30, 2010 Yolanda Sfetsos rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy, vampire

WOW! I was very impressed with this book! Honestly, I loved it!

This is another vampire novel, and I know that most people think vampires are overdone and that the market's saturated with them... but I'm definitely NOT one of those people. I love vampire stories, and hope there are always a great selection of them on the market.

Anna Strong is a pretty kick-butt type of chick, even after she goes through a life-changing experience. There was a terrific twist in the end that I thought gave the sto...more

like · see review

Dec 30, 2010 Karissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the first book in the Anna Strong Chronicles by Jeanne C. Stein.

Anna is a bounty hunter who is savagely attacked while hunting one of her bounties. When she wakes up from the attack she finds out that she is not quite human anymore. This book details the process of her discovering new found abilities and hunting the one who attacked her.

This book was well-written. Stein has a very straight-forward unembellished writing style. The plot was fast-paced and contained enough twists and turns...more

like · see review

Aug 23, 2010 Paige rated it 3 of 5 stars

I borrowed this book from a friend. The reviews touted it as a cross between MaryJanice Davidson (I love her books) and Laurell K Hamilton (I enjoyed the first few books she wrote). I never saw a relation to MJD at all. The characters aren't quirky or snarky at all; they are serious. I can see the relation to Laurell K Hamilton (luckily it is the first few books rather than when she decided to add near-porn).

This book has the main character (a bounty hunter) attacked by a vampire. The story cent...more

like · see review

Aug 13, 2010 Anita rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy, did-not-finish, didn-t-like-much

I don't understand why so many urban fantasy readers have given this book good reviews. I thought it was cliched and predictable. I literally knew who the bad guy was by the half way point, then skipped to the end to confirm, and I was happy not to have to read the pages in between because I felt most of the pages I read weren't engaging. I didn't feel any connection to the characters, the plot twist wasn't even a little clever, and and I felt that the author recycled too much of what's already...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 18, 2010 Lexie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: review-blog, genre-urban-fantasy

I tried several times to get into this book over the last few weeks. At first I thought I was fed up with urban fantasies (but then I read Greywalker, so I knew I wasn't). Then I thought it was vampires in general (but then I re-read Once Bitten, Twice Shy and knew I wasn't). Finally I decided that I must just have other things to read that are more pressing, except I don't really. I've had a lot of free time on my hands lately, so I should have had the time if I wanted to really read the book.

S...more I tried several times to get into this book over the last few weeks. At first I thought I was fed up with urban fantasies (but then I read Greywalker, so I knew I wasn't). Then I thought it was vampires in general (but then I re-read Once Bitten, Twice Shy and knew I wasn't). Finally I decided that I must just have other things to read that are more pressing, except I don't really. I've had a lot of free time on my hands lately, so I should have had the time if I wanted to really read the book.

So, after finishing Sea of Shadow (for the third time), I sat myself down and told myself to read the book. From what I read on other reviews I was expecting something...different I suppose. Not something worse, or better, but different. Every reviewer is different right?

Unfortunately I found myself disliking the book. Not completely, I did want to know more about the Vampire society that Stein was setting up for the future books and despite myself I was wondering if Anna would have an emotional epiphany about Avery and David sooner rather than later (I like soap operas). The rest falls flat for me. I never quite believed Anna--she felt unreliable at best, admitting to raging hormones and apparently a new sex drive that clouded her 'intense' feelings for her serious boyfriend David whenever Avery was around. The mystery angle confused me and I wanted to stake Avery, a more self-serving man I have yet to read in a novel series!

Anna's apparent infidelity (multiple times) with Avery left a sour taste in my mouth as well. And I didn't even get the sense she did it because she felt like she was drifting from David, or that her feelings had shifted or anything--pretty much Avery came on the scene, Anna waxed poetic about David for a hot second and the next in the bed with Avery. Even after she realized she was being used for whatever reasons. Though even this I couldn't get too worked up about because neither Anna nor David nor Avery seemed to be 'whole' characters. Bits and pieces thrown together with potential that never blossomed.

I wish I had better things to say, but I don't. I will likely give this series another chance with book 2, since sometimes the freshman book in a series is so busy trying to establish itself the book suffers for it, but after that we shall see. (less)

like · see review

Feb 02, 2010 Kay rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This was recommended by a friend, and since it's written in the present tense, I thought it would be good research.

I didn't like it. It was written well, but I had serious issues with the main characters, and I discovered that I don't like plots which center around a human discovering they're a vampire or some other supernatural being. That's not the authors fault; just a personal preference I didn't know I had.

So, the character. Anna Strong. She was great except for a few huge things that made...more This was recommended by a friend, and since it's written in the present tense, I thought it would be good research.

I didn't like it. It was written well, but I had serious issues with the main characters, and I discovered that I don't like plots which center around a human discovering they're a vampire or some other supernatural being. That's not the authors fault; just a personal preference I didn't know I had.

So, the character. Anna Strong. She was great except for a few huge things that made me think she was a whore and an idiot. Harsh, I know, but let me explain. (Spoilers below)

1. The blurb on the back of the book makes it sound as if Anna will have to choose between her vampire mentor and a hot DEA agent. It turned out that the hot DEA agent was her boyfriend of two years. They weren't together much because of his job, but that's no excuse for her sleeping with her vampire mentor at the first opportunity. What made it worse, was Anna felt so little remorse. She was like, "Oh, but what about my boyfriend? Hi, vampire Avery. Why, yes, lets shag again!" So, yep, I'm calling her a whore.

2. Okay. Lets say you were just told by a vampire who is also a doctor that you are now a vamp, too. You're having trouble dealing with this, but you have bigger problems, problems like finding the people who abducted your friend. When you get a lead on the whereabouts of said friend, the person you interrogate says, "I don't know where he is, I swear! All I know is he's at some doctor's house!" What conclusion would you jump to? Come on. It's not a huge leap. Got a guess, yet? Yeah, PERHAPS, you should be suspicious of the doctor you just met. Not Anna. She doesn't get it until something like 3-4 pages later when her hostage says, "vamp doctor". Only THEN does she get it. Dense, Anna. Really dense.

3. Now, lets imagine you've just become a vampire. You'e talking to another vampire who's been around a lot longer than you. You instigate a fight and are somehow powerful enough to pin the other vamp. He's terrified he's going to die, so he says, "Avery was right. You are 'the one'." What would be your first question after that? Me? I'd say something along the lines of, "What the hell do you mean, 'the one'?" To Anna's credit, she does ask the pinned vamp, to which he responds, "Ask Avery." She then asks Avery. He acts all weird and says she must have misheard. And Anna is okay with this answer. *head desk* Seriously, if somebody tells you you're 'the one,' you should sit up and listen, especially if you're a paranormal. Don't these characters know anything?

4. Toward the end of the book, Anna is starting to figure out Avery isn't the vamp she thought he was. She discovers her friend bound and nearly drained of blood in a secret room in Avery's house. But she can't put the pieces of the puzzle together. Someone burned down her house. Someone killed her maker and injured her in Mexico. Somebody tipped off the vamp-hunters when she left Avery's house. Why don't the pieces fit, Anna wonders. Then, THEN, when Avery gives her an engagement ring, she's enlightened: AVERY orchestrated everything. WTF? Uh, yeah. I figurd that out when your friend was rolld up in a carpet, Anna. Honestly, you're so dense I can't see why Avery wanted you.

But, the book was very readable. As I said, I just discovered I don't like this type of plot, and Anna was just a little too stupid for my tastes. Other readers may love her. She did have a great attitude, and I was able to finish the book.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

May 26, 2011 Heather Book Savvy Babe rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: vamped-out, urban-fantasy, demon-lovers-review

The Becoming is the first novel from the Anna Strong Chronicles from Jeanne C. Stein. I would classify this book as Urban Fantasy, but there is heat, sex, and chemistry, giving it a touch of the paranormal romance feel as well. In this first book, the story is about how Anna, a bounty hunter, is transformed into a vampire. At first, Anna does not even understand what happened to her. With the help of an old vampire and Night Watcher, Avery, Anna begins to understand what becoming a vampire means...more The Becoming is the first novel from the Anna Strong Chronicles from Jeanne C. Stein. I would classify this book as Urban Fantasy, but there is heat, sex, and chemistry, giving it a touch of the paranormal romance feel as well. In this first book, the story is about how Anna, a bounty hunter, is transformed into a vampire. At first, Anna does not even understand what happened to her. With the help of an old vampire and Night Watcher, Avery, Anna begins to understand what becoming a vampire means. Avery is also there to help Anna track down the vampire who attacked her and turned her life upside down. However, as problems continue to follow her, Anna begins to realize that maybe everything is not as it seems and loyalties come into question.
The Becoming is a pretty good first book, even though the beginning was a bit rocky. The attack that causes Anna to become a vampire is violent, and Anna’s reaction doesn’t quite match that of a victim. She says she’s in a relationship with Max, but Max is hardly ever around. There seem to be a few discrepancies with Anna’s character, but I suppose some of them could be a reaction to drastic events. For a character who shows so much loyalty to her bounty hunter partner, David, it seemed odd that no loyalty was shown to her so-called boyfriend. However, these discrepancies manage to give Anna depth and add reality to her character. Anna is the kind of heroine I love, the tough girl trying to make her way in the world. By the second half of the book, I was hooked and very into the world of Anna Strong.
The best way for me to describe The Becoming is to say that it is a promising first book. The characters are engaging, the writing is sound, the setting (San Diego) is fun and provides an entertaining back drop for the series. At the end of The Becoming, there is plenty of room for Anna to move forward, more secrets to uncover, and room for her character to change and grow. I really liked the book, and I am looking forward to reading more of the Anna Strong Chronicles in the future
(less)

like · see review

Mar 15, 2011 Liz rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

For those of you who like Charlaine Harris, you will like this series. Yes, it is different, but the style of writing is very similar. (Except with a more up-dated fashion sense. Sorry Charlaine, but your clothes in all your books are very dated.) Unlike most urban fantasy fiction, this series is more on the mystery side, with a case and/or murder to solve. The basic premise is that Anna Strong is a bounty hunter who is attacked, and accidentally turned into a vampire when the attacker is interu...more

like · see review

Jan 29, 2010 Eva rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

What do you get went you take a splash of Twilight and a handful of (Recent) Anita Blake and smash it together. Apparently you get This Mess! (Warning, I usually try to stay spoiler free but I can't seem to explain the badness of this without details.)

First off, and most frustratingly, I'm tired of writers who use metaphysics to justify rape. The book starts with Anna, a former teacher gone bounty hunter, and her partner David failing to catch a guy jumping his bail. They almost catch him till h...more What do you get went you take a splash of Twilight and a handful of (Recent) Anita Blake and smash it together. Apparently you get This Mess! (Warning, I usually try to stay spoiler free but I can't seem to explain the badness of this without details.)

First off, and most frustratingly, I'm tired of writers who use metaphysics to justify rape. The book starts with Anna, a former teacher gone bounty hunter, and her partner David failing to catch a guy jumping his bail. They almost catch him till he uses his new Vampy powers to fight back. Anna is raped and turned but because she drinks his blood and enjoys it she's ok with it... Wait what!? Yuck and Yikes! I have no problem with writers who write the effects of an assault properly, but to gloss over it like that is repulsive. Being overpowered by metaphysics should make the situation more violating afterwards not less.

So a day later she wakes up in the hospital and the least believable doctor, Avery, is there with her and David. There's a bunch of dialogue that is almost pure exposition. It's inexplicable, she basically spews info to the Dr. that could have just been mentioned in thought. Avery acts rather nosy and un-Dr-ish and there's a whole lot of talk about Anna's gay friend Micheal whom we will never meet in the book.

Anna goes home to be alone and Avery shows up. He's tells her he's a vampire and in this series vamps are all psychic. She whines a bit but isn't too horribly shaken about all that's going on. In fact the only things she ever gets really upset about are her house getting burned down and her partner getting kidnapped. She whines and rambles in her head without blocking other listeners out constantly.

From here things continue on a pretty predictable path. Anna has a 'boyfirend' whom she cheats on with the vampy doc. Instead of examining what her problem is and why she's been settling for a safe distanced relationship with a guy she sees once every month or so and why she's jumped into bed with the Dr, the whole thing is once more glossed over with the occasional 'oh man, that's right I cheated on Max.'

While the second half of the book moves better (I almost stopped half way through which is something I never do) I have to say the only part of the book I found really interesting was when she gabs Lawson, a 'Revenger' (Basically someone who kills vampires) and vamps out on him for answers of David's whereabouts.

Avery gets a bit more Pushy/Possessive as the book goes and Anna keeps misjudging her instincts. When she doesn't trust him but can't find anything she just rolls back into bed with him. Max who?

Honestly the only surprise at the end was the motivation for all the things that happened. I mean I understand the Why, but the method was ridiculous. If you live forever you have, well, FOREVER to convince someone to be yours. If he had waited 50-70 years for all Anna's mortal connections to be dead he would have had what he wanted. Ugh!(less)

2 likes · like · see review

May 26, 2011 Andrea rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · like · see review

Mar 16, 2013 Waverly rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: vampires, audiobook

I figured the series would be worth trying, seeing as how the series has eight titles and isn't finished yet. However, I was finished pretty much as soon as the heroine wakes up without mental/emotional trauma after a violent rape because... hey, she liked it. Simply, no. Her debriefing after the episode by a "good" vampire emphasizes how great the sex will be now that she's a vampire, and isn't it cool that we can talk telepathically? This emphasis on the salacious upside, relayed in a mentally...more

like · see review

Jul 24, 2010 Jael ~ *~ Syhren ~* ~ rated it 3 of 5 stars

I had a hard time getting through the first few pages but things started to pick up real fast. The plot was pretty predictable but I still found myself engrossed in the story. I really enjoy Anna's personality. She is a likable character. The mystery of who Casper is ( I have an idea who it is) will have me picking up the next in this series.

1 like · like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (3)

Genres

Fantasy > Urban Fantasy

226 users

Paranormal > Vampires

148 users

Fantasy > Paranormal

112 users

Fantasy

85 users

Romance > Paranormal Romance

29 users

Adult

25 users

Romance

22 users

Fantasy > Supernatural

18 users

Fantasy > Dark Fantasy

8 users

Science Fiction Fantasy

7 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Jeanne C. Stein

Jeanne C. Stein is an American Urban Fantasy author living in Colorado. She now lives in Colorado, but was raised and educated in San Diego, which is the setting for her contemporary vampire fantasy.

Jeanne is active in the writing community, belonging to Sisters in Crime both nationally and in San Diego and Los Angeles. She also belongs to Horror Writers of America, RWA and Rocky Mountain Fiction...more

More about Jeanne C. Stein...

Books by Jeanne C. Stein

Blood Drive (Anna Strong Chronicles, #2)

The Watcher (Anna Strong Chronicles, #3)

Retribution (Anna Strong Chronicles, #5)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Becoming

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: The Becoming
avg rating	preview: The Becoming Goodreads rating: 3.51 (3068 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/607559.The_Becoming?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348215014l/607559.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/607559.The_Becoming?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Becoming by Jeanne C. Stein[/url]

The Becoming (Anna Strong Chronicles #1)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website