I’m always up to read a good poem. Mostly because they have so many layers and interpretations. It doesn’t matter how often I read a poem, depending on my mood, the weather, etc. I get something else out of the words that I didn’t find before.
The main words that came to me when reading this poem was curfews and darkness. There was something almost gothic and restrictive about the prose. I loved the mystery that it added to my reading.
Then there was the theme of constantly moving and hiding. Constantly learning new things. And always having to shift about. I can’t imagine being immortal and this constant shifting and darkness just reinforced that idea.
There are a lot of books on my shelves that have some kind of age gap. But, the age gap in this story is definitely a whole lot bigger. Probably because it’s between a college girl and a vampire. So that kind of makes sense. I’ve read a lot of fantasy books that feature this kind of age gap. But, for some reason, in this short story, that just felt slightly… wrong.
I think part of the reason that the age gap and relationship in this story felt wrong was that it felt kind of like the girl was being used. She definitely had feelings for the older vampire, but he didn’t seem to have them for her. It was an interesting story, but I definitely felt bad for the young girl. She even seemed to be aware of the fact that she was just being used to pass the time / decades…
There is so much history that must be seen by an immortal. I too would want to ask a thousand questions. So being constantly told “I forget” would drive me absolutely bonkers. I mean, seriously? So much knowledge, and no chance of having ANY of it shared? Even reading this drove me a little bit nuts…
This is one of those collections that I’ve stopped and started multiple times. Because sometimes that’s what I do with a short story collection. And yet, I have enjoyed reading it almost every step of the way. There’s always something fun and interesting about a collection edited by Ellen Datlow.
Vampire stories are one of those things that I’m very much on the fence about. I mean, I often enjoy them. But because of the naughties, they became something that was slightly overdone. Probably one of the reasons this book came in and out of my shelves so much – I enjoyed it but didn’t want to overdo it either.
The stories in this run the gambit of vampire characterisation. Some are classical. Some are romantic. Some are just a little bit bizarre. But every story was fun and worth reading again.
My first novella in this series – although not my first by this author. I love the premise that this is a world in which vampires are common knowledge and out in the open. Although, they aren’t exactly sorted in the whole figuring out their rights. I’m definitely keen to read more of this series – I love a good, clever romance. And I particularly love those that make you think about the way we treat other in real life.
I love the moment when the lead female realises that she’s got an unwilling housemate. All because of a horrible, manipulative woman. One that does eventually get her own comeuppance, but still. The shock of just finding a random man in the house you think you have to yourself? Slightly horrifying, but very entertaining to read about. I particularly love that the relationship that follows in built upon some pretty dodgy and horrible pranks. I mean, the escalation of trying to outdo one another in the annoying factor was kind of hilarious.
Even though you know that this couple is going to end up together, the journey to get there is still really fun. They learn each other through being horrible to one another (which sounds ridiculous, but we really get to know each other when we’re not on our best behaviour). It’s a great way for a relationship to build. And a fantastic way for the lead female to create other relationships and build roots that aren’t romantic in this gorgeous small town.
I love that this is a story about a chef who has a mental breakdown, takes time off and then realises that she has a whole new dream. It’s a great, fun idea that she then decides to become a chef for vampires too. I love the idea of a dinner that caters to both vampires and humans, and all of the other things that go bump in the night…
Sadly, I haven’t gotten as far into the Night Huntress series as I want. Mostly because I’m kind of a series slut and tend to jump around a lot. But, it’s definitely one that I continuously enjoy picking up. And every time I read anything set in this world, I’m reminded why I find this series so exciting and interesting. Alright, this novella takes place a bit further down in the series order, but it was still exciting and seriously enjoyable. There were a few spoilers for things that are going to come up. But, with the way I jump around, I’ll probably have forgotten about some of them by then anyway.
I love that this is a story about Cat just trying to have a nice, relaxing girls’ weekend. And that it completely goes off rails and doesn’t go to plan. I mean, it wouldn’t be a story featuring Cat if anything actually went according to plan. Particularly a weekend that is all about relaxing… instead, Cat and her girlfriend get witch cults, horrors and some kind of ocean goddess. Although, surprisingly there are some survivors at the end… left on purpose and I liked the rationale for not just killing everyone.
Drunk Cat is one of the more humorous things I’ve read in a book in a little while. I mean, she is literally trying to fight the floor. And determined to still go out and kill a bunch of people. Typical Cat stubbornness, and seriously funny in that she actually succeeds in her goals. As bloody and violent as they are.
Through all of the drama and violence, Cat is trying so dang hard to figure out how to be a good mum. As a new mum myself, I understand some of this guilt and challenge. The fact that her child is actually a teenager and was trained to kill… a little bit harder than what I’ve had to go through. Her way of being a good parent and the compromise she reaches at the end is brilliant and reminded me why I love this author and series so much.
This is a very good and fun collection, filled with vampires, sex and lust. All of the good things in a paranormal romance collection of vampires. Alright, so I didn’t actually love the first novella. But other than that, I really loved this. It gave me a few new books / series to read. Because, lots of vampire fun and lust.
I like that there were different levels of spice and yum throughout this collection. Some stories were seriously steamy, others were just a little bit of a lower level. It’s nice to have the different intensities of smut, a good variety in a collection with a very common thread throughout.
I’ve definitely got a few books to continue reading… ones that I can’t wait to dive into.
As keen as I’ve been to actually get into this series (I love some of the older urban fantasy / vampire books), it took me 1) forever to actually pick this up and 2) a little while to actually get into this storyline. I love that Anita’s background (both socially and genetically) is quite a mystery from the very beginning, and it makes you ask a whole lot of questions from the very first page. But, it did take quite a bit to get into the actual action. I appreciated all of the work that Hamilton went to to actually set up the whole background story and this world. But it was also somewhat slow going to get there. Having said that, as soon as I FINALLY started to get into the action, this became a very hard book to put down.
As much as I might lament how long it took to get into the action of this story, I did seriously love how this is the beginning to a series. From the very first page you can feel all the things that Hamilton is trying to set up in her storyline. That there is going to be reveal after reveal throughout the series. There are just so many secrets, not just in some of Anita’s partial immunity, but also what kind of connection she now has to some of the master vampires in the city, the politics that she’s facing going forwards, and whether we’re going to see the rat king again. I also loved that although it’s obvious that Anita has some extra-ness to a normal human, she’s also so completely human. In fact, throughout most the story she tends to lament how human she is and what danger she is placing herself in. The battle is won by intelligence and trickery, not brute force, the only way to win against a bigger and scarier opponent.
I have a lot of urban fantasy / vampire books on my shelves that I truly love reading. However, most of them are most definitely a lot less adult in feeling than this one. There is talk about sex clubs, orgies and fetishes. All things that are not as blatantly addressed in many of my other books. Which, of course is part of what I loved about this. I mean, a lot of people sexualise vampirism today, so why not include that in a story which actually features these beasties? I love how it is such an uncomfortable relationship in this book – the woman who hunts the vampires and the people who fetishise them. There’s a wish to not totally ignore each other and be a total dick, but also serious discomfort which left me feeling a bit uncomfortable on reading some of these scenes too.
Although this was a slow start and it took me a while to fall in love, once I did, I dived right in. I can’t wait to read The Laughing Corpse and hopefully have a few of my lingering questions about Anita answered. Although, I’m sure that there will then be a whole slew of new questions to ask…
I laughed so much throughout this story. It was hilarious and pithy and sassy. Everything I like in a short story that is designed to just sweep you away for a little while. I should have gotten from the title that I would find this humorous, but as the story unfolded I just found everything more and more entertaining.
Bringing families together can always be a fairly intimidating thing to do. It’s almost always slightly chaotic, but the pure, unadulterated chaos in this story was of a whole other kind. The fact that it was going to be chaotic due to the secrets that Rafe was hiding anyway, started it off on a good note. But then the fact that his family basically got Mai’s tightly buttoned crew high… such a ridiculous story. Honestly, everything about this was funnily ridiculous.
I loved this short story. It was a fun and chaotic Christmas family time. Mixing in the paranormal, secrets and drugs… a recipe for pure enjoyment and chaos.
Earth and Skye 