The Dead Girls' Dance (The Morganville Vampires, #2) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Feb 10, 2009 Shannon rated it liked it

Shelves: vampires, paranormal, young-adult, owned, to-sell, novels

I don't know what it is about this series that keeps it from being more than average for me. I like the ideas that Caine comes up with but I don't think she's the greatest writer. I find myself distracted while reading her books and not as emotionally connected as I should be. That being said, I liked it enough to want to continue on with the series and find out what happens with the characters.

This entry in the series starts right where the first book left off. This left me feeling a little los ...more

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May 20, 2010 A book away from an episode of hoarders rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2010, pnr-uf-fantasy, literary-junk-food, adapted-to-screen

The only issue I have is that the title, as well as the back cover, are completely misleading. I liked this book but the Dead Girls Dance is such a small and almost insignifigant part that I can't help but wonder if the person who wrote the synopsis even read the book. All of that aside, I enjoyed it quite a bit and have ordered the next few in the series. ...more

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Feb 28, 2010 Nairabell rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-star, teen-ya-paranormal, read-in-2012

Claire Danvers has overcome a lot of challenges - like being singled out by the on-campus bully Monica, finding out her college town is run by vampires and then upsetting some of the most powerful bloodsuckers in town. But when her boyfriend's vampire hunting father shows up things become even messier. Claire and her friends have protection from Amelie, the most powerful vampire in town, but when the stakes come out that protection could simply vanish.

I loved the first book in the Morganville Va Claire Danvers has overcome a lot of challenges - like being singled out by the on-campus bully Monica, finding out her college town is run by vampires and then upsetting some of the most powerful bloodsuckers in town. But when her boyfriend's vampire hunting father shows up things become even messier. Claire and her friends have protection from Amelie, the most powerful vampire in town, but when the stakes come out that protection could simply vanish.

I loved the first book in the Morganville Vampires series (Glass Houses) and picked this up straight after finishing that. There was a big cliffhanger at the end of the previous book and this installment picks up exactly where the last one left off. The previous book took a while to really get going whereas this plunges straight into the action and holds to a fast pace throughout.

A large part of the plot of this book revolves not around the vampires but around the humans of Morganville. The world building is deepened and more is revealed about how vampires and humans interact and what the rules of living in a place like Morganville are. It is very clever how the human perspective is shown alongside demonstrations of both human and vampire cruelty, showing that fangs aren't a prerequisite for being a bad person.

Claire really grew as a character during the first book and it was great to see her continue to develop her confidence here. She really stands up to the psychotic bully Monica and her lackies and continues to hold her own throughout without becoming cocky or arrogant. More is revealed about Claire's roommates Eve, Michael and Shane. We get to see some revealing interactions between Shane and his father, and some creepy skeletons come tumbling out of Eve's closet.

I was really pleased to see the extract from Eve's diary included at the end of the book again. I love Eve and reading about the events of the book from her perspective is brilliant. We also get to see some things that Claire wouldn't have experienced which really has me desperate for the next book.

All in all this was another great read and I can't wait for Midnight Alley.

Plot: 10/10
Characters: 9/10
Ending: 9/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Cover: 10/10

Overall: 48/50 ...more

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