Undead and Unstable (Undead, #11) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Oct 01, 2013 Christina T rated it did not like it

I'm officially done with Betsy. Her constant ignorant chatter and her inability to concentrate was annoying but to have everyone in her life call her stupid or remind her that she's easily distracted by shiny things is beyond palatable. She thinks she's as dumb as a box of rocks. Her friends think she is as dumb as a box of rocks. Her husband thinks stuff too but loves her anyway. Not only has Betsy not grown over the course of 11 books it is apparent that she is sliding backwards. If Betsy was I'm officially done with Betsy. Her constant ignorant chatter and her inability to concentrate was annoying but to have everyone in her life call her stupid or remind her that she's easily distracted by shiny things is beyond palatable. She thinks she's as dumb as a box of rocks. Her friends think she is as dumb as a box of rocks. Her husband thinks stuff too but loves her anyway. Not only has Betsy not grown over the course of 11 books it is apparent that she is sliding backwards. If Betsy was this stupid in book 1 I never would have read book 2.

The actual storyline was all of 3 chapters scattered throughout the book. The rest was filler where Betsy drinks smoothies or semi-mourns her cat or gets chased by dogs or gets arrested. None of which is actually pertinent to the plot.

The time traveling aspect is just silly as there are some events that were altered for the sake of humor but for the life of me I can't figure out how they happened. Nick is now Dick and throughout the book (and the last one) Betsy calls him D/Nick or Nickie-Dickie or some other annoying name. I have no idea how Betsy's visit to the past could have changed one of the character's names but having her repeatedly calling Nick, De-Nick annoyed me.

The writing itself seems chaotic. It's written from Betsy's perspective which is just awful. As I mentioned earlier she is easily distracted by shiny things so her mind wanders. We, as readers, are unfortunate to get to read about how she wonders what hair products so and so uses while that character is talking to her. In addition to this, one chapter opens up with something along the lines of 'and that is how I got arrested' BUT the end of the chapter before that had nothing to do with being arrested. The explanation of her arrest and the actions leading up to it are explained AFTER the opening of that chapter.

So, because of the lack of growth on Betsy's part, the lack of a decent plot, the fact that the book is trying to be funny to the point it isn't and the chaos like writing I doubt I will ever pick up another Queen Betsy book. ...more

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Jun 06, 2012 Cindi Kelley rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-read

#81of2012
It's like a train wreck. You can't help but read it even if it's a mess. ...more

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Oct 12, 2018 Jenn rated it liked it

Shelves: hallway-shelf-2018, christmas-and-birthday-gifts, 2018

It’s been so long since I read this series that it took me awhile to get back into. Once I did it went really quickly. Not my favorite in the series but not terrible. Fur and Burr rule!

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Jun 26, 2022 Midu Hadi rated it it was ok

Shelves: 300-400-pages, read-in-2022, humor, setting-us, serial-killers-and-other-murderers, series, series-to-continue, reviewed, series-completion-in-progress, premissing

My number #1 reason for ever picking up this series is that it’s entertaining. Like a sugary confection with only fluff and no substance. I remain true even today but the series doesn’t! In fact, it’s entertainment value has almost completely gone, given that:

1. Our protagonist is not just an airhead; now, she’s self-absorbed and unsympathetic
2. Any characters with mildly interesting quirks have lost their sparks. Sinclair, for instance, is a sappy version of his snobbish, dangerous self
3. There ...more

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