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Once Burned
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July Group Read -ONCE BURNED talking all things Leila (Spoilers!)
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I thought Leila's powers were ridiculously convenient. she hardly ever sees the future, but just happens to see exactly how Vlad is going to die when Szilagyi was going to pull the building down. It was as if her powers were sentient and could guess exactly what portion of the past/present/future needed to be shown to Leila. Seemed like a stretch to me. Although this is a book about vampires and clairvoyants, so I guess I'm just supposed to shrug it off as "Book Magic?"I can't wait for more Vlad/Leila romance, I'm sure he'll break her heart and then she will leave, and then he'll have to chase her to get her back. Kind of predictable, but I love it =p
I liked that Leila was new in regards to the Night Huntress world. We've seen vampires, demons, ghosts, etc. but never a human with added power. I wonder if there's more behind who / what she is than we're seeing right now. I mean why did getting electrocuted manifest in that way instead of kiling her? At the end of the book, I just has this ominous feeling about Vlad's changing of emotions when he found out her power wasn't working. But I also liked that she was a strong enough character to basically say "it's not over yet so don't even think about running now". She didn't just cower and meekly accept that his feelings may have changed.
When I first started reading I was surprised that Vlad was not the narrator, but when I read Jeaniene Frost's explanation for it, it definitely made sense. It's almost more rewarding to determine his feelings from his actions instead of his thoughts. It would just be too easy I think.
I can't wait for the next book!
Nice question from Amy! I didn't even think of that.I think Leila's powers were interesting but a little too strong; I would've liked a slower developing of them. I also didn't really get why electricity and reading essences off things would go together. Other than that, I thought she had a very good limitation for her powers to balence them out a bit.
I totally think he's going to break her heart; he doesn't seem the type to be willing to love and her lack of powers feels to me like he's going to use it as a reason to let her be pushed aside. I love how tough she is though, she won't let him go that easily.
This was the first of Jeaniene Frost's books that I've read outside of her anthologies, so I wasn't disappointed or otherwise that Vlad wasn't narrating. Her explaination made sense to me.
I love Leila as a character; she is fierce and stands her ground: I love how she doesn't threaten Vlad (which would just be embarressing herself) but says he'll be sleeping alone if he impales Maximus. I loved her compassion tinged with her own sense of self-preservation, and her longing to be loved by someone.
@Amy @Karen, good point! Why would electricity go with seeing memories? just energy manipulation? I think we need a better explanation.
![Chelsea [Vampire Book Club] (VampireBookClub) | 76 comments](http://d.gr-assets.com/users/1367184218p1/3580429.jpg)
Jill wrote: "@Amy @Karen, good point! Why would electricity go with seeing memories? just energy manipulation? I think we need a better explanation."Perhaps the electricity activated part of her brain -- latent abilities?
Hey everyone! I've only just finished this book. Firstly let me say that I'm a staunch frost fan but Arrrrrgh what I want to say next is a spoiler/ question but don't know how to find the " threads denoted with spoilers" ?
Oh ok I hadn't read that first paragraph! Sorry this is kind of my first time, ok so I have a question, why aren't anyone of you bothered by the cliff hanger ending??!!?!??!!!I can NOT wait until spring 2013! I'm feeling so frustrated that I want to throw the book at the wall or something! What is going to happen? Is this! Like a new writing/marketing trend? J. Frost didn't need this! I'm disappointed and frustrated and un happy! I think there should be a sign on the cover of books with cliff hanging endings so that readers can make the decisions for themselves.
As for Leila I think she kind of comes from the same mold that frosts other heroines come from. She's independent and thinks for herselvea, and I love how honest she is with herself. That's like, her BEST trait in my opinion. I actually think she's the one who's going to push Vlad away, but hope things will end happily. But I think Vlad will be the one who attempts to make a big gesture and then in the end I think Leila will have to change as well otherwise their relationship won't make sense on such unequal grounds: human/vampire! Unless, unless she's already kind of half dead like Cat? Which would explain why the lightening which killed her mother through HER didn't affect herself.
Yeah I hate cliff hangers to, but like Chelsea said recently...i kinda like them too. the anticipation is always interesting...I just wish we didn't have to wait half a year to a year for the next book. Just a month would be perfect for me! =p Yeah, I kinda hope it is Vlad that has to chase her. I don't like the whiney women that give up early either....but I do like it when the guy chases the girl =p I mean, who wouldn't!
I'm have to say I'm mighty intrigued by Leila's powers. I can't wait to hopefully see a more indepth explanation for them, especially why the lightening killed her mother but not her. I agree with @Chelsea, I think it has something to do with her having some sort of latent psychic abilities being awakened by the strike.I thought she handled Vlad really well considering how out of her depth she was (life/death situations, never having had a relationship, how much more powerful he was etc) and like @Karen I liked that she stood her ground with him. I really liked how honest she was about not understanding games and not wanting to play them.
Also her referring to Cat & Bones as the vampire Ken and Barbie had me snorting out loud!
@Twenty, cliffhanger can indeed be very frustrating but I have to say for me I didn't find this one to be too bad.
@Twenty, I think it would be interesting if Leila was the one to push Vlad away. It would certainly be a different twist than what I'm expecting (which is his inability at this point to commit to her completely). What I felt at the end of this was more sad I think. I was a little sad that they went through everything together and it ended with us not really getting the kind of closure with their relationship that usually comes at the end of a book like this. Kind of like the first Cat and Bones book. I was very sad that she left him at the end (but by the time I read those book 2 was already out so no waiting). But I just keep thinking that we at least have concrete confirmation that the next book will be coming out even if we have to wait a few months.
@Jill, I agree a one month interval's totally reasonable and even exciting, a yearlong wait, however, is not kind! @Jo, The latent psychic abilities make a lot of sense, I guess that is the most plausible explanation.
@Amy, I definitely think we r going to have a scene where Leila will be shown vald wants her for herself and not her powers. Which necessitates him making a grand gesture I think. Which in turn means that scene must have been preceded by another one where she puts him in such a position. the cat and bones series was ok for me since I already had all the books.
The thing which partly contributes to my feelings of frustration, apart from the yearlong waiting period, is that leaving the reader in suspense in order to make sure they'd get the next book makes sense for when for example twilight had come out for the first time and no one knew the writer or was familiar with the story. But frost, like kresley cole should not need such an obvious market ploy. They're both automatically among the must buy list.
@Jill, I agree a one month interval's totally reasonable and even exciting, a yearlong wait, however, is not kind! @Jo, The latent psychic abilities make a lot of sense, I guess that is the most plausible explanation.
@Amy, I definitely think we r going to have a scene where Leila will be shown vald wants her for herself and not her powers. Which necessitates him making a grand gesture I think. Which in turn means that scene must have been preceded by another one where she puts him in such a position. the cat and bones series was ok for me since I already had all the books.
The thing which partly contributes to my feelings of frustration, apart from the yearlong waiting period, is that leaving the reader in suspense in order to make sure they'd get the next book makes sense for when for example twilight had come out for the first time and no one knew the writer or was familiar with the story. But frost, like kresley cole should not need such an obvious market ploy. They're both automatically among the must buy list.
This isn't exactly related to the discussion, but to address what Twenty said about the waiting lists. I have the same frustration. Like at the end of the latest Midnight Breed novel, I was gasping - NO WAY! I CAN'T WAIT A YEAR! But a lot of this is set by the publishers. A lot of people have their hands in a book, least of all the author. Multiple rounds of editors and publishers, artists, yadda yadda. I had no clue about all that was involved. It's frustrating but it's all to guarantee that we have a kickass product in our hands at the end of the day. *big heaving sigh* Apart from hating Leila because she is sleeping with my vampire, I actually like her. Damn it. The book being from her POV made more sense after I heard Jeaniene's explanation. Honestly, I can't see coming out of the gate with a book from Vlad's POV when Night Huntress fans have been wanting Bones' POV for years.
Her powers, I have a feeling, have not all been revealed yet. She's probably packing a bit of kicking ass and taking names.
The reason one gets so frustrated is in a great part due to how good the writing is and takes you in it's grips. What made me like Leila is how she's working through her past bitterness and actually coming into her own. I think her character, is growing stronger so that she can hold her own even without the powers, but I also agree with CPB in that I think her powers have not yet all been revealed yet.
So last week we were talking all things Vlad. This week I thought we could talk about Leila as a main character.
Some discussion points to get the ball rolling:
1. What did you think of Leila's powers? Did you like that she wasn't vampire or just human but something new in the Night Huntress universe?
2. Do you think Vlad will break her heart or do you think she'll bring that great Tepes to his knees? Do you think she's a good match for Vlad?
3. From the Vlad discussion and twitter I know some of you were surprised Vlad wasn't narrating (Candace asked Jeaniene at a signing about this, see her answer in the Vlad discussion) so did you enjoy Leila as the main voice? What did/didn't you like about her as a character?