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Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #16
Blood Noir
A favor for a friend puts Anita Blake in the center of a full-blown scandal that threatens master vampire Jean- Claude's reign-and makes her a pawn in an ancient vampire queen's new rise to power.
364 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 27, 2008
494 people are currently reading
10.8k people want to read
About the author
Laurell K. Hamilton
395books25.4kfollowersLaurell K. Hamilton is one of the leading writers of paranormal fiction. A #1 New York Times bestselling author, Hamilton writes the popular Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter novels and the Meredith Gentry series. She is also the creator of a bestselling comic book series based on her Anita Blake novels and published by Marvel Comics. Hamilton is a full-time writer and lives in the suburbs of St. Louis with her family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,131 reviews
June 1, 2008
SUPERSLUT POWERS, ACTIVATE! Superslut Anita Blake is back! While the overall story was good, Hamilton's attempt at erotica, as usual, was lacking. When reading erotica, I expect, well, MORE. The erotic sections are bland and unimaginative. The horrible display of BDSM is appalling in that Hamilton has a main character in the series IGNORE the safe word. No matter how well the characters know each other, there is no justification for ignoring the safe word.
If Hamilton wants to improve the erotic portions of her work, she should provide more details to fire the readers' imagination. Longtime readers know that Micah is better endowed than Richard who is in turn larger than Jason, but in erotica, size matters, give us the details - how large is large? In "Blood Noir" we are told several times that Anita is riveted by Jason's stomach - could not figure out if he was doing crunches or what, but it would help the reader to have more detail. I presume since Jason is a stripper that he has an appealing and ripped body, but details would help feed the imagination. It takes more to fire the imagination than stating that Jason has business-short blond hair, a shade of blond of which Hollywood stars are envious. Yes, we know Jason, he's been a supporting character forever, but please provide details if you want us to lust over him in the scenes. Lack of more personal details and more imaginative sex, drags down the erotic sections of the book as it has with previous books. Unfortunately, by this point in the series, the ardeur is played out. How many people superslut Blake can perform with to save everyone is too cliché, as we all know that is the only way Anita can save the day anymore.
Excluding the unimaginative erotic portions of the book, the story was a nice piece on Jason. Jason has been one of my favorite characters since his too brief appearance back in "Lunatic Café." It's good to see him featured and learn more about his past, his family, and his motivations. Fortunately, as in the last few books, the erotic scenes are becoming fewer, but unfortunately, they are the only scenes giving the book direction.
What was missing was the paranormal. Where were the zombie raisings? Where was the use of Anita's necromancer abilities? Is her power growing? If so, how and to what extent? As in the last few books, the Mother of Darkness makes some appearances and Anita goes in superslut mode. Anita appears to be a necromancer in name only these days. Gone are the days of true action and paranormal abilities outside the tiresome ardeur.
I miss her stuffed toys, her coffee mugs to irritate Bert, how she flaunts her wardrobe at Animators, Inc. to irritate Bert. I miss new and/or interesting villains - dragging out the Mother of Darkness storyline into each and every book is becoming repetitive and indicative of lazy writing. Anita lacks substance these days as she threads water. What happened to the days when Anita was trying to save children and people and struggled with real world issues in a paranormal world?
Please do not get me wrong, as the book is a good read for the Jason story, but for the love of God, please do yourself a favor and skip over the bad erotica, unless bad porn is your thing.
If Hamilton wants to improve the erotic portions of her work, she should provide more details to fire the readers' imagination. Longtime readers know that Micah is better endowed than Richard who is in turn larger than Jason, but in erotica, size matters, give us the details - how large is large? In "Blood Noir" we are told several times that Anita is riveted by Jason's stomach - could not figure out if he was doing crunches or what, but it would help the reader to have more detail. I presume since Jason is a stripper that he has an appealing and ripped body, but details would help feed the imagination. It takes more to fire the imagination than stating that Jason has business-short blond hair, a shade of blond of which Hollywood stars are envious. Yes, we know Jason, he's been a supporting character forever, but please provide details if you want us to lust over him in the scenes. Lack of more personal details and more imaginative sex, drags down the erotic sections of the book as it has with previous books. Unfortunately, by this point in the series, the ardeur is played out. How many people superslut Blake can perform with to save everyone is too cliché, as we all know that is the only way Anita can save the day anymore.
Excluding the unimaginative erotic portions of the book, the story was a nice piece on Jason. Jason has been one of my favorite characters since his too brief appearance back in "Lunatic Café." It's good to see him featured and learn more about his past, his family, and his motivations. Fortunately, as in the last few books, the erotic scenes are becoming fewer, but unfortunately, they are the only scenes giving the book direction.
What was missing was the paranormal. Where were the zombie raisings? Where was the use of Anita's necromancer abilities? Is her power growing? If so, how and to what extent? As in the last few books, the Mother of Darkness makes some appearances and Anita goes in superslut mode. Anita appears to be a necromancer in name only these days. Gone are the days of true action and paranormal abilities outside the tiresome ardeur.
I miss her stuffed toys, her coffee mugs to irritate Bert, how she flaunts her wardrobe at Animators, Inc. to irritate Bert. I miss new and/or interesting villains - dragging out the Mother of Darkness storyline into each and every book is becoming repetitive and indicative of lazy writing. Anita lacks substance these days as she threads water. What happened to the days when Anita was trying to save children and people and struggled with real world issues in a paranormal world?
Please do not get me wrong, as the book is a good read for the Jason story, but for the love of God, please do yourself a favor and skip over the bad erotica, unless bad porn is your thing.
February 23, 2009
I have decided to write off this series and not pick it up every again. Hamilton has no sense of timing or style any longer. She repeats phrases within paragraphs of each other. Her one liners don't hold the same endearing quality and charm they once used to. My fiance' skipped entire chapters of "sex scenes" to get to the story and had it read in a matter of hours.
The message boards are alight today! Part of the problem might be her "die hard" fans that won't hear any bad critique, and keep telling her to write the sloppy mess the Anita Blake series has become. Even here on ŷ, the only Hamilton group has a softly worded warning telling you not to talk about how bad they have become.
I suppose I should start my own Hamilton group and provide her with the real support a true fan would...and tell her it's all gone to shit and she needs to turn it around before her sells get too low. Working in a library I can tell you this, her holdings for the new book are sad, only five. As compared to only three Blake books ago on release week it topped over forty.
Don't even get me started on the graphic novels.
UPDATE (1-22-09):
Okay, I'm trying to read this again. I'm in chapter 6 and the thought has occurred to me to edit the book to my liking. The copy I have is a water damaged library withdrawn and I could just attack it with a pen and see what I'm left with. This could be fun! I'll let you know when I'm done, and how many pages I remove.
The message boards are alight today! Part of the problem might be her "die hard" fans that won't hear any bad critique, and keep telling her to write the sloppy mess the Anita Blake series has become. Even here on ŷ, the only Hamilton group has a softly worded warning telling you not to talk about how bad they have become.
I suppose I should start my own Hamilton group and provide her with the real support a true fan would...and tell her it's all gone to shit and she needs to turn it around before her sells get too low. Working in a library I can tell you this, her holdings for the new book are sad, only five. As compared to only three Blake books ago on release week it topped over forty.
Don't even get me started on the graphic novels.
UPDATE (1-22-09):
Okay, I'm trying to read this again. I'm in chapter 6 and the thought has occurred to me to edit the book to my liking. The copy I have is a water damaged library withdrawn and I could just attack it with a pen and see what I'm left with. This could be fun! I'll let you know when I'm done, and how many pages I remove.
September 15, 2014
Jason Schuyler's dad is about ready to die, and Jason needs to bring back a girlfriend so his dad can die knowing that Jason wasn't gay. Yes, this is a plotline too cheesy for the most sappy of Lifetime movies, but whatever. We need to know more about Jason now, so this is the plot we have to work with.
So Jason takes Anita Blake back to his home to visit his family. Why not his girlfriend from the last few books, Perdita? Oh, she's a harpy that won't let Jason sleep around and wants monogamy. And of course, it's totally OK for Jason to not want monogamy, even though in "Danse Macabre", Anita chewed Ronnie out for the same damn thing.
The two head to Jason's home and more stupid crazy barely sitcom worthy plots appear: look-alike cousins! Drunk brides! A cheating politician's son! And of course some vampires and werebeasts because Anita hasn't added a new man to her roster yet.
Saying that the Anita Blake series (particularly these last few books) is a strange, addictive kind of awful is a bit boring, particularly if you have been saying it for at least 6 books. And in my case, someone who is not a fan and is just trying to observe and analyze the phenomenon, I've been critiquing this series from book 1. So if you've been bored of me saying "Anita Blake is horrible" and "The writing sucks", I can completely understand.
So, to spice things up, I've decided to tell this review in pictures that convey how I feel about different portions of the review. After the pictures, I'd like to try to summarize in the briefest of words my thoughts and then provide some quotes, if applicable.
Without further ado: Blood Noir, a Review in Pictures
Anita Blake
Times She Asks “What does it mean?�: >11
Times Anita Analyzes a Handshake: 3 (Phyllis, Iris, and Alex)
Anita Blake. Vampire Hunter. The Executioner. Necromancer. And about a bajillion other titles. She’s the protagonist of the series, but as the series continues, it’s harder and harder to think of her as a straight protagonist. Her powers are uncontrollable. They continue to expand exponentially, often taking control of those around her, and no one, least of all Anita herself, even THINKS to try to find a way to get rid of them.
She continues to be the same hypocrite, rude, sexist, narcissist, who still hasn’t gotten over the fact it’s OK to want sex, she has been in the last 15 books:
And because LKH feels the need to tell us how awesome Anita is (in case all her spangly super powers don’t already prove it), she makes sure to intersperse the dialogue with lots of compliments to Anita � most of them compliments Anita does not deserve:
Anita Blake and Jason Schuyler
What is Anita’s relationship to Jason? Does she love him or just love having sex with him? Or maybe…who cares? At this point in the book, Jason is just one of many: Jean-Claude, Richard, Asher, Damien, Micah, Nathaniel, Requiem, London, and Haven (sorta). Why do we care about his story? Why do we care about his relationship with Anita? Why is it important for them to figure out whether they are boyfriend/girlfriend (I’m sorry, “lovers�, because Anita says that “boyfriend� sounds “too junior high�) or f-buddies? And why must Jason be yet another one of the men with a history of abuse (albeit not sexual or openly physical abuse)? Does no one in these books have a semi-normal childhood?
The Characters
Good luck trying to pick out the characters in this book. You have the evil, bigoted father, the tender-hearted, long-suffering mother, the bubbly sister, the grumpy sister, the drunk bride, the quirky maid of honor, the d-bag politician’s son who can’t help but cheat on his fiancé, and a thousand other clichés. Even characters like Jean-Claude, Richard, Nathaniel, and Micah are almost indiscernible from the noise of so many characters.
A Bridal Party
After Jason sees his father in the hospital, he and Anita make their way to the best hotel in the town. Of course, that is the hotel that Keith Summerland’s fiancée is using for her bachelorette party. And thus ensues more “hijinks� and “delightful misunderstandings�, kissing Anita Sue’s @$$, and generally making women look like a horrible species.
Pre-Coital Consensual Sex
What sex scene is complete without a couple of chapters or 10 having the characters talk about their horrible childhoods? Or whine about the metaphysical crap that has happened to them? Or ask each other questions about stuff you the reader have known since book 1?
What do you mean that is a mood killer?
The Sex
Grabbing people’s thighs, sports cuffs and safe words like “Enough� are totally BDSM!
Black-Out Non-Consensual Sex
There is so totally NOTHING WRONG with waking up and finding out you had sex with three men (two of them complete strangers) for the past two days! You don’t really need to freak out or ANYTHING!
The Wrap Up
Eh, writing conclusions are so tough. And who wants to write a main character investigating bad guys? Let’s just spend the last few chapters wrapping it up.
The Writing
And because it wouldn’t be LKH without some amazing writing, here we go!
In some ways “Blood Noir� wasn’t half bad, but what hurts the book most is its pointlessness. Jason has been around for almost 10 books; I really wasn’t looking for a book dealing with his drama (particularly when it was the same “My daddy abused me wah wah� type). We already had a book with Anita and one of her lovers heading to a crime, and that book (“Micah�) was a lot better than this one because A) it was shorter and B) it bothered to actually address the plot. And then we have the lamest plot contrivance ever; when your characters are calling out how stupid your plot is, maybe you ought to rethink what you are writing.
Once again, if you’ve loved the books up to now, you’ll probably love this, but if you’re a fan and have not liked the last few books, this isn’t going to win you over (unless maybe you are a die-hard Jason fan). Whatever you do, don’t buy this book. Be kind to your trees and check this out from the library.
So Jason takes Anita Blake back to his home to visit his family. Why not his girlfriend from the last few books, Perdita? Oh, she's a harpy that won't let Jason sleep around and wants monogamy. And of course, it's totally OK for Jason to not want monogamy, even though in "Danse Macabre", Anita chewed Ronnie out for the same damn thing.
The two head to Jason's home and more stupid crazy barely sitcom worthy plots appear: look-alike cousins! Drunk brides! A cheating politician's son! And of course some vampires and werebeasts because Anita hasn't added a new man to her roster yet.
Saying that the Anita Blake series (particularly these last few books) is a strange, addictive kind of awful is a bit boring, particularly if you have been saying it for at least 6 books. And in my case, someone who is not a fan and is just trying to observe and analyze the phenomenon, I've been critiquing this series from book 1. So if you've been bored of me saying "Anita Blake is horrible" and "The writing sucks", I can completely understand.
So, to spice things up, I've decided to tell this review in pictures that convey how I feel about different portions of the review. After the pictures, I'd like to try to summarize in the briefest of words my thoughts and then provide some quotes, if applicable.
Without further ado: Blood Noir, a Review in Pictures
Anita Blake
Times She Asks “What does it mean?�: >11
Times Anita Analyzes a Handshake: 3 (Phyllis, Iris, and Alex)
Anita Blake. Vampire Hunter. The Executioner. Necromancer. And about a bajillion other titles. She’s the protagonist of the series, but as the series continues, it’s harder and harder to think of her as a straight protagonist. Her powers are uncontrollable. They continue to expand exponentially, often taking control of those around her, and no one, least of all Anita herself, even THINKS to try to find a way to get rid of them.
She continues to be the same hypocrite, rude, sexist, narcissist, who still hasn’t gotten over the fact it’s OK to want sex, she has been in the last 15 books:
“And you just made all of your old friends think that I would allow any boyfriend of mine to ignore me for an hour as he was pawed by old lovers.�
It’s not OK if you cheat on me. Now, me having sex with another man, that’s OK, because I have the ardeur and it needs to FEED.
“Why was it always wrong for me to admit that I simply wanted to be with someone - not because I had no choice, but because for once, I did?"
I don’t know, Anita; I would think after having regular, frequent sex for the last 10 books, you would be OK with it now.
“You don't have any hobbies. You don't do anything to relax, except sex."
Uh, this doesn’t sound like a hobby; it sounds like a sex addict.
"If he'd been a girlfriend, I'd have asked by now, but guy friends are different. Sometimes you have to sneak up on them like some sort of wild animal...all men are leery of their emotions. Spook them and they'll shut down. If you're careful, quiet, not too eager, sometimes you'll learn more."
"Men need privacy when they finally break down."
Ah, patriarchy. So nice to see you are alive and well…not!
“To have someone who says she loves you limit how you express yourself in the bedroom is like a small death. It kills the soul.�
If he isn’t getting pleased, it’s not because they are sexually not compatible. Oh, no, it’s HER fault for squelching him.
“Could I just not tell the difference? …Was I so confused about sex and love that without Nathaniel or someone else, I couldn’t tell the difference between wanting a man for lust and wanting him for love?�
“The concept of one single person being the all, end all for you, that I missed."
Because having eight men fawn over you and worship you is just so bleh compared to one.
And because LKH feels the need to tell us how awesome Anita is (in case all her spangly super powers don’t already prove it), she makes sure to intersperse the dialogue with lots of compliments to Anita � most of them compliments Anita does not deserve:
”I didn't mean any disrespect.� (Peterson)
“Yeah, you did, but my ego doesn't bruise that easily.� (Anita)
"You are one of the most grown-up people I know." Jason to Anita
"But then, you are one of the least commitment phobic people I know.�
I stared down at him. “I know some people who might argue that with you.�
“I know there are people who would argue that I have no self-control at all.�
“They're just jealous,� he whispered.
Anita Blake and Jason Schuyler
What is Anita’s relationship to Jason? Does she love him or just love having sex with him? Or maybe…who cares? At this point in the book, Jason is just one of many: Jean-Claude, Richard, Asher, Damien, Micah, Nathaniel, Requiem, London, and Haven (sorta). Why do we care about his story? Why do we care about his relationship with Anita? Why is it important for them to figure out whether they are boyfriend/girlfriend (I’m sorry, “lovers�, because Anita says that “boyfriend� sounds “too junior high�) or f-buddies? And why must Jason be yet another one of the men with a history of abuse (albeit not sexual or openly physical abuse)? Does no one in these books have a semi-normal childhood?
The Characters
Good luck trying to pick out the characters in this book. You have the evil, bigoted father, the tender-hearted, long-suffering mother, the bubbly sister, the grumpy sister, the drunk bride, the quirky maid of honor, the d-bag politician’s son who can’t help but cheat on his fiancé, and a thousand other clichés. Even characters like Jean-Claude, Richard, Nathaniel, and Micah are almost indiscernible from the noise of so many characters.
A Bridal Party
After Jason sees his father in the hospital, he and Anita make their way to the best hotel in the town. Of course, that is the hotel that Keith Summerland’s fiancée is using for her bachelorette party. And thus ensues more “hijinks� and “delightful misunderstandings�, kissing Anita Sue’s @$$, and generally making women look like a horrible species.
Pre-Coital Consensual Sex
What sex scene is complete without a couple of chapters or 10 having the characters talk about their horrible childhoods? Or whine about the metaphysical crap that has happened to them? Or ask each other questions about stuff you the reader have known since book 1?
What do you mean that is a mood killer?
The Sex
Grabbing people’s thighs, sports cuffs and safe words like “Enough� are totally BDSM!
Black-Out Non-Consensual Sex
There is so totally NOTHING WRONG with waking up and finding out you had sex with three men (two of them complete strangers) for the past two days! You don’t really need to freak out or ANYTHING!
The Wrap Up
Eh, writing conclusions are so tough. And who wants to write a main character investigating bad guys? Let’s just spend the last few chapters wrapping it up.
The Writing
And because it wouldn’t be LKH without some amazing writing, here we go!
"He lived on that emotional edge for me. That edge that felt familiar. The edge that Nathaniel had lived on for awhile. The edge that Asher had lived on."
“His eyes were all blue skies, spring skies. But as he leaned in towards me, the blue deepened so that his eyes were the color of summer and nothing as soft as spring.�
"He was thinking so loud, I could almost hear it."
"I heard that sound, not with my ears but with my skin."
"It was wrong, too, that I couldn't figure out what was wrong."
"Jason felt my emotions, felt what Richard made me feel."
"The quiet was strangely loud, as if I could feel him thinking furiously."
In some ways “Blood Noir� wasn’t half bad, but what hurts the book most is its pointlessness. Jason has been around for almost 10 books; I really wasn’t looking for a book dealing with his drama (particularly when it was the same “My daddy abused me wah wah� type). We already had a book with Anita and one of her lovers heading to a crime, and that book (“Micah�) was a lot better than this one because A) it was shorter and B) it bothered to actually address the plot. And then we have the lamest plot contrivance ever; when your characters are calling out how stupid your plot is, maybe you ought to rethink what you are writing.
Once again, if you’ve loved the books up to now, you’ll probably love this, but if you’re a fan and have not liked the last few books, this isn’t going to win you over (unless maybe you are a die-hard Jason fan). Whatever you do, don’t buy this book. Be kind to your trees and check this out from the library.
June 7, 2008
Hey, does anyone else remember when the Anita Blake books were actually kind of mysteries, with plots and everything? Instead of page after page of the most boring-ass relationship dissection discussions ever, all of which you have read several times before? Seriously, this book advances the overall plot in the Blake oeuvre not at all. Ninety percent of the book is Anita and Jason either talking about sex or having sex, with special guest appearances by other characters having sex or talking sex with Anita. And all of the discussions and sex acts serve to prove two things: 1., Anita remains frustratingly dense about the most basic social interactions and psychology, and 2., despite this fact, she is still the hottest woman ever and everyone and everything in the world, whether male or female, living or dead, human or not, desires to have huge amounts of sex with her.
Then Marmee Noir makes one teensy and ambiguous move, and then you get the standard last chapter that attempts to wrap up and advance every idea brought forth in the rest of the book in 3 sentences or less.
The writing in this series has also continued to go seriously downhill. I used to love the dark atmosphere the early books created, but more and more, this series reads like transcripts from a sex addict's boring therapy sessions. Personally, I feel that Hamilton has fallen too much in love with her characters, and ignores things like PLOT that tend to get in the way of her endless noodling around in her beloved characters' psyches. (The fact that she over-identifies with Anita has been obvious since one compared the author photo to the character's physical description in the very first book, but this trend has also gotten worse as time goes on.)
One more petty thing that bugged the heck out of me this time around - all the characters took to saying "like" a lot, and it was punctuated incorrectly EVERY TIME. For example, someone would say "That's like really awesome of you," as opposed to "That's, like, really awesome of you." (And sad to say, that's pretty much the typical level of the discourse in this book.)
I certainly don't think I'll be rushing out to buy any more of these.
Then Marmee Noir makes one teensy and ambiguous move, and then you get the standard last chapter that attempts to wrap up and advance every idea brought forth in the rest of the book in 3 sentences or less.
The writing in this series has also continued to go seriously downhill. I used to love the dark atmosphere the early books created, but more and more, this series reads like transcripts from a sex addict's boring therapy sessions. Personally, I feel that Hamilton has fallen too much in love with her characters, and ignores things like PLOT that tend to get in the way of her endless noodling around in her beloved characters' psyches. (The fact that she over-identifies with Anita has been obvious since one compared the author photo to the character's physical description in the very first book, but this trend has also gotten worse as time goes on.)
One more petty thing that bugged the heck out of me this time around - all the characters took to saying "like" a lot, and it was punctuated incorrectly EVERY TIME. For example, someone would say "That's like really awesome of you," as opposed to "That's, like, really awesome of you." (And sad to say, that's pretty much the typical level of the discourse in this book.)
I certainly don't think I'll be rushing out to buy any more of these.
June 26, 2008
I wouldn't say this continued the downhill drive of the Anita Blake books, but perhaps it hit a plateau. It has the same flaws as most of the recent books in the series- poorly written erotica, far too much navel gazing, not enough meaty plot- but the flaws seem to have been acknowledged and have been worked on.
There were only two of the over-the-top erotica scenes, both with Jason (although one included Nathaniel), although I could have done without the preceding chapter of discussion of who, where,why, and how the sex was going to take place before each scene. There was a third scene that is only alluded to, which is even more pleasantly surprising. I don't think we can expect a change from the multiple partners and graphic yet not sexy scenes- that seems to, as Anita would say, "flat do it" for LKH- but at least she seems to be using the scenes and lifestyle reasonably.
As far as the plottiness of the book is concerned, it was a little light until the end. Mostly, there is a lot of introspection and wibbling from Anita about her relationship with Jason, and a lot of background on Jason, his hometown, and his family... and then wham! Quite a bit of action at the end. Still, we haven't seen a lot of Marshal Anita Blake in recent novels, so it was nice to see those elements re-emerge. It gives me hope there may be even more in the next novel, as from what I understand, this was intended to be more of a "side" novel ala . Anita even references both of her jobs, as federal marshal and reanimator, so maybe eventually we'll actually see her do them again.
As you can expect, there is of course a lot of wonky ardeur complications, Marmee Noir antics, and ever more were-animals insinuating themselves into Anita's life. However, in the plus column, although we see the usual wanky Richard, we also see Richard as he was in the early days. Dare I say I have hope for his character, too?
All in all, it seem that LKH has heard her fans' concerns, and is addressing them to some small degree. I do believe that some things will never change, and those that keep reading the series will have to live with the ardeur and the "his-em", as I have heard LKH call Anita's bevy of men, as well as Anita's continually growing powers. I think the best we'll get is a blend between old Anita's action-packed adventures and new Anita's erotically charged ones. I guess I can live with that.
ETA: Reading reviews, I remembered a couple other little quibbles I had. First, the dialog. My god, these characters should not be tossing "like" into their sentences like teenage MySpacers, especially when it's inconsistent with their speech patterns from previous books. As well, every time Jason referred to someone as "soooo hot," it yanked me out of the conversation. I know he's supposed to be a bit frivolous on the surface, but really; again, he's not a thirteen year old girl. I like Jason, he's one of my favorite characters, so LKH, please, stop undermining him.
Second, complete FAIL on understanding how birth-control works. One missed pill should not create the pregnancy angst and drama that it did in this book, especially since Anita's pregnancy "scare" a few books back was a complete false alarm.
Ahem. Anyway. Two stars. Or, for Anita and company, like soooo two stars.
ETA 2 (last time, I swear): This is a response I posted to a review that assumed that those of us that are critical of the book are prudes and should just stop reading if we hate the books so much (you know, the typical "troo" line of thinking):
"I don't think it's fair to call fans disappointed with the series "prudes" or "whining wankers." I'm personally a fan of romance and erotica, so the sex isn't the issue for me. It's how the characters have changed so drastically from where they started off. Re-read Guilty Pleasures or The Laughing Corpse and then re-read Danse Macabre. It's barely believable that this is the same protagonist, and the same series. That's the issue most of us have. Yes, I understand character development, but the series has become something completely, totally different than where it started, and many of us, who still consider ourselves fans, miss seeing Anita working at Animators Inc and solving crimes, which has gone missing in favor of the long, involved, detailed sex scenes. That's the problem, not the fact that the sex is present at all. I cheered when Anita initially slept with Jean-Claude after so many books of sexual tension. I didn't cheer, however, when Micah raped her, or the swan-mane changed on top of her, or when we had a whole book with no action (DM). YMMV. That's the nature of reading and forming an opinion. Just don't call it prudery."
I keep reading because I remember those first 8-10 books, and hope the series will return to its full potential. I don't know about you guys, but that's why I don't just stop reading.
There were only two of the over-the-top erotica scenes, both with Jason (although one included Nathaniel), although I could have done without the preceding chapter of discussion of who, where,why, and how the sex was going to take place before each scene. There was a third scene that is only alluded to, which is even more pleasantly surprising. I don't think we can expect a change from the multiple partners and graphic yet not sexy scenes- that seems to, as Anita would say, "flat do it" for LKH- but at least she seems to be using the scenes and lifestyle reasonably.
As far as the plottiness of the book is concerned, it was a little light until the end. Mostly, there is a lot of introspection and wibbling from Anita about her relationship with Jason, and a lot of background on Jason, his hometown, and his family... and then wham! Quite a bit of action at the end. Still, we haven't seen a lot of Marshal Anita Blake in recent novels, so it was nice to see those elements re-emerge. It gives me hope there may be even more in the next novel, as from what I understand, this was intended to be more of a "side" novel ala . Anita even references both of her jobs, as federal marshal and reanimator, so maybe eventually we'll actually see her do them again.
As you can expect, there is of course a lot of wonky ardeur complications, Marmee Noir antics, and ever more were-animals insinuating themselves into Anita's life. However, in the plus column, although we see the usual wanky Richard, we also see Richard as he was in the early days. Dare I say I have hope for his character, too?
All in all, it seem that LKH has heard her fans' concerns, and is addressing them to some small degree. I do believe that some things will never change, and those that keep reading the series will have to live with the ardeur and the "his-em", as I have heard LKH call Anita's bevy of men, as well as Anita's continually growing powers. I think the best we'll get is a blend between old Anita's action-packed adventures and new Anita's erotically charged ones. I guess I can live with that.
ETA: Reading reviews, I remembered a couple other little quibbles I had. First, the dialog. My god, these characters should not be tossing "like" into their sentences like teenage MySpacers, especially when it's inconsistent with their speech patterns from previous books. As well, every time Jason referred to someone as "soooo hot," it yanked me out of the conversation. I know he's supposed to be a bit frivolous on the surface, but really; again, he's not a thirteen year old girl. I like Jason, he's one of my favorite characters, so LKH, please, stop undermining him.
Second, complete FAIL on understanding how birth-control works. One missed pill should not create the pregnancy angst and drama that it did in this book, especially since Anita's pregnancy "scare" a few books back was a complete false alarm.
Ahem. Anyway. Two stars. Or, for Anita and company, like soooo two stars.
ETA 2 (last time, I swear): This is a response I posted to a review that assumed that those of us that are critical of the book are prudes and should just stop reading if we hate the books so much (you know, the typical "troo" line of thinking):
"I don't think it's fair to call fans disappointed with the series "prudes" or "whining wankers." I'm personally a fan of romance and erotica, so the sex isn't the issue for me. It's how the characters have changed so drastically from where they started off. Re-read Guilty Pleasures or The Laughing Corpse and then re-read Danse Macabre. It's barely believable that this is the same protagonist, and the same series. That's the issue most of us have. Yes, I understand character development, but the series has become something completely, totally different than where it started, and many of us, who still consider ourselves fans, miss seeing Anita working at Animators Inc and solving crimes, which has gone missing in favor of the long, involved, detailed sex scenes. That's the problem, not the fact that the sex is present at all. I cheered when Anita initially slept with Jean-Claude after so many books of sexual tension. I didn't cheer, however, when Micah raped her, or the swan-mane changed on top of her, or when we had a whole book with no action (DM). YMMV. That's the nature of reading and forming an opinion. Just don't call it prudery."
I keep reading because I remember those first 8-10 books, and hope the series will return to its full potential. I don't know about you guys, but that's why I don't just stop reading.
January 26, 2012
Blood Noir is one of my favorite books in the Anita Blake series. The insight to Jason and Anita in this book is exhilarating! The analytical and entirely too serious discussions are intriguing, especially the way everyone responds to them.
Anita Blake; Vampire hunter and animator .. Necromancer .. Succubus .. need I go on? Covered in scars, drowning in anger, dripping with lust and doubt .. you just can’t get much better than Blake. Her character totally rocks and I applaud Hamilton for this entire series. Great job, chickadee!
Anita’s scars:
“No, they aren’t. They ignore them and pretend they aren’t there. Or they stare, but don’t want to. Your cars embarrass people, make them uncomfortable.� � Jason
The explosive and never-ending trap of emotional debris leftover from the on again off again relationship between Blake and Richard is .. well I just don’t like it. They need to leave each other alone or get alone. Something! Anything different from what’s going on with their characters now. I guess I’m just a wee bit tired and bored of Richard walking into the room and throwing a little hissy fit.
The anger that rolls through Anita every time he makes her heart ache is astounding.
There, a little more emotion. I knew the emotion now: anger. I should have fought it. Anger is bad when you carry beasts inside you. But I didn’t fight it, I welcomed it. I fed it sweet words and coaxed it hotter. Anger was so much better than the other emotions running through me-emotions so awful I didn’t want to look at them, let alone feel them.
Some insight to our wonderfully funny and full of smiles Jason ..
“I’ve always liked watching people, but then once I thought I’d be an actor. We collect mannerisms the way other people collect stamps.�
And of course.. where there is anger .. there is sorrow.
People talk of sorrow as if it is soft, a thing of water and tears. But true sorrow is not soft. True sorrow is a thing of fire, and rock. It burns your heart, crushes your soul under the weight of mountains. It destroys, and even if you keep breathing, keep going, you die.
The new characters in this book play a significant role in the oncoming books. The tigers are fantastic, and they will become a part of Anita that will consume her and threaten the relationships she currently holds dear.
I recommend this book to all mature adults in need of something interesting. A change. An eye opener..anyone in need of an amazing and entertaining new world of sexiness.
Mild to moderate sexual content. Mild to moderate violence. This book is more about introducing new characters, suffering through old relationships, entrapping new beasts and wading through sensitive family and old friendship dramas.
Now, on to Skin Trade!
Happy reading!! <3
Anita Blake; Vampire hunter and animator .. Necromancer .. Succubus .. need I go on? Covered in scars, drowning in anger, dripping with lust and doubt .. you just can’t get much better than Blake. Her character totally rocks and I applaud Hamilton for this entire series. Great job, chickadee!
Anita’s scars:
“No, they aren’t. They ignore them and pretend they aren’t there. Or they stare, but don’t want to. Your cars embarrass people, make them uncomfortable.� � Jason
The explosive and never-ending trap of emotional debris leftover from the on again off again relationship between Blake and Richard is .. well I just don’t like it. They need to leave each other alone or get alone. Something! Anything different from what’s going on with their characters now. I guess I’m just a wee bit tired and bored of Richard walking into the room and throwing a little hissy fit.
The anger that rolls through Anita every time he makes her heart ache is astounding.
There, a little more emotion. I knew the emotion now: anger. I should have fought it. Anger is bad when you carry beasts inside you. But I didn’t fight it, I welcomed it. I fed it sweet words and coaxed it hotter. Anger was so much better than the other emotions running through me-emotions so awful I didn’t want to look at them, let alone feel them.
Some insight to our wonderfully funny and full of smiles Jason ..
“I’ve always liked watching people, but then once I thought I’d be an actor. We collect mannerisms the way other people collect stamps.�
And of course.. where there is anger .. there is sorrow.
People talk of sorrow as if it is soft, a thing of water and tears. But true sorrow is not soft. True sorrow is a thing of fire, and rock. It burns your heart, crushes your soul under the weight of mountains. It destroys, and even if you keep breathing, keep going, you die.
The new characters in this book play a significant role in the oncoming books. The tigers are fantastic, and they will become a part of Anita that will consume her and threaten the relationships she currently holds dear.
I recommend this book to all mature adults in need of something interesting. A change. An eye opener..anyone in need of an amazing and entertaining new world of sexiness.
Mild to moderate sexual content. Mild to moderate violence. This book is more about introducing new characters, suffering through old relationships, entrapping new beasts and wading through sensitive family and old friendship dramas.
Now, on to Skin Trade!
Happy reading!! <3
June 10, 2008
LKH has a talent for stretching out a single, seemingly pointless scene into chapters of painful-to-read dialogue between characters that does nothing to further the plot. In the course of the last 5 books, Anitas harem of men have become amaeteur therapists for Anita, making unbelievable and often ridiculous observations (re: her beauty, innocence, naivitee, selflessness, etc) that she herself (we are supposed to believe) has never considered. These eye-rolling therapy sessions provide unconvincing justification for Anita's dramatic 180-degree character reversal, in which she transformed from a self-righteous, morally-superior paragon of justice into an intrepid, promiscuous supporter of the BSDM scene.
The plot: Jason's father is dying of cancer and he wants Anita to accompany him home and pretend to be his girlfriend to correct his father's false impression of him as gay. Upon their arrival, Jason's uncanny resemblance to his cousin, the son of a presidential hopeful, creates a media furor over a case of mistaken identity that also has causes problems for Jean-Claude among the vampire community when its reported that Anita has left Jean-Clause to marry his pomme de sang. During the uproar, Marmee Noir the momother of all vampires makes another play at waking from her millennium-old sleep (which she's been doing for the last 3 books now???) and causes trouble for Anita by trying to possess her.
What to expect: more campy self-revelations by Anita as told from the p-of-v of multiple, fawning male studs, boring it-takes-me-three-chapters-to-write-this-scene sex, and another attempt by the author to villify Richard. (Incidentally, he remains the only lover in Anita's revolving harem who doesn't fawn all over her, which is perhaps the reason his is written as a such a pathetic, self-loathing sap.)
Who's missing: Jean-Claude has a phone conversation with Anita, but otherwise remains absent; Asher is mentioned in passing; Damien is missing entirely (thank God!); Edward is on hiatus.
Anita's new conquests: Crispin, a 21-year-old weretiger and Alex Pinn, another weretiger, both of whom she "mind-rolls" with the ardeur under the spell of Marmee Noir.
The plus: you don't have to read the 4-chapter miniumum of gratuitous sex between them since Anita wakes up with amnesia in the hotel room after a 2-say sexathon with the new guys.
Anita's new powers: she magically takes back her "rage" from Richard, gains Jason as her personal animal to call, and Richard gains the power to roll Anita with his own form of ardeur that only works on Anita
The plot thread left hanging: the other masters of the city perceive Jean-Claude as weak because Anita is screwing multiple men, but he's monogomous to her, and the only way to correct this (in the world of LKH) is for Anita to allow Jean-Claude to start having sex with other men for real. Oh, and Anita may need to deliberately infect herself with other wereanimal viruses to combat the 2 tigers she has now.
The plot: Jason's father is dying of cancer and he wants Anita to accompany him home and pretend to be his girlfriend to correct his father's false impression of him as gay. Upon their arrival, Jason's uncanny resemblance to his cousin, the son of a presidential hopeful, creates a media furor over a case of mistaken identity that also has causes problems for Jean-Claude among the vampire community when its reported that Anita has left Jean-Clause to marry his pomme de sang. During the uproar, Marmee Noir the momother of all vampires makes another play at waking from her millennium-old sleep (which she's been doing for the last 3 books now???) and causes trouble for Anita by trying to possess her.
What to expect: more campy self-revelations by Anita as told from the p-of-v of multiple, fawning male studs, boring it-takes-me-three-chapters-to-write-this-scene sex, and another attempt by the author to villify Richard. (Incidentally, he remains the only lover in Anita's revolving harem who doesn't fawn all over her, which is perhaps the reason his is written as a such a pathetic, self-loathing sap.)
Who's missing: Jean-Claude has a phone conversation with Anita, but otherwise remains absent; Asher is mentioned in passing; Damien is missing entirely (thank God!); Edward is on hiatus.
Anita's new conquests: Crispin, a 21-year-old weretiger and Alex Pinn, another weretiger, both of whom she "mind-rolls" with the ardeur under the spell of Marmee Noir.
The plus: you don't have to read the 4-chapter miniumum of gratuitous sex between them since Anita wakes up with amnesia in the hotel room after a 2-say sexathon with the new guys.
Anita's new powers: she magically takes back her "rage" from Richard, gains Jason as her personal animal to call, and Richard gains the power to roll Anita with his own form of ardeur that only works on Anita
The plot thread left hanging: the other masters of the city perceive Jean-Claude as weak because Anita is screwing multiple men, but he's monogomous to her, and the only way to correct this (in the world of LKH) is for Anita to allow Jean-Claude to start having sex with other men for real. Oh, and Anita may need to deliberately infect herself with other wereanimal viruses to combat the 2 tigers she has now.
August 20, 2008
Blood Noir by Laurell K. Hamilton is the 16th (good golly) installment in the sexcapades of Anita Blake, (theoretical) Vampire Hunter. I hate to begin a critique of a book I am trying very hard to be impartial about with snark, but sometimes I just can't help myself.
Ok, game face.
Hamilton has taken a lot of flak for what her series has become and I am not in any way an apologist. When I sit down to think about how the series has evolved over the years, it makes me--like many fans--nostalgic for the early books of the series when she was fighting the good fight. The novels used to follow a case of some sort she was helping the police with or her work as an Animator (that would be a raiser of the dead, not a cartoon-maker). It used to be edgy, engaging and adventurous. The world that Hamilton has created, an alternate earth where vampires and werecritters are 'out' and everyone knows about them, is interesting and rife with storytelling potential. Nonetheless, more and more, it's all about sex and Anita's ever-growing list of metaphysical powers, lovers and emotional issues.
The story follows Anita and her friend-with-benefits Jason as they travel back to his hometown. His father is dying, and she has agreed to pose as his girlfriend in a last-ditch effort on Jason's part to convince his estranged father once and for all that just because he liked theater and dance in school doesn't mean he's gay. Throw in a bit of mistaken identity, a few old girlfriends and a visit from the mother of all vampires and you've got a party.
I've read that this was originally written as a novella and fleshed out for publication as a full-length book and, well, I could believe it. I think it would have been better as a novella, because the stuff crammed into the middle about Marmee Noir (the aforementioned progenitor) is kind of haphazard and left largely unresolved.
In what I think is a first for Hamilton, Anita's two-day sex binge is actually done 'offscreen'. There are actually only two explicit sex scenes in the whole book, the rest (two-day binge and aftermath aside) is actually quite a bit of character development. We learn a lot more about Jason, who has been a favorite character of mine for a long time. His relationship with Anita gains more depth, and I'm glad to see Anita finally connect to someone outside a bedroom context. She has a lot of lovers but very few true friends.
Finally, I have to mention Richard. I really hate the lengths to which Hamilton has gone through to vilify Richard, Anita's long-estranged love interest. I understand that she based him on someone she loved and that when they broke up she felt a need to eviscerate him in prose. What I hate is that she just can't let it drop. She has to keep bringing him back, gives us a glimpse of redemption and a hope for resolution, and then drags him back through the mud. Enough already! I won't spoil what happens, but I will say that there is significant character development with Richard in this book that may open the door to some sort of future resolution with him.
I read this book in two days; I could not put it down. I'm not sure what that says, but I guess it didn't suck as much as the last few. It was shorter, if nothing else, and holy crap she actually kills some vampires. I'd recommend it to the folks who are fans of the series or (like me) still following it in the hope that it will redeem itself. It's left me with a little hope, at least.
Ok, game face.
Hamilton has taken a lot of flak for what her series has become and I am not in any way an apologist. When I sit down to think about how the series has evolved over the years, it makes me--like many fans--nostalgic for the early books of the series when she was fighting the good fight. The novels used to follow a case of some sort she was helping the police with or her work as an Animator (that would be a raiser of the dead, not a cartoon-maker). It used to be edgy, engaging and adventurous. The world that Hamilton has created, an alternate earth where vampires and werecritters are 'out' and everyone knows about them, is interesting and rife with storytelling potential. Nonetheless, more and more, it's all about sex and Anita's ever-growing list of metaphysical powers, lovers and emotional issues.
The story follows Anita and her friend-with-benefits Jason as they travel back to his hometown. His father is dying, and she has agreed to pose as his girlfriend in a last-ditch effort on Jason's part to convince his estranged father once and for all that just because he liked theater and dance in school doesn't mean he's gay. Throw in a bit of mistaken identity, a few old girlfriends and a visit from the mother of all vampires and you've got a party.
I've read that this was originally written as a novella and fleshed out for publication as a full-length book and, well, I could believe it. I think it would have been better as a novella, because the stuff crammed into the middle about Marmee Noir (the aforementioned progenitor) is kind of haphazard and left largely unresolved.
In what I think is a first for Hamilton, Anita's two-day sex binge is actually done 'offscreen'. There are actually only two explicit sex scenes in the whole book, the rest (two-day binge and aftermath aside) is actually quite a bit of character development. We learn a lot more about Jason, who has been a favorite character of mine for a long time. His relationship with Anita gains more depth, and I'm glad to see Anita finally connect to someone outside a bedroom context. She has a lot of lovers but very few true friends.
Finally, I have to mention Richard. I really hate the lengths to which Hamilton has gone through to vilify Richard, Anita's long-estranged love interest. I understand that she based him on someone she loved and that when they broke up she felt a need to eviscerate him in prose. What I hate is that she just can't let it drop. She has to keep bringing him back, gives us a glimpse of redemption and a hope for resolution, and then drags him back through the mud. Enough already! I won't spoil what happens, but I will say that there is significant character development with Richard in this book that may open the door to some sort of future resolution with him.
I read this book in two days; I could not put it down. I'm not sure what that says, but I guess it didn't suck as much as the last few. It was shorter, if nothing else, and holy crap she actually kills some vampires. I'd recommend it to the folks who are fans of the series or (like me) still following it in the hope that it will redeem itself. It's left me with a little hope, at least.
November 30, 2010
I need more than five stars for this one!!!!!!!!!!
Absolutely incredible. This one is my favorite book so far.
I have loved Jason since the beginning, there has always been something about his smiles, his comments, the way he does things that has driven me crazy. When I found out that this was his book I was SOOOOOOOOOOO excited to read it.
The first few chapters had me so incredibly jealous of Anita that I could not stand it!!! :) I loved how Nathanial and Anita took such GREAT care of him when he truly needed his best friends.
I wasn't sure what to expect of the the trip Jason and Anita took together. Once they got there I thought it might just be a trip down memory lane, kind of like Micah's book, but I was so surprised with what happened in this one!!!
I absolutely loved the hospital scene when Anita first meets Jason's family. She was classic Anita and I loved what she said and did for Jason.
When things got interesting, Anita Blake interesting I was blown away. Mommy Dearest was incredible in this book too. I know that sounds kind of like an oxy moron but she really was a huge part of this one, both really bad and really good.
Loved meeting Crispin and really hope to see more of him!!!! Alex was pretty interesting too, but wow Crispin!!!
Richard, Oh God what do I even say about Richard. There are times when I could just hug him and so glad that he is around, but then in a blink of an eye I could kill him!!!
The way he and his boys showed up in this one was amazing. Well written scene and Richard was Ulfric and he was amazing. The way he took care of Anita when she was falling apart, I loved him at that moment.
Then all hell breaks loose and I was ready to rip Richard's head off.
So many emotions in this book.
The ending, well the last few chapters of this book, I was completely on edge. I was so afraid of what was going to happen. I really hoped and prayed things would not happen the way that they headed!
Anita turned into her strong, confidant executioner and I was literally cheering for her.
The ending was incredible and I have to say that this one has been my favorite so far. Which is a lot to say considering how good all the books are. But there is something about Jason that just steals my heart. I love him and Nathanial, a lot.
I could not stop reading this book, I stayed up until the early morning hours to finish it. I just could not put it down.
I am devouring these books, but I can't slow down. It has become my addiction and I want more and more and more!!!!
Absolutely incredible. This one is my favorite book so far.
I have loved Jason since the beginning, there has always been something about his smiles, his comments, the way he does things that has driven me crazy. When I found out that this was his book I was SOOOOOOOOOOO excited to read it.
The first few chapters had me so incredibly jealous of Anita that I could not stand it!!! :) I loved how Nathanial and Anita took such GREAT care of him when he truly needed his best friends.
I wasn't sure what to expect of the the trip Jason and Anita took together. Once they got there I thought it might just be a trip down memory lane, kind of like Micah's book, but I was so surprised with what happened in this one!!!
I absolutely loved the hospital scene when Anita first meets Jason's family. She was classic Anita and I loved what she said and did for Jason.
When things got interesting, Anita Blake interesting I was blown away. Mommy Dearest was incredible in this book too. I know that sounds kind of like an oxy moron but she really was a huge part of this one, both really bad and really good.
Loved meeting Crispin and really hope to see more of him!!!! Alex was pretty interesting too, but wow Crispin!!!
Richard, Oh God what do I even say about Richard. There are times when I could just hug him and so glad that he is around, but then in a blink of an eye I could kill him!!!
The way he and his boys showed up in this one was amazing. Well written scene and Richard was Ulfric and he was amazing. The way he took care of Anita when she was falling apart, I loved him at that moment.
Then all hell breaks loose and I was ready to rip Richard's head off.
So many emotions in this book.
The ending, well the last few chapters of this book, I was completely on edge. I was so afraid of what was going to happen. I really hoped and prayed things would not happen the way that they headed!
Anita turned into her strong, confidant executioner and I was literally cheering for her.
The ending was incredible and I have to say that this one has been my favorite so far. Which is a lot to say considering how good all the books are. But there is something about Jason that just steals my heart. I love him and Nathanial, a lot.
I could not stop reading this book, I stayed up until the early morning hours to finish it. I just could not put it down.
I am devouring these books, but I can't slow down. It has become my addiction and I want more and more and more!!!!
October 23, 2014
If you liked the first 5 books of the Anita Blake series, thought the next 5 were going downhill somewhat & thought the next 5 descended into romance & page counts, then you feel about the series as I do. If you thought the writing got poorer in the past few, we also agree. If you felt ripped off by "Micah", we still agree. In that case, don't bother to read this book. Seriously, keep the few good memories you have.
I'm afraid that Hamilton has had it as a writer. This was the worst book I've read in the past couple of years. Certainly the worst one I finished. Why did I? Because I've read the all the previous ones & I skimmed a LOT with the forlorn hope that things would get better. Also, the book was given to me.
The plot was poor & half the book took place in one hotel room. Bring lots of cheese, because all the characters do is whine about & to each other about their lives, feelings, relationships & powers. The only displays of the last are filled with remorse, anger & desire - but the last isn't even very well done. It's not even good soft porn. Basically, it's a very negative play of how to have bad, supernatural relationships & spend hundreds of pages whining about it.
There is no suspense. Every possible suspense element is obvious & hackneyed. They're usually immediately revealed. One is saved for the very end, but it is so obvious that I knew it from the start & kept hoping for a twist. Didn't get it though. The book was nothing, if not predictable. I think Hamilton is just tired.
Finally, I got to the last chapter which could have been a good book - should have been the book, with all the wasted pages beforehand edited down to a couple of chapters - at most. In a few terse paragraphs, all the action that should have been in the book is summarized in a very passionless voice. "This happened, that happened, end of story."
Yeah, it's the end of the Anita Blake story for me. It's a shame. I loved the first books but I can't bear to read another.
I'm afraid that Hamilton has had it as a writer. This was the worst book I've read in the past couple of years. Certainly the worst one I finished. Why did I? Because I've read the all the previous ones & I skimmed a LOT with the forlorn hope that things would get better. Also, the book was given to me.
The plot was poor & half the book took place in one hotel room. Bring lots of cheese, because all the characters do is whine about & to each other about their lives, feelings, relationships & powers. The only displays of the last are filled with remorse, anger & desire - but the last isn't even very well done. It's not even good soft porn. Basically, it's a very negative play of how to have bad, supernatural relationships & spend hundreds of pages whining about it.
There is no suspense. Every possible suspense element is obvious & hackneyed. They're usually immediately revealed. One is saved for the very end, but it is so obvious that I knew it from the start & kept hoping for a twist. Didn't get it though. The book was nothing, if not predictable. I think Hamilton is just tired.
Finally, I got to the last chapter which could have been a good book - should have been the book, with all the wasted pages beforehand edited down to a couple of chapters - at most. In a few terse paragraphs, all the action that should have been in the book is summarized in a very passionless voice. "This happened, that happened, end of story."
Yeah, it's the end of the Anita Blake story for me. It's a shame. I loved the first books but I can't bear to read another.
July 13, 2014
Jason’s dad is dying � he has to go home to try and make amends. And make sure his dad knows how very straight he is.
Unfortunately, a case of mistaken identity gets him and Anita drawn into far more drama than expected. And with the Mother of All Darkness popping up at random to play with Anita, some drama is always going to follow Anita around.
Oh lordy, this one’s a doosey, even by the standards set by this series. Cover me, I’m going in.
The book opens with a heavy wollop of ridiculousness. Jason is sad. He is doubly sad. One, the girl he likes/loves/is in a relationship with has dumped him because she wants to be monogamous (how dare she). Two, his dad is dying of cancer
Anita and Nathaniel deal with this by having a threesome with Jason. Of course they do. I mean, when one of your best friends says “my dad is dying� it’s perfect natural to have sex with them, right?
Also because Perdy (Jason’s ex who is female and near one of Anita’s love interests so is obviously EVIL) is the worst person at sex EVER (unlike Anita) and so boring and pedestrian and limited (unlike Anita � though you may prefer Perdy if you prefer your lovers not to shred your skin to the bone with their nails and not to shriek like a chainsawed banshee while having a seizure at orgasm. You may find these things not sexy. In fact Perdy is so boring in bed she is “killing his soul.� No, really, your lover not wanting to be polygamous and have sex on the television is soul killing). So they decide to really go to town � by having sex not in a bed and using Velcro cuffs (OH HOW VERY NAUGHTY!). If this is your definition of edgy kink then you are more vanilla than an ice cream truck. This stands out as especially ridiculous because one of the many many many many oh-gods-so-many angst moments in this book is how desperate Nathaniel was for someone to push his kinky buttons� and this is it?
This is the opening scene and in addition to be especially ridiculous even for an Anita Blake novel contained all of the long standing Anita Blake stalwarts � long windedness, angst, ridiculous description and even when Jason is describing his issues having to take time out to calm down Anita’s ruffled feathers.
Right with that due warning of the ridiculousness within let us delve into the plot. This won’t take long. Jason wants Anita to go with him to see his dying dad (I’ll get back to why in a bit), this is a moment that will be used in a later book with Micah. In both cases Anita actually spends almost no time at all on the grieving loved one and dying relative (Jason actually begs her not to go chasing issues so he can actually focus on his family for five minutes). Unfortunately, Jason looks EXACTLY LIKE another guy who is up to all kinds of naughty shenanigans and is also son of a US presidential candidate who is in town to get married. Hijinks ensue. And by “hijinks� I mean lots of complaining at said candidates security/press detail, before some actual action tucked in at the very end of the book when it turns out said shenanigans are dangerous (and ridiculous).
This is a plot line that your average soap would look at and say “no, this is far too ludicrous.�
The B plot involves the Mother of All Darkness appearing, briefly, again. She does this over several books, she’ll rise, say “boo� magic will be described at vast length, she’ll be described as smelling of Jasmine then Anita will have sex. It happens book after book after book. I actually think Anita isn’t Marmee Noir’s ticket to power or freedom � Anita’s her personal porn channel. She’s sat back in her darkened room in France feverishly masturbating and muttering “work it Anita, now with another wereleopard! Ugh and some tigers! Ohhhh yeah�.�. Yes if I have to live with this mental image, so do you. Anyway she appears, she uses her woo-woo on Anita who now has WERETIGER POWERS which involve having sex with weretigers (this would be the pattern I mentioned). Weretiger queens apparently have the woo-woo ability to send out a psychic, country wide cry that tells all weretiger men “come and shag me!� and they’re compelled to do so unless super powerful. Because there is no group of supernatural creatures in this world that don’t have special sex powers.
Consent being considered highly unnecessary in these books, the weretiger orgy happens while Anita, the tigers and Jason are all whammied by magic, unable to resist and afterwards can’t even remember what they did to each other except that it lasted for over a day. It’s possible it only lasted minutes but because of the way sex scenes are written in this series, everyone just assumed it took a full day. Oh and the young weretiger (Anita likes them young) becomes (another of) her mystical sex slaves. Yay sexual agency.
Once Anita has finished the sexing, the Mother of All Darkness is quiet for the rest of the book. I tell you, she uses Anita for porn, that’s why there’s such breaks between her actually paying attention to Anita.
Back to Jason’s issue � see, his dad thinks he’s gay because Jason is short, has female friends and likes dance. His dad is a homophobe so we’re treated to lots of very not fun homophobia in a book that has one walk-on lesbian who appears for maybe 2 pages: Jean-Claude has been put in that “heteroflexible� box Laurell K Hamilton loves so much and both Jason and Nathaniel overtly confirm straightness in this book � what starts out to be some kind of clumsy object lesson on bisexuality instead ends up just being a useful tool for everyone to assert the essential straightness (and it is really clumsy, because they use Nathaniel to assert that bisexuality exists� then overtly label him as as straight). To bring comfort to this dying man Anita agrees to pretend to be Jason’s girlfriend. No, really, this isn’t a bad soap storyline, it’s in the book.
Unfortunately, a case of mistaken identity gets him and Anita drawn into far more drama than expected. And with the Mother of All Darkness popping up at random to play with Anita, some drama is always going to follow Anita around.
Oh lordy, this one’s a doosey, even by the standards set by this series. Cover me, I’m going in.
The book opens with a heavy wollop of ridiculousness. Jason is sad. He is doubly sad. One, the girl he likes/loves/is in a relationship with has dumped him because she wants to be monogamous (how dare she). Two, his dad is dying of cancer
Anita and Nathaniel deal with this by having a threesome with Jason. Of course they do. I mean, when one of your best friends says “my dad is dying� it’s perfect natural to have sex with them, right?
Also because Perdy (Jason’s ex who is female and near one of Anita’s love interests so is obviously EVIL) is the worst person at sex EVER (unlike Anita) and so boring and pedestrian and limited (unlike Anita � though you may prefer Perdy if you prefer your lovers not to shred your skin to the bone with their nails and not to shriek like a chainsawed banshee while having a seizure at orgasm. You may find these things not sexy. In fact Perdy is so boring in bed she is “killing his soul.� No, really, your lover not wanting to be polygamous and have sex on the television is soul killing). So they decide to really go to town � by having sex not in a bed and using Velcro cuffs (OH HOW VERY NAUGHTY!). If this is your definition of edgy kink then you are more vanilla than an ice cream truck. This stands out as especially ridiculous because one of the many many many many oh-gods-so-many angst moments in this book is how desperate Nathaniel was for someone to push his kinky buttons� and this is it?
This is the opening scene and in addition to be especially ridiculous even for an Anita Blake novel contained all of the long standing Anita Blake stalwarts � long windedness, angst, ridiculous description and even when Jason is describing his issues having to take time out to calm down Anita’s ruffled feathers.
Right with that due warning of the ridiculousness within let us delve into the plot. This won’t take long. Jason wants Anita to go with him to see his dying dad (I’ll get back to why in a bit), this is a moment that will be used in a later book with Micah. In both cases Anita actually spends almost no time at all on the grieving loved one and dying relative (Jason actually begs her not to go chasing issues so he can actually focus on his family for five minutes). Unfortunately, Jason looks EXACTLY LIKE another guy who is up to all kinds of naughty shenanigans and is also son of a US presidential candidate who is in town to get married. Hijinks ensue. And by “hijinks� I mean lots of complaining at said candidates security/press detail, before some actual action tucked in at the very end of the book when it turns out said shenanigans are dangerous (and ridiculous).
This is a plot line that your average soap would look at and say “no, this is far too ludicrous.�
The B plot involves the Mother of All Darkness appearing, briefly, again. She does this over several books, she’ll rise, say “boo� magic will be described at vast length, she’ll be described as smelling of Jasmine then Anita will have sex. It happens book after book after book. I actually think Anita isn’t Marmee Noir’s ticket to power or freedom � Anita’s her personal porn channel. She’s sat back in her darkened room in France feverishly masturbating and muttering “work it Anita, now with another wereleopard! Ugh and some tigers! Ohhhh yeah�.�. Yes if I have to live with this mental image, so do you. Anyway she appears, she uses her woo-woo on Anita who now has WERETIGER POWERS which involve having sex with weretigers (this would be the pattern I mentioned). Weretiger queens apparently have the woo-woo ability to send out a psychic, country wide cry that tells all weretiger men “come and shag me!� and they’re compelled to do so unless super powerful. Because there is no group of supernatural creatures in this world that don’t have special sex powers.
Consent being considered highly unnecessary in these books, the weretiger orgy happens while Anita, the tigers and Jason are all whammied by magic, unable to resist and afterwards can’t even remember what they did to each other except that it lasted for over a day. It’s possible it only lasted minutes but because of the way sex scenes are written in this series, everyone just assumed it took a full day. Oh and the young weretiger (Anita likes them young) becomes (another of) her mystical sex slaves. Yay sexual agency.
Once Anita has finished the sexing, the Mother of All Darkness is quiet for the rest of the book. I tell you, she uses Anita for porn, that’s why there’s such breaks between her actually paying attention to Anita.
Back to Jason’s issue � see, his dad thinks he’s gay because Jason is short, has female friends and likes dance. His dad is a homophobe so we’re treated to lots of very not fun homophobia in a book that has one walk-on lesbian who appears for maybe 2 pages: Jean-Claude has been put in that “heteroflexible� box Laurell K Hamilton loves so much and both Jason and Nathaniel overtly confirm straightness in this book � what starts out to be some kind of clumsy object lesson on bisexuality instead ends up just being a useful tool for everyone to assert the essential straightness (and it is really clumsy, because they use Nathaniel to assert that bisexuality exists� then overtly label him as as straight). To bring comfort to this dying man Anita agrees to pretend to be Jason’s girlfriend. No, really, this isn’t a bad soap storyline, it’s in the book.
January 4, 2015
WTF?
To je asi přesný popis...
Moje první myšlenka byla, že museli změnit překladatele, protože to bylo naprosto diametrální rozdíl.
Ani nevím, co nějak říct. Tohle bylo špatné na tolika úrovních, že to ani nejde popsat. Ničí jednání v podstatě ani nedávalo smysl. Nic z toho, co dělali nedávalo smysl...
Osobní poznámečka: Jestli Anitě došlo až teď, jaký dopad v úpíří komunitě má její chování na J-C postavení, tak je ještě blbější, než jsem si myslela.
Tohle by bylo na 1 hvězdičku, jenomže jak tomu můžu dát 1 hvězdičku a přesto si přečíst další díly? Anita je jistá úroveň nostalgie. Něco co bylo boží, a člověk se k tomu pořád vrací, protože doufá, že to ještě trochu boží bude. NENÍ. Ale naděje zjevně umírá poslední - teda, docela by mě zajímal souboj Anita versus naděje.
To je asi přesný popis...
Moje první myšlenka byla, že museli změnit překladatele, protože to bylo naprosto diametrální rozdíl.
Ani nevím, co nějak říct. Tohle bylo špatné na tolika úrovních, že to ani nejde popsat. Ničí jednání v podstatě ani nedávalo smysl. Nic z toho, co dělali nedávalo smysl...
Osobní poznámečka: Jestli Anitě došlo až teď, jaký dopad v úpíří komunitě má její chování na J-C postavení, tak je ještě blbější, než jsem si myslela.
Tohle by bylo na 1 hvězdičku, jenomže jak tomu můžu dát 1 hvězdičku a přesto si přečíst další díly? Anita je jistá úroveň nostalgie. Něco co bylo boží, a člověk se k tomu pořád vrací, protože doufá, že to ještě trochu boží bude. NENÍ. Ale naděje zjevně umírá poslední - teda, docela by mě zajímal souboj Anita versus naděje.
May 31, 2008
Keep in mind that LKH is one of my favorite authors....
But WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?? Did she forget where she left off in "The Harlequin?" WTF?
This book is a repetitive, disappointing, 340 page, meaningless stroll with Jason.
Why?..... seriously, Why?
I think I'm finally giving up, and that saddens me, because I thoroughly enjoyed this series up until Cerulean Sins. That's 11 amazing, edge of your seat, MUST HAVE, at Barnes and Noble at 3:00am GOOD. It made me a slight addict, but 10 years on anything will do that to a person.
So you can understand my loyalty issues when her next three books after that sucked so bad I literally threw them across the room after FORCING myself to finish them, so I could post them on ebay while it was still new enough to get my money back BAD. I thought ok, nobody's perfect, it'll get better.
Then I stumbled upon the Merry Gentry series,and I thought DAYMN! A completely sexual storyline, with an actual plot. Kinda cool. It was where Anita should've vented, instead of leaking into, and eventually ruining her own story. Those who have read Merry's story knew how it began, and expected it to progress. Anita's declined, as the plot we expected wasn't there anymore.
Then she redeemed herself with "The Harlequin." I was excited again. The talent that began this series was BACK, and I couldn't wait for Blood Noir to be released.
And I got this crap? She made me wait a year for Jason fluff? Really?
Needless to say, if you want to read the book you can find it on ebay, real cheap.
But WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?? Did she forget where she left off in "The Harlequin?" WTF?
This book is a repetitive, disappointing, 340 page, meaningless stroll with Jason.
Why?..... seriously, Why?
I think I'm finally giving up, and that saddens me, because I thoroughly enjoyed this series up until Cerulean Sins. That's 11 amazing, edge of your seat, MUST HAVE, at Barnes and Noble at 3:00am GOOD. It made me a slight addict, but 10 years on anything will do that to a person.
So you can understand my loyalty issues when her next three books after that sucked so bad I literally threw them across the room after FORCING myself to finish them, so I could post them on ebay while it was still new enough to get my money back BAD. I thought ok, nobody's perfect, it'll get better.
Then I stumbled upon the Merry Gentry series,and I thought DAYMN! A completely sexual storyline, with an actual plot. Kinda cool. It was where Anita should've vented, instead of leaking into, and eventually ruining her own story. Those who have read Merry's story knew how it began, and expected it to progress. Anita's declined, as the plot we expected wasn't there anymore.
Then she redeemed herself with "The Harlequin." I was excited again. The talent that began this series was BACK, and I couldn't wait for Blood Noir to be released.
And I got this crap? She made me wait a year for Jason fluff? Really?
Needless to say, if you want to read the book you can find it on ebay, real cheap.
July 9, 2008
I am a newcomer to the Anita-verse. A friend had been urging me to give the series a try for years and I kept blowing her off because it didn't sound like my thing. And then the controversy started. And it blew up to such magnificent proportions complete with full-fledged internet flame wars that I knew I couldn't hold myself back any longer and I picked up the first book in this series: Guilty Pleasures.
That was in the spring of 2007. I hadn't been terribly impressed with Guilty Pleasures, but I gave Hamilton the benefit of the doubt because it was the first book in the series and I had to admit that it had been somewhat entertaining. I was as surprised as anyone to discover that by the third book in the series, Circus of the Damned, I was completely hooked and kept trucking right along with the rest of the series.
Keep in mind that the entire time I was reading the series; I already knew what to expect. I'd read the complaints and fan disappointment about Anita, the ardeur and her hodgepodge harem of vampires and wereanimals, so I knew it was coming and took it all with a serious grain of salt when the fluids began to gush and flow.
For that reason, I think those things that have been such a disappointment to so many other readers seemed somewhat blown out of proportion to me. I'd gone into the deal knowing that Anita would eventually change from a prudish workaholic into a craveaholic sex fiend with a penchant for rough play and dirty, dirty bedroom (bathroom, living room, kitchen) recreation so I wasn't shocked when it happened and I tolerated it.
And then I read the most recent installment, Blood Noir. And seriously? I finally get it.
This was one of the most painful books I've ever read. Thankfully I'd opted to NOT purchase this one and had added my name to the waiting list at the library so I only just finished it last night.
First of all, what in the world was up with the first five chapters of this book?!? I don't have a problem with sex in books. I LIKE sex in books. But this sex did not leave me wanting to go into a room alone somewhere and light a candle. This literally had me squirming in discomfort and gasping in horror. The character's conversations about the sex that was soon-to-be-had occurred too early in the book and without enough of an introduction to put it in an appropriate context. I'm assuming the purpose of having a graphic threesome between Anita, Nathaniel and Jason so early on was to establish a "reasonable" premise for Anita to agree to fly to Asheville to meet Jason's abusive, dying father and the rest of the family. Buuuuut...
It flat out DIDN'T do it for me. Sorry Anita. Sorry Laurel. -5 stars straight off the bat for that filthy hogwash.
As the novel progressed, I calmed down and finally felt like I was easing into the swing of things and while I was slightly annoyed by the look-a-like cousin kafuffle that resulted with Keith Summerland and the lack of any concrete reason that there was anything for Anita and Co. to be truly concerned about, I felt myself thinking, "okay, maybe there are 3 stars in here somewhere, if only Hamilton would just remember her plot and not let the--"
Ok, forget it. Because suddenly the bachelorette party happened and someone flashed their "cookies." And then the 48-hour-long foursome that involved Anita, Jason, a strange stripper and a news reporter happened. And then Marmee Noir hallucinations and Richard (!) randomly showed up. And all of a sudden I was like HOLD UP! There aren't that many pages left in this book and literally nothing has happened except some crazy hotel sexin' that has taken up the entire middle and most of the end of this book!
And then all of a sudden, the poor, underdeveloped plot attempted to take off in what was probably supposed to be an Anita Blake "action sequence" but it was so horribly rushed that it felt like a cop out. And you know what? The "action sequence" and plot resolution took up fewer chapters than the nasty threesome scene from the beginning of the book. Seemingly out of nowhere, we're told (not shown) that Keith Summerland has run off with a Master of the City's wife, another vampire named Lorna. And that because Jason looks so similar to his cousin, the Master's human servant and vampire pawns can't tell the difference and abduct Jason instead of their real target, Keith Summerland. Jason is tortured. Anita saves him. The end.
The moral of the story is that 1) you can color me disappointed but 2) I'm probably not going to stop reading the series. I'll continue to rely on my local library for the goods (so sorry amazon) because I don't want these books on my bookshelf but I feel like I've already invested so much into this that I must see it through right on through to the sloppy end.
That was in the spring of 2007. I hadn't been terribly impressed with Guilty Pleasures, but I gave Hamilton the benefit of the doubt because it was the first book in the series and I had to admit that it had been somewhat entertaining. I was as surprised as anyone to discover that by the third book in the series, Circus of the Damned, I was completely hooked and kept trucking right along with the rest of the series.
Keep in mind that the entire time I was reading the series; I already knew what to expect. I'd read the complaints and fan disappointment about Anita, the ardeur and her hodgepodge harem of vampires and wereanimals, so I knew it was coming and took it all with a serious grain of salt when the fluids began to gush and flow.
For that reason, I think those things that have been such a disappointment to so many other readers seemed somewhat blown out of proportion to me. I'd gone into the deal knowing that Anita would eventually change from a prudish workaholic into a craveaholic sex fiend with a penchant for rough play and dirty, dirty bedroom (bathroom, living room, kitchen) recreation so I wasn't shocked when it happened and I tolerated it.
And then I read the most recent installment, Blood Noir. And seriously? I finally get it.
This was one of the most painful books I've ever read. Thankfully I'd opted to NOT purchase this one and had added my name to the waiting list at the library so I only just finished it last night.
First of all, what in the world was up with the first five chapters of this book?!? I don't have a problem with sex in books. I LIKE sex in books. But this sex did not leave me wanting to go into a room alone somewhere and light a candle. This literally had me squirming in discomfort and gasping in horror. The character's conversations about the sex that was soon-to-be-had occurred too early in the book and without enough of an introduction to put it in an appropriate context. I'm assuming the purpose of having a graphic threesome between Anita, Nathaniel and Jason so early on was to establish a "reasonable" premise for Anita to agree to fly to Asheville to meet Jason's abusive, dying father and the rest of the family. Buuuuut...
It flat out DIDN'T do it for me. Sorry Anita. Sorry Laurel. -5 stars straight off the bat for that filthy hogwash.
As the novel progressed, I calmed down and finally felt like I was easing into the swing of things and while I was slightly annoyed by the look-a-like cousin kafuffle that resulted with Keith Summerland and the lack of any concrete reason that there was anything for Anita and Co. to be truly concerned about, I felt myself thinking, "okay, maybe there are 3 stars in here somewhere, if only Hamilton would just remember her plot and not let the--"
Ok, forget it. Because suddenly the bachelorette party happened and someone flashed their "cookies." And then the 48-hour-long foursome that involved Anita, Jason, a strange stripper and a news reporter happened. And then Marmee Noir hallucinations and Richard (!) randomly showed up. And all of a sudden I was like HOLD UP! There aren't that many pages left in this book and literally nothing has happened except some crazy hotel sexin' that has taken up the entire middle and most of the end of this book!
And then all of a sudden, the poor, underdeveloped plot attempted to take off in what was probably supposed to be an Anita Blake "action sequence" but it was so horribly rushed that it felt like a cop out. And you know what? The "action sequence" and plot resolution took up fewer chapters than the nasty threesome scene from the beginning of the book. Seemingly out of nowhere, we're told (not shown) that Keith Summerland has run off with a Master of the City's wife, another vampire named Lorna. And that because Jason looks so similar to his cousin, the Master's human servant and vampire pawns can't tell the difference and abduct Jason instead of their real target, Keith Summerland. Jason is tortured. Anita saves him. The end.
The moral of the story is that 1) you can color me disappointed but 2) I'm probably not going to stop reading the series. I'll continue to rely on my local library for the goods (so sorry amazon) because I don't want these books on my bookshelf but I feel like I've already invested so much into this that I must see it through right on through to the sloppy end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 12, 2008
I think Laurell said it best on her MySpace when someone asked her what the book was about:
"BLOOD NOIR is about friendship and love, and telling the difference even when the boundaries are pretty blurred by conventional standards..."
"BLOOD NOIR taught me, and Anita, that we didn't know all that much. That, though Jason seemed like an open book, in fact, he'd kept most of his past hidden, at least from Anita and me. Did Nathaniel know more? They are like best guy friends, so maybe Nathaniel knew more, but neither of the men shared it with Anita. Of course, she did the girl sin, she didn't ask. To be honest, it never occurred to me to have her ask about Jason's past. He was just always there, our friend, our confidant, and sometimes lover for Anita. By the time I finished writing BLOOD NOIR I knew more about Jason's past than I do about any one's but Anita, Richard, and Jean-Claude..."
"So, what is the book about? It's about love, and friendship. It's about family and the damage they can do to you. It's about forgiveness. It's about how far you would go for one of your best friends, and what you'd do to keep them safe. Yeah, there's sex in the book, and it's damn good sex, thank you very much. But it's not what the book is about. There is violence in the book, and killing, and kidnapping, and torture. But that's not what the book is about either.
People get hung up on the sex and violence in my books, but just like real sex and violence, it seldom is what defines your life. Violence can define your death, but seldom your life. What's the book about? It's about love, and honor, and the price the innocent pay for the stupidity of others. It's about Jason letting Anita into more of his world, and taking me along for the ride. It's about a character that has been my imaginary friend for twelve years, finally being ready to tell me his story."
It is not as high action as some of her other books, but it is a very important one that teaches Anita about the importance of friendship (not that she didn't already know, but it showed her again.) I think it made it clearer to Anita what Jason meant to her and how far she was willing to go to keep the people she loved safe (kinda like with Chimera).
"BLOOD NOIR is about friendship and love, and telling the difference even when the boundaries are pretty blurred by conventional standards..."
"BLOOD NOIR taught me, and Anita, that we didn't know all that much. That, though Jason seemed like an open book, in fact, he'd kept most of his past hidden, at least from Anita and me. Did Nathaniel know more? They are like best guy friends, so maybe Nathaniel knew more, but neither of the men shared it with Anita. Of course, she did the girl sin, she didn't ask. To be honest, it never occurred to me to have her ask about Jason's past. He was just always there, our friend, our confidant, and sometimes lover for Anita. By the time I finished writing BLOOD NOIR I knew more about Jason's past than I do about any one's but Anita, Richard, and Jean-Claude..."
"So, what is the book about? It's about love, and friendship. It's about family and the damage they can do to you. It's about forgiveness. It's about how far you would go for one of your best friends, and what you'd do to keep them safe. Yeah, there's sex in the book, and it's damn good sex, thank you very much. But it's not what the book is about. There is violence in the book, and killing, and kidnapping, and torture. But that's not what the book is about either.
People get hung up on the sex and violence in my books, but just like real sex and violence, it seldom is what defines your life. Violence can define your death, but seldom your life. What's the book about? It's about love, and honor, and the price the innocent pay for the stupidity of others. It's about Jason letting Anita into more of his world, and taking me along for the ride. It's about a character that has been my imaginary friend for twelve years, finally being ready to tell me his story."
It is not as high action as some of her other books, but it is a very important one that teaches Anita about the importance of friendship (not that she didn't already know, but it showed her again.) I think it made it clearer to Anita what Jason meant to her and how far she was willing to go to keep the people she loved safe (kinda like with Chimera).
Shelved as 'unfinished'
March 19, 2015Nemůžu. Uvěřit. Že. Jsem. To. UDĚLALA.
hahaha.. konečně
Anito Blakeová, polib mi moji krásnou dupu! Už tě prostě číst nebudu. Slyšíš? NEBUDU. Už na to nemám. Už nechci. Říkám ti NE!
*vyplazuje jazyk a skáče hrdostí do stropu*
Je to tak osvobozující.
*Ale těch prvních pár dílů... stejně miluju.
hahaha.. konečně
Anito Blakeová, polib mi moji krásnou dupu! Už tě prostě číst nebudu. Slyšíš? NEBUDU. Už na to nemám. Už nechci. Říkám ti NE!
*vyplazuje jazyk a skáče hrdostí do stropu*
Je to tak osvobozující.
*Ale těch prvních pár dílů... stejně miluju.
November 14, 2021
Anita es fiel con sus amigos, y uno de sus grandes amigos es Jason. Cuando Jason quiere ir a visitar a su padre moribundo en su pueblo natal y quiere presentarle una novia, piensan que si Anita puede ir seria lo mejor. El problema radica en que cuando llegan al pueblo, un primo de Jason (Keith) que se parece muchisimo a el se va a casar, y siendo este el hijo del Gobernador y candidato presidencial, el despliegue periodistico con que se encuentran es exagerado y su supuesta visita "rapida" resulta ser mucho mas complicada de lo que esperan.
Ademas, el padre de Jason es extremadamente rudo con ellos, la novia borracha confunde a Jason y para rematar, Mamma Noir logra apoderarse del cuerpo de Anita durante 48 horas y cuando por fin logran liberarse, son secuestrados y Jason torturado hasta casi la muerte. Ademas del caos ahora normal de su vida, Anita tambien aprendera que esta minando el poder de Jean-Claude con su aptitud y tendra que aceptar la consecuencia de sus actos.
El libro como todos los ultimos, tiene demasiada lineas de trama, demasiado drama, demasiado sexo, ademas sigue teniendo las mismas tramas repetitivas, los personajes parecieran que no avanzan, los poderes de la prota parecen infinitos y cada vez parece mas tonta, muchos de los personajes parecieran haber perdido su personalidad y solo se refleja en la trama pequeños dialogos donde deberian recordarnos quien son.
O sea, en pocas palabras, es una saga que se siente sobre-extendida, exagerada y que no siento que tenga mayor trasendencia, sin embargo, tiene su toque de adiccion, cuando comienzas cada libro quieres locura va a pasar ahora, con que cosa nos va a salir el autor ahora, pero tambien me siento obligada a brincar parrafos enteros de repeticion de causas/descripciones/pensamientos repetidos en todos y cada uno de los libros.
Asi que, voy a ver que tan lejos puedo llegar en esta serie antes de abandonarla.
Ademas, el padre de Jason es extremadamente rudo con ellos, la novia borracha confunde a Jason y para rematar, Mamma Noir logra apoderarse del cuerpo de Anita durante 48 horas y cuando por fin logran liberarse, son secuestrados y Jason torturado hasta casi la muerte. Ademas del caos ahora normal de su vida, Anita tambien aprendera que esta minando el poder de Jean-Claude con su aptitud y tendra que aceptar la consecuencia de sus actos.
El libro como todos los ultimos, tiene demasiada lineas de trama, demasiado drama, demasiado sexo, ademas sigue teniendo las mismas tramas repetitivas, los personajes parecieran que no avanzan, los poderes de la prota parecen infinitos y cada vez parece mas tonta, muchos de los personajes parecieran haber perdido su personalidad y solo se refleja en la trama pequeños dialogos donde deberian recordarnos quien son.
O sea, en pocas palabras, es una saga que se siente sobre-extendida, exagerada y que no siento que tenga mayor trasendencia, sin embargo, tiene su toque de adiccion, cuando comienzas cada libro quieres locura va a pasar ahora, con que cosa nos va a salir el autor ahora, pero tambien me siento obligada a brincar parrafos enteros de repeticion de causas/descripciones/pensamientos repetidos en todos y cada uno de los libros.
Asi que, voy a ver que tan lejos puedo llegar en esta serie antes de abandonarla.
September 30, 2008
There is a lot of grumbling about this book and about Laurell K. Hamilton in general it seems. I like her books. Do they have a lot of sex? Yeah. So what? It's the 16th book in the series - and the sex has been graphic in most of the books. Definetly the last half have been pretty steamy. I think a lot of people picked up this book and wanted to be outraged or wanted to be pissed off before they even read it. Add to that the story line being centered around Jason rather than Jean Claude or Richard and you have the perfect mix of angry fans.
I liked the book. I liked that she explored a side character because life DOES involve side characters. (Ok - in real life we generally do not sleep with our side characters...but this is a book. A story. Not life.)
Nope - I will not diss Laurell K. and I will not diss this book. I enjoyed it.
I liked the book. I liked that she explored a side character because life DOES involve side characters. (Ok - in real life we generally do not sleep with our side characters...but this is a book. A story. Not life.)
Nope - I will not diss Laurell K. and I will not diss this book. I enjoyed it.
February 13, 2022
This novel convinced me that Laurell K. Hamilton is back on her game story wise. There were still way too many sex scenes which I frankly skimmed through, but the underlying plot and the continuing build up of the multi-novel story-arc threat made the book well worth reading. The basic underlying plot is a family problem—Jason, werewolf friend of Anita, has learned his estranged father is dying and he’s been asked to come home—with a girlfriend—to make his peace with the old man. Dad and one of Jason’s sisters, for reasons that really make no sense when you consider that everyone in this town looks like each other (as I explain later in this review), is convinced Jason is gay and so making peace means proving his heterosexuality. As a storyline, that’s a more uncomfortable plot element today than it was when the book was written, but Jason is actually heterosexual so it is what it is.
By coincidence, Jason arrives in his hometown on the same weekend that one of his former high school classmates is getting married. This classmate happens to be the son of the governor of the state who is about to run for president of the United States on a family values ticket. The classmate is also a totally self-centered horse’s a** with a reputation for sleeping with anyone he can convince to lift her skirt. Oh, and the classmate has a twin brother who looks exactly like him and both look exactly like Jason. (The entire town started as a religious cult. The cult leader apparently impregnated just about every one of his female followers so most of Jason’s population are cousins who closely resemble each other.) So Jason and Anita arriving in town is immediately a press event as it looks like the classmate is cheating on his fiancé. Things go down hill from there as the governor’s press agent tries to fix her problems by stirring up more trouble for Anita.
All of this makes for fascinating reading as Jason and Anita try and mostly fail to navigate this “mundane� problem. But there are supernatural problems to be dealt with as well. The world’s oldest vampire, the Mother of All Darkness, has been waking from her slumber for several books and she is fascinated with Anita’s necromancy. Anita, possibly because of the mother, has several types of lycanthropy in her—especially tiger which is the mother’s dearest animal to call. And she starts messing with Anita’s tigers and drawing male tigers to her—giving us our first real glimpse into the cultish tiger clans which are clearly going to be a major problem for Anita in the future.
And none of that even touches upon the true crisis of the story, which I’m not going to give away except to say that Hamilton hints at what is coming quite fairly and so the reader has every chance to expect it.
This is a good one. The only thing really holding it back is too much onscreen sex.
If you liked this review, you can find more at .
By coincidence, Jason arrives in his hometown on the same weekend that one of his former high school classmates is getting married. This classmate happens to be the son of the governor of the state who is about to run for president of the United States on a family values ticket. The classmate is also a totally self-centered horse’s a** with a reputation for sleeping with anyone he can convince to lift her skirt. Oh, and the classmate has a twin brother who looks exactly like him and both look exactly like Jason. (The entire town started as a religious cult. The cult leader apparently impregnated just about every one of his female followers so most of Jason’s population are cousins who closely resemble each other.) So Jason and Anita arriving in town is immediately a press event as it looks like the classmate is cheating on his fiancé. Things go down hill from there as the governor’s press agent tries to fix her problems by stirring up more trouble for Anita.
All of this makes for fascinating reading as Jason and Anita try and mostly fail to navigate this “mundane� problem. But there are supernatural problems to be dealt with as well. The world’s oldest vampire, the Mother of All Darkness, has been waking from her slumber for several books and she is fascinated with Anita’s necromancy. Anita, possibly because of the mother, has several types of lycanthropy in her—especially tiger which is the mother’s dearest animal to call. And she starts messing with Anita’s tigers and drawing male tigers to her—giving us our first real glimpse into the cultish tiger clans which are clearly going to be a major problem for Anita in the future.
And none of that even touches upon the true crisis of the story, which I’m not going to give away except to say that Hamilton hints at what is coming quite fairly and so the reader has every chance to expect it.
This is a good one. The only thing really holding it back is too much onscreen sex.
If you liked this review, you can find more at .
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February 28, 2019I can't believe that Jason was tortured! 😭😭😭
And Anita was basically raped. 😡����
I really don't like Marmee Noir.
Richard now has the ardeur and almost raped Anita with it! O.o
Jason is now her wolf to call!
Poor Crispin got rolled. :(
The bodyguard was in on it?
And Anita was basically raped. 😡����
I really don't like Marmee Noir.
Richard now has the ardeur and almost raped Anita with it! O.o
Jason is now her wolf to call!
Poor Crispin got rolled. :(
The bodyguard was in on it?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 14, 2018
I can’t believe this is my sixteenth review for this series. I’m still in the middle part where I’ve forgotten almost everything, and not yet to the point where the books are recent enough that I still remember (although I’m getting closer!). What am I going to do with my life when this re-read is over? There are overall story-arc spoilers ahead. Trigger warnings: death, severe illness, cancer.
When Anita’s werewolf friend and lover, Jason, gets a call from home that his father is dying, she agrees to go home with him as his girlfriend and emotional support. Things go south almost immediately when they arrive, as a major wedding is taking place in town, and Jason is a dead ringer for the groom. He was mistaken for his cousin all the time growing up, but this time, it may actually get him killed.
Jason is one of my favorite characters in the series, but Blood Noir is not one of Hamilton’s best. It’s a lot like Micah in the sense that I like getting a closer look at a character’s backstory and it forces Anita to closely evaluate their relationship, but it’s somewhat lacking in plot. There’s a lot of hand-holding and soul-searching, which is great for character development, but after a while it’s less than compelling.
The wedding and Jason’s doppelgangers make the story more interesting than simple family drama. There’s obviously something more going on with these people, and while Anita tries to stay out of it, trouble pretty much follows her everywhere. However, the plot takes a weird detour in the middle of the book. In terms of overall series story-arc, it’s a good development, but in terms of the novel itself, it really throws off the pace. There’s just no way to incorporate it neatly into the rest of the plot, so when the family/wedding business resurfaces again at the end, it still doesn’t quite come together well.
We’re also privy to more of Richard’s temper tantrums (“Are we Richard tonight or are we Dick?�), and I’ve been tired of him for several books now. He’s a bully, and that relationship is full-on toxic. The good news is that Anita knows this, and hopefully she’s about done making excuses for him. I enjoyed seeing more of Jason, but like in Micah, I expected the character development to go deeper than it actually does for a book almost entirely devoted to it. It’s a fun read for fans of the series, but I can see why I forgot it almost completely.
I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.
When Anita’s werewolf friend and lover, Jason, gets a call from home that his father is dying, she agrees to go home with him as his girlfriend and emotional support. Things go south almost immediately when they arrive, as a major wedding is taking place in town, and Jason is a dead ringer for the groom. He was mistaken for his cousin all the time growing up, but this time, it may actually get him killed.
Jason is one of my favorite characters in the series, but Blood Noir is not one of Hamilton’s best. It’s a lot like Micah in the sense that I like getting a closer look at a character’s backstory and it forces Anita to closely evaluate their relationship, but it’s somewhat lacking in plot. There’s a lot of hand-holding and soul-searching, which is great for character development, but after a while it’s less than compelling.
The wedding and Jason’s doppelgangers make the story more interesting than simple family drama. There’s obviously something more going on with these people, and while Anita tries to stay out of it, trouble pretty much follows her everywhere. However, the plot takes a weird detour in the middle of the book. In terms of overall series story-arc, it’s a good development, but in terms of the novel itself, it really throws off the pace. There’s just no way to incorporate it neatly into the rest of the plot, so when the family/wedding business resurfaces again at the end, it still doesn’t quite come together well.
We’re also privy to more of Richard’s temper tantrums (“Are we Richard tonight or are we Dick?�), and I’ve been tired of him for several books now. He’s a bully, and that relationship is full-on toxic. The good news is that Anita knows this, and hopefully she’s about done making excuses for him. I enjoyed seeing more of Jason, but like in Micah, I expected the character development to go deeper than it actually does for a book almost entirely devoted to it. It’s a fun read for fans of the series, but I can see why I forgot it almost completely.
I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.
May 25, 2008
Plot? Plot? Anyone? Someone? Please.... a plot?
I've given up on Anita after almost every book since Narcissus and this is no exception. I'm not sure if this is the one that will truly keep me away -- it's better than some of the others, really -- but dear god, I'd kill for a flipping plot.
Seriously -- this is the author who could make me stay up late needing to know what happened next. And in this slim little installment, we take a trip into sit-com land: she's got Anita impersonating Jason's girlfriend to make his dad think he's not gay(!?), a case of Prince-and-Pauper mistaken identity, anonymous sex with random weretigers, another pregnancy scare, and, oh yes, Richard has a jealous spaz Anita.
Oh, and Anita gets yet more amazing powers and we discover that anyone who has sex with Anita gets more amazing powers because Anita is the bestest bestest mostest amazingest sexual person ever ever and she's way more powerful than anyone in the history of humans.
Sigh.
I give up. Again.
Probably.
I've given up on Anita after almost every book since Narcissus and this is no exception. I'm not sure if this is the one that will truly keep me away -- it's better than some of the others, really -- but dear god, I'd kill for a flipping plot.
Seriously -- this is the author who could make me stay up late needing to know what happened next. And in this slim little installment, we take a trip into sit-com land: she's got Anita impersonating Jason's girlfriend to make his dad think he's not gay(!?), a case of Prince-and-Pauper mistaken identity, anonymous sex with random weretigers, another pregnancy scare, and, oh yes, Richard has a jealous spaz Anita.
Oh, and Anita gets yet more amazing powers and we discover that anyone who has sex with Anita gets more amazing powers because Anita is the bestest bestest mostest amazingest sexual person ever ever and she's way more powerful than anyone in the history of humans.
Sigh.
I give up. Again.
Probably.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 30, 2008
More of the same, and the writing quality has gone downhill. I have enjoyed even the later (patently ridiculous) Anita Blake books, but this one was disappointing. It would have been better left as the novella she originally intended. There's not much story here.
I cannot believe she brought Richard in yet again to enact the exact same little drama as in the last 6 or 7 books. It's gotten to where I roll my eyes every time Richard shows up. It's the same scene, over and over again.
And she rehashes the "What if I'm pregnant?" consternation of a couple of books ago. We've been there and done that, why again?
Very little Jean-Claude in this one, which always disappoints me.
I cannot believe she brought Richard in yet again to enact the exact same little drama as in the last 6 or 7 books. It's gotten to where I roll my eyes every time Richard shows up. It's the same scene, over and over again.
And she rehashes the "What if I'm pregnant?" consternation of a couple of books ago. We've been there and done that, why again?
Very little Jean-Claude in this one, which always disappoints me.
May 3, 2013
30% in and this is a horrible book. Anita is a self righteous obnoxious hypocrite. I dislike what LkH did to a character that had such promise. The last few books have been bad, so I'm not sure why this one is making me so annoyed but it is. It makes me glad I've never bought one of the author's books except secondhand.
May 27, 2008
A bit dissapointed...too much sex not enough zombies...we need some of Hamilton's old style back in play.
March 29, 2019
2.5 Stars
I remember that this was the book that changed from a novella to an actual part of the series. Anyway, this book was a little bit of a let down following . While I love me some Jason, it just felt stiff and unneeded for most of the book. Nothing really new was gained and it was just more of Anita whining about her love life.
So what did I like? Well, learning more about Jason's past for one. He's always the comic relief, and I love him for it, but it was nice to meet his family - even if most were douches. And while the question of his parentage seemed pretty obvious from the start, it was kind of hard to tell if Jason himself knew of his parents secrets. I'd like to think he's not that stupid, but LKH has a way of dumbing down her boys for some reason.
Another thing I liked was seeing Jamil and Shang-Da again. I've missed them. This goes back to my issues with the cast of characters becoming so big that we don't get to see ones we've loved from the beginning anymore, so when they appeared, I grasped onto them and didn't want to let go.
Also, guys, there was hardly any sex in it! I know!!! I mean there was the pointless one the book opened up with and then of course some more with Jason in the hotel room, but it wasn't page after page after page. We get it, she's a succubus, can there be more plot now?
But there were things I didn't like as well. Mostly, Anita. She's still a walking contradiction and just a bitch to people around her. She has no clue what she wants so she pouts over everything and then gets mad when people call her on it. Grow the fuck up. I'm tired of her constantly putting everyone in jeopardy because she feels uncomfortable. It's been years now, deal with your freaking shit.
And then there was the plot of the book itself. Or lack of. The entire story revolved around Jason going home to see his dad who was in the hospital and not expected to make it much longer. But when Jason arrives, there's apparently a huge wedding taking place that weekend, and guess what? Jason looks exactly like the groom! They even knew each other in high school and were mistaken for each other alot. So chaos ensues because people don't believe Jason is Jason. Like why? It was just dumb. And we never even got to meet this elusive person who looked like Jason. His story was settled off screen. Along with Jason's daddy issues. So, cool...?
But the thing that I'm most tired about is LKH's treatment of Richard. We get it. You were burned by a boy in the past and now you want to eviscerate him on the page. Well, you've done that and then some. It's getting old and it's extremely frustrating. He redeems himself only to make himself worse off on the next page. I was disgusted with him here and I just think the character should HeeHee into the wind.
It pains me to rate this book this low. But as I'm rereading it, I'm just finding more and more issues that my younger self just didn't care about. I don't really remember what happens after this book so I think I'm finally hitting the point where I stopped the series. So, this should be fun.
I remember that this was the book that changed from a novella to an actual part of the series. Anyway, this book was a little bit of a let down following . While I love me some Jason, it just felt stiff and unneeded for most of the book. Nothing really new was gained and it was just more of Anita whining about her love life.
So what did I like? Well, learning more about Jason's past for one. He's always the comic relief, and I love him for it, but it was nice to meet his family - even if most were douches. And while the question of his parentage seemed pretty obvious from the start, it was kind of hard to tell if Jason himself knew of his parents secrets. I'd like to think he's not that stupid, but LKH has a way of dumbing down her boys for some reason.
Another thing I liked was seeing Jamil and Shang-Da again. I've missed them. This goes back to my issues with the cast of characters becoming so big that we don't get to see ones we've loved from the beginning anymore, so when they appeared, I grasped onto them and didn't want to let go.
Also, guys, there was hardly any sex in it! I know!!! I mean there was the pointless one the book opened up with and then of course some more with Jason in the hotel room, but it wasn't page after page after page. We get it, she's a succubus, can there be more plot now?
But there were things I didn't like as well. Mostly, Anita. She's still a walking contradiction and just a bitch to people around her. She has no clue what she wants so she pouts over everything and then gets mad when people call her on it. Grow the fuck up. I'm tired of her constantly putting everyone in jeopardy because she feels uncomfortable. It's been years now, deal with your freaking shit.
And then there was the plot of the book itself. Or lack of. The entire story revolved around Jason going home to see his dad who was in the hospital and not expected to make it much longer. But when Jason arrives, there's apparently a huge wedding taking place that weekend, and guess what? Jason looks exactly like the groom! They even knew each other in high school and were mistaken for each other alot. So chaos ensues because people don't believe Jason is Jason. Like why? It was just dumb. And we never even got to meet this elusive person who looked like Jason. His story was settled off screen. Along with Jason's daddy issues. So, cool...?
But the thing that I'm most tired about is LKH's treatment of Richard. We get it. You were burned by a boy in the past and now you want to eviscerate him on the page. Well, you've done that and then some. It's getting old and it's extremely frustrating. He redeems himself only to make himself worse off on the next page. I was disgusted with him here and I just think the character should HeeHee into the wind.
It pains me to rate this book this low. But as I'm rereading it, I'm just finding more and more issues that my younger self just didn't care about. I don't really remember what happens after this book so I think I'm finally hitting the point where I stopped the series. So, this should be fun.
February 18, 2009
There is no question that the last few books in this series have lowered my expectations substantially. The last Anita book I really enjoyed was , partially because it featured my bestest best character Edward, and partially because it was all about the less erotic aspects of Anita's life--her preternatural hunting abilities and her necromancy.
There is nothing wrong with steamy sex scenes in books, but the problem with Laurell K. Hamilton is that when she writes them, she gets distracted and seems to think that there is no need to write anything BUT them. Which is why I could not finish --and I finish every book I read, no matter how crappy. I could not get through a book in which literally every time anyone does anything it culminates in sex. And I mean "anything" like, walk into a room. Sex. Shake hands. Sex. Have a conversation. Sex. When your main character is a walking porn star, there's not really any room for plot.
But maybe LKH get tired of writing porn. Because in , she went a whole 150 pages until her characters even had sex. Chock full of plot! It's a little sad that my standards for LKH are this low now (not that they were ever extremely high) but that's what it is. I now judge her books on whether or not there is any actual plot/character development at all. Anyway, based on my new criterion, and the sludge of porn porn porn that LKH has ground me down with over the last five books, I was hugely impressed with .
And based on the same criterion, I also enjoyed the hell out of .
This was not a flawless book. It was not even a great book. But even though it starts with a big fat porn scene right off the bat, afterwards it devolves into something resembling actual plot, and that goes on for a while. And when there are more big fat porn scenes later on in the book, they are tastefully timed and acutally plot relevent.
There is some interesting character development (or what passes for it in an LKH world.) It focuses on Jason, who is my favorite LKH-verse character after Edward. We learn why Richard has been so douchey for all these books (and then he proceeds to show us that even without outside influence, he's just a big old douchebag.) Anita is on vacation, so she is separated from most of her man harem, which is always nice (Though don't think she won't add to it during the course of this book. Anita picks up new men for her harem like some people pick up tacky souveniers.) And there is actually some use of the ardeur that's interesting and doesn't make me roll my eyes. And the moment where Anita explores her anger was such a shining LKH scene that it was like a throwback to the old days.
All this is not to say that the book was not flawed. Anita is still a big old Mary Sue, with her magical sex powers and the way she's super and awesome and her powers are so amazing and everyone wants to get with her, and everyone wants her as their human servant. And there's still too much coincidence and plot-hopping and melodrama.
But let's be honest, we don't read these books because they're high literature. We read them because they're fun. And this one, while not quite as fun as old-school Anita Blake, is pretty entertaining.
There is nothing wrong with steamy sex scenes in books, but the problem with Laurell K. Hamilton is that when she writes them, she gets distracted and seems to think that there is no need to write anything BUT them. Which is why I could not finish --and I finish every book I read, no matter how crappy. I could not get through a book in which literally every time anyone does anything it culminates in sex. And I mean "anything" like, walk into a room. Sex. Shake hands. Sex. Have a conversation. Sex. When your main character is a walking porn star, there's not really any room for plot.
But maybe LKH get tired of writing porn. Because in , she went a whole 150 pages until her characters even had sex. Chock full of plot! It's a little sad that my standards for LKH are this low now (not that they were ever extremely high) but that's what it is. I now judge her books on whether or not there is any actual plot/character development at all. Anyway, based on my new criterion, and the sludge of porn porn porn that LKH has ground me down with over the last five books, I was hugely impressed with .
And based on the same criterion, I also enjoyed the hell out of .
This was not a flawless book. It was not even a great book. But even though it starts with a big fat porn scene right off the bat, afterwards it devolves into something resembling actual plot, and that goes on for a while. And when there are more big fat porn scenes later on in the book, they are tastefully timed and acutally plot relevent.
There is some interesting character development (or what passes for it in an LKH world.) It focuses on Jason, who is my favorite LKH-verse character after Edward. We learn why Richard has been so douchey for all these books (and then he proceeds to show us that even without outside influence, he's just a big old douchebag.) Anita is on vacation, so she is separated from most of her man harem, which is always nice (Though don't think she won't add to it during the course of this book. Anita picks up new men for her harem like some people pick up tacky souveniers.) And there is actually some use of the ardeur that's interesting and doesn't make me roll my eyes. And the moment where Anita explores her anger was such a shining LKH scene that it was like a throwback to the old days.
All this is not to say that the book was not flawed. Anita is still a big old Mary Sue, with her magical sex powers and the way she's super and awesome and her powers are so amazing and everyone wants to get with her, and everyone wants her as their human servant. And there's still too much coincidence and plot-hopping and melodrama.
But let's be honest, we don't read these books because they're high literature. We read them because they're fun. And this one, while not quite as fun as old-school Anita Blake, is pretty entertaining.
March 19, 2015
Blood Noir is #16 in the Vampire Hunter series is another sexcapade release with her friends. One of Anita’s endearing qualities is her ability to care for her friends even outside of the bedroom. Jason, a werewolf and one of her best friends and sometimes lover, asks her to go with him to see his dying father to support him and act as his girlfriend. His dad had been abusive to him thinking he was gay, which is anything but the truth.
I liked this book a lot especially since it was full of interesting side stories that weren't all about sex. This is an adult book with plenty of erotica, but not an overwhelming amount.
I liked this book a lot especially since it was full of interesting side stories that weren't all about sex. This is an adult book with plenty of erotica, but not an overwhelming amount.
April 1, 2020
Sixteenth in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter erotic urban fantasy series, Blood Noir takes place in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Asheville, North Carolina.
The Story
Jason's dad is dying from cancer and Jason is hoping for a Hallmark moment with his dad. Anita has come along on this trip to convince his dad that Jason is not gay and as moral support for Jason. Naturally, nothing can ever be easy and it turns out that Jason's cousins, the Summerlands, have gathered to celebrate Keith Summerland's wedding. A cousin whom Jason so resembles that all the reporters, security, and hotel staff believe Jason is Keith. A resemblance that makes it easy to sell to the bad guys. Almost makes the Mommie Dearest encounter seem tame�
The Characters
Anita gets a new animal-to-call and raises a major stink for the weretigers all thanks to Marmee Noir. Richard gets his own nasty wake-up call when he calls the ardeur for the first time while everyone gets a new appreciation for Anita's self-control when she eats the rage Richard has within him.
As this takes place out of town, most of the AB characters don't appear.
My Take
Poor Anita. She just can't catch a break. She has gotten much better about accepting that what someone wants in bed is not bad, it just is. However, her metaphysical issues just keep piling it on.
The Cover
The cover and title are confusing. The background of a soft, metallic, antiqued silver is gorgeous but I don't understand the point with the fuzzy-appearing upright scissors poised as if ready to dance.
As for the title, perhaps it refers to the betrayal by Governor Summerland's people???
The Story
Jason's dad is dying from cancer and Jason is hoping for a Hallmark moment with his dad. Anita has come along on this trip to convince his dad that Jason is not gay and as moral support for Jason. Naturally, nothing can ever be easy and it turns out that Jason's cousins, the Summerlands, have gathered to celebrate Keith Summerland's wedding. A cousin whom Jason so resembles that all the reporters, security, and hotel staff believe Jason is Keith. A resemblance that makes it easy to sell to the bad guys. Almost makes the Mommie Dearest encounter seem tame�
The Characters
Anita gets a new animal-to-call and raises a major stink for the weretigers all thanks to Marmee Noir. Richard gets his own nasty wake-up call when he calls the ardeur for the first time while everyone gets a new appreciation for Anita's self-control when she eats the rage Richard has within him.
As this takes place out of town, most of the AB characters don't appear.
My Take
Poor Anita. She just can't catch a break. She has gotten much better about accepting that what someone wants in bed is not bad, it just is. However, her metaphysical issues just keep piling it on.
The Cover
The cover and title are confusing. The background of a soft, metallic, antiqued silver is gorgeous but I don't understand the point with the fuzzy-appearing upright scissors poised as if ready to dance.
As for the title, perhaps it refers to the betrayal by Governor Summerland's people???
June 2, 2008
I've read every Anita Blake book but have never purchased one. This wasn't an exception. I've honestly been getting a little tired of the porn aspect of this series, and while Blood Noir is steeped in sex, I enjoyed this book better than most.
Blood Noir essentially centers around Anita and Jason, the werewolf. Jason's estranged dad is dying of cancer and he wants to return home before he passes on. Apparently, Jason's dad thinks Jason is gay and Anita comes along to prove otherwise.
Chaos ensues as Jason is mistaken for Keith Summerland, who is wanted by some nasty people. Sex ensues no matter what. And Marmee Noir, the oldest vampire who is catnapping, pays Anita a pretty intense visit at the wrong time.
Like I said, better than the last few Anita Blake books. But she could stand to tone down the porn aspect just a little.
OH! I forgot. Richard is a pussy. I cannot stand that character and the sooner he's killed off, the better.
Blood Noir essentially centers around Anita and Jason, the werewolf. Jason's estranged dad is dying of cancer and he wants to return home before he passes on. Apparently, Jason's dad thinks Jason is gay and Anita comes along to prove otherwise.
Chaos ensues as Jason is mistaken for Keith Summerland, who is wanted by some nasty people. Sex ensues no matter what. And Marmee Noir, the oldest vampire who is catnapping, pays Anita a pretty intense visit at the wrong time.
Like I said, better than the last few Anita Blake books. But she could stand to tone down the porn aspect just a little.
OH! I forgot. Richard is a pussy. I cannot stand that character and the sooner he's killed off, the better.
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