Some Girls Bite (Chicagoland Vampires, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Aug 30, 2010 Anja rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: c, w-az

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 2.5 stars.

I did not like Ethan. He came across like a guy that does not respect women apart from their usefulness to keep his semen levels low. I could’ve done without the voyeur scene of Ethan and his mistress. I felt like it showed me how misogynistic he was. Unfortunately, I am supposed to love Ethan and hope he gets together with Merit during the series. The author never shows why Merit likes him and Ethan likes her against their better judgment. Scenes are spent showing why Morgan is a grea 2.5 stars.

I did not like Ethan. He came across like a guy that does not respect women apart from their usefulness to keep his semen levels low. I could’ve done without the voyeur scene of Ethan and his mistress. I felt like it showed me how misogynistic he was. Unfortunately, I am supposed to love Ethan and hope he gets together with Merit during the series. The author never shows why Merit likes him and Ethan likes her against their better judgment. Scenes are spent showing why Morgan is a great guy and I really liked him. I don’t know why the author chose to show him as clever and charming while maintaining Ethan as the asshole. It is obvious which hero the heroine was supposed to want. I didn’t like that Merit only accepted a pity relationship with the other guy at the end. I would’ve liked the author to show her choosing him because he was a great guy. He'll probably turn out to be a villain in another book. Merit at one point even says to herself that she likes Ethan for no reason despite many bad qualities he possesses. There was no basis for her continued attraction to Ethan. Yeah, he’s hot. Whoop-de-do. So are the rest of the vampires.

Once it became clear that Merit would not be an ordinary vampire and would be someday equal in strength to Ethan, I liked the book more. I am not a fan of books where there is a large gap in equality between the hero and heroine in a contemporary setting. I had a very hard time with the social hierarchy and the subservient nature of the vampire clans. I started to dislike the book greatly when this info was revealed. After I realized Merit would be on a more even keel with Ethan, I liked the story better.

There was no action until the last 15% and even that was a letdown. The action was glossed over and instead the author treated me to endless paragraphs about the layout and design of the house.

The villain was so easy to spot I was hoping it was a deliberate red herring.

Merit’s background as a grad student was here and gone in a second. I would’ve loved to see Merit try to fight the university discrimination. Maybe it will be part of the other books in the series.

The Matrix-esque fighting scene, complete with rally song, was ludicrous.

Mallory and Catcher were great. Witty, charismatic, and very cute together. I would’ve rather the story been about them.

I liked the writing and was immediately drawn into the book. I won’t be continuing this series but I might pick up something else by the author another day. ...more

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Nov 01, 2010 Chelsea rated it really liked it

Shelves: vampires, uf-pnr, suggested-series-firsts, weres

This review was originally posted to Vampire Book Club.

Merit has a chance to reinvent herself, and that would be great if she’d had a choice in the matter.

She’s fought her entire life to remain independent, to avoid being used as a political pawn. She’s one of the Chicago Merits. Her father is wealthy, powerful, buddies with the mayor and overall far more concern with collecting capitol and clout than the happiness of his youngest daughter. Her desire to spend her days in grad school working on This review was originally posted to Vampire Book Club.

Merit has a chance to reinvent herself, and that would be great if she’d had a choice in the matter.

She’s fought her entire life to remain independent, to avoid being used as a political pawn. She’s one of the Chicago Merits. Her father is wealthy, powerful, buddies with the mayor and overall far more concern with collecting capitol and clout than the happiness of his youngest daughter. Her desire to spend her days in grad school working on a lit dissertation make her the scourge of the family. She doesn’t bother with the money, and lives her own life as apart from that realm as possible.

Until she’s attacked on campus by a vampire. Another swoops in and changes her. He saved her life, but she had never wanted to be a vampire. She was supposed to get to choose. That’s what they said when they’ve come out of the figurative coffin. Now she has seven days to decide if she’s going to swear her allegiance and submit to the Master vampire of one of the vampire Houses. (Think feudal England.)

Ethan is gorgeous, but egotistical and expects full loyalty and subservience from all his vampires. He and Merit clearly have chemistry — which both of them can’t understand and fight as much as possible. She’s already much stronger than many other vampires, and she has the power to resist his pull. Except for the overwhelming attraction.

Chloe Neill has crafted a stable of engaging characters in Some Girls Bite. Merit’s strong-willed, cerebral nature make her easy to root for as a heroine, but we also loved the biting dialogue between her and her best friend and roommate Mallory. Add in a cocky sorcerer named Catcher (one of my favorites in the novel), a seasoned cop grandfather, a sexy alt rock vampire suitor from another House and a young shifter, and you’ve got an ensemble fans of Kim Harrison’s The Hollows series can appreciate.

Merit spends this first Chicagoland Vampires novel coming to terms with being a vampire, developing her new skills, trying to decide if she can swear an oath to Ethan and trying to figure out why she’s attracted to such an asshole.

Some Girls Bite is a fun, often laugh-out-loud funny opener to what’s sure to be a great urban fantasy series. It’s a must for fans for Jeaniene Frost and Kim Harrison. Expect a well thought out world that flows easily, smooth prose, characters to care about and enough sexy boys to make you consider moving to Chicago. ...more

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Oct 15, 2010 CharleeMoo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: vampire, romance, paranormal, favorites, series, humor

The book starts out with Merit (the main character) going under the change from Human to Vampire. The rest of the book is about her trying to learn to accept that her life will never be the same. Throw in bitchy vampires, magical friends, and one hot Master, and you have a great book.
Oh and Merit? She's not some whimpy little girl. She's full of snark and has a mind of her own.
Excellent first book! ...more

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May 03, 2022 Joyce rated it really liked it

Shelves: drm-free-epubs, mystery, urban-fantasy, alternate-history, paranormal, fantasy, vampires, chicago, illinois, magic

Merit was turned into a vampire against her will now she has to decide if she will stay in the Cadogen House or go rogue or into another house if they would have her. There is a sexy leader of the clan she is born into and she is damned if she will follow his rules when she never asked to be a vampire. The pacing is good and the world building is fleshed out pretty well for me to just jump into the story. Ethan is a bit overbearing but I assume that's because he's 400 years old. ...more

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Oct 17, 2010 Aske rated it really liked it

I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series. One aspect that I liked was how Neill made Merit's inner vamp like a caged tiger that was prowling inside of its cage. She really nailed the inner beast conflict in my opinion. ...more

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Sep 13, 2010 Nicole rated it really liked it

Shelves: vampire-fiction

Funny book! There are a few series out like this one. Like most of those the Chicagoland Vampires series is really funny and witty. The house system reminds me a lot of Harry Potter. Also the book make a lot of Buffy references which is always cool.

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