Claire's Reviews > Guilty Pleasures

"What the hell was I doing standing in the middle of a cave, in the dark, surrounded by wererats, quoting Dr. Seuss, and trying to kill and one-thousand-year-old vampire?"

Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton is the mildly funny, graphic, not-so-romantic debut novel in the Anita Blake series that I found enjoyable overall.  There are some wonderful metaphors and rich descriptions throughout. The action, however, I found to be clunky and disorganized.  I found myself asking, "Wait... how did that happen? Where are they in relationship to the scene?"  I found some of the interactions to be unbelievable, as well, or at least I wasn't provided with enough characterization to have them validated. 

This being her first novel -- and not the first of hers I've read -- I can say with certainty that she improves on these weaknesses in her later works.  I have read the first two books in the Merry Gentry series and found myself far more satisfied both with the writing and the stronger emphasis on the romance (it is supposed to be paranormal romance, after all!)

It seems as though Hamilton was still finding her voice in this piece; it comes out strong and wonderful in many places, but lacking in others. I'm going to go back to Merry Gentry for now, but will consider continuing the Anita Blake series in the future.