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Once Burned (Night Prince, #1)
by Jeaniene Frost (Goodreads Author)
by Jeaniene Frost (Goodreads Author)
3.5 stars. Over all it's not as bad in terms of "cliff hanger" as the folks who are worried about my reaction might think. It's an entire book that's a setup for a series, so there is no real resolutions and lots of set up for future books (this is why I'm marking it cliff hanger but not tabling it because of cliff hanger or only giving it a single star per my usual cliff hanger policy). If you're hoping for a neat HEA ala most romances this isn't it. It's a Cat & Bones reboot only Vlad is way too arrogant and there isn't enough comedic relief to ease the arrogance. Still, it's the same Vampire Huntress world and characters that we love and the same easy-to-relate-to writing that we devour, with a heroine that seems all together the plucky human. Some of the secondary characters that will probably be recurring promise to be interesting, well flushed out characters that will bring their own brand of influence to the story to keep us invested and coming back for more (Marty, Maximus, Shrapnel, etc.). Shall we take bets on how many books to Leila being turned to a vampire?
I didn't hate it, and I'll probably read the next one to see how it progresses. However, if they all end with lack of resolutions and almost-cliff-hanger-next-book-set-ups the way this one did I will probably end up tabling the series until it's finished and reading it back to back; or at least waiting until it gets a few ahead and reaches a place where there is a plateau in the story line that others say is not an obvious hanger.
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June 26
March 29, 2012
Sept 15
I didn't hate it, and I'll probably read the next one to see how it progresses. However, if they all end with lack of resolutions and almost-cliff-hanger-next-book-set-ups the way this one did I will probably end up tabling the series until it's finished and reading it back to back; or at least waiting until it gets a few ahead and reaches a place where there is a plateau in the story line that others say is not an obvious hanger.
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June 26
March 29, 2012
Sept 15
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Yui
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rated it 3 stars
Jun 26, 2012 06:05am
Yey! I'm just starting too..reading buddy?:D Had to borrow a kindle copy coz my hard copy won't be delivered till July 5th but Thank Heavens for good friends. ^-^ Sorry I just gotta comment to savor the anticipation. :D *jumps on bed grinning like idiot with my kindle.*
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Yui wrote: "Yey! I'm just starting too..reading buddy?:D Had to borrow a kindle copy coz my hard copy won't be delivered till July 5th but Thank Heavens for good friends. ^-^ Sorry I just gotta comment to savo..."Yup! I've been chomping at the bit for this one.
I'm cringing in anticipation for your reaction too Suz. I understand now why people kept saying this reminded them of HTTG but they're sooooo not the same. Huh. Now I think abut it I'm kinda pissed off.(view spoiler)
I thought there was plenty of comic relief, for most part of the book, a little less towards the ends though. As for Vlad being arrogant I wasn't expecting anything less than we did. I think the only thing I wasn't expecting is Bones being right about Vlad still using wooden pole with people on it to decorate his backyard LOL
Marielle wrote: "I thought there was plenty of comic relief, for most part of the book, a little less towards the ends though. As for Vlad being arrogant I wasn't expecting anything less than we did. I think the on..."Did you? I found myself rolling my eyes a lot. A lot more than I expected to. In previous books with Vlad his arrogance was in his carriage and his assumption of privilege, in this book it was in him TELLING everyone what a bad ass he was and how scary he was. I've never seen him as someone who needed to tell people anything. It didn't ring true to me and I got tired of it quickly. It was just begging for someone to call him a stupid ass, often, rather than just the few times we got to see folks like Bones & Cat & Mencheres come through who weren't afraid of him. Everyone else was afraid of him. If they stood up to him they were doing it in defiance, sort of gulping down their fear. He needs someone who's sort of going "yeah yeah, whatever you stupid blow hard" to make that shit tolerable. Maybe now that Leila could cut him in half we'll get a bit of that going forward.
But I'm not a fan of chest pounding alpha males. I much prefer alpha males who don't need to pound their chests.
Well, I don't think he usually do tell all the time to his people to be afraid of him. I think he was acting that way because he wanted to make it clear to Leila how he is, cause she wasn't getting it, and still doesn't really. Everyone else does get it without it being on auto-repeat to them (well with the exception of Mecheres, Bones and Cat, but that is probably because those aren't afraid of him and don't want to be in his grace LOL)
That's kind of my point. The story needs people who are as bad ass as him so his threat is nullified otherwise he's a god and it's boring.
True enough, and we only had Leila to do that. Mencheres, Bones and Cat appearance were way too short to counter balance all that. Then again, did JF wanted other people to counter balance Vlad? Maybe she wanted Leila to mostly fill that role. Or she wanted us to get why Bones tease him so much, cause I have to admit I really thought Bones had been exaggerating all that time.
Marielle wrote: "True enough, and we only had Leila to do that. Mencheres, Bones and Cat appearance were way too short to counter balance all that. Then again, did JF wanted other people to counter balance Vlad? Ma..."I think going forward Leila will fill that roll. She's certainly got the juice once she grows into it. But she's got to grow into it first. It's kind of like Cat. When we first met Cat she was all anger. Piss and vinegar and balls. She could only take on the low end vamps but she didn't realize it. Bones showed her how to grow into what she could really do. We're going to see that with Vlad and Leila, too. Leila's ability is bad ass enough for her to be on even footing with Vlad but she's going to have to grow into it. She's got the balls, but she's got to grow into knowing she can do it. The first book was he first step, I hope anyway because I don't think I can take too much of him not getting put in his place.
I could be wrong, but I think Vlad has been used to solve all of his problem on his own (that is him and the people, who fears him, belonging to him) I think he is more I am counting on myself person, more than anything else, and is also probably why he accepted to be a vampire, so he could handle even more by himself. That could also explain why Bones tease him so much, with his wooden spears and all. Cause yes, he is very powerful and yes people fears him, but he only probably had small problem so far and that is why he can remedy to them with such crude and medieval tools.
Vlad didn't even ask for help this time, probably because he never really thought he would be in any real danger. Now with Leila's small, probably temporary, problem, and his probably growing feelings for her that may change for the next book. So he may have to really ask for assistance. If so, I suppose then there might be a change in the dynamic, cause among the friends he might ask for help, Bones will probably be among them.
His nemesis isn't dead. They never found the bones of this enemy, he'll regenerate and come back. Bones & Cat will probably come through like they did in this book, just as cameos because Jeaniene won't want them to appear too much or they'll end up taking over the series. The comic relief is going to fall to Leila or we're just going to have to deal with Vlad being a never ending chest pounder, in which case this series will not be my cup of tea.
I don't know the real reason why they Mencheres came to visit, but I don't think it was related to the attack or Vlad's situation, or maybe there was no reason at all. In fact, I think it was more a plot device to explain why Bones was at Vlad. I think Bones purpose was to clue Leila on the song thing, because well, nobody else on Vlad's payroll would have clue Leila on it. So , no I am not excluding a Cat and Bones appearance on some sort of cooperative final fight for the next book. I agree with you it won't be very interesting to read, if Vlad continue to be as he is now. So, I do hope he will get to learn some humility in the next book, maybe that is why I am so hopeful the second book will go in a different direction for Vlad, that could also explain why JF choose to tell this story in two parts.
I'm kinda annoyed w/ Mencheres' visit. I've been expecting Vlad to tell what he asked M but he never did. At first I thought maybe he's seeking advice for Leila's sickness but that issue seemed to end w/ Vlad's blood. I love that we get to see the beloved other casts but it did seem too convenient and useless. The same thing happened w/ NHW 2. Vlad showed up but didn't really do anything significant. And Cat & Bones accompanying Mencheres & Kira is too convenient too. I mean how many times are they all actually together w/o war? I agree w/ Suz about Vlad's too much chest pounding. He was my favorite side char in NH series but I didn't remember him being so defensive w/ his badassness.
Apparently there is only supposed to be one more book at this juncture, which is a bit disappointing. It seems to me like this entire book was laying the foundation for a series. It sure felt like it to me.As for the visit from the ruling four I just assumed that Vlad wanted to ask Mencheres about the possibility of Bones being behind the attempts on Vlad's life. I don't over question stuff like that. It reads like a bump but I'm perfectly willing to suspend disbelief and trust the author to do a reveal later. They are monarchs, monarchs have private conversations, especially during times of conflict. The end. *shrug*
