Tag: book review

Review: Black Dawn (Morganville #12) by Rachel Caine

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments
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The Morganville vampires are fighting a losing war, and it will fall to the residents of the Glass House: Michael, Eve, Shane and Claire, to take the fight to an enemy who threatens to destroy the town, forever.

For the first time in the Morganville books, this one carries on with the same subplot as the book before it. Usually, the books kind of wrap up at the end of each, and just leave a small something for the next one to continue with. Here, we have two books taking up one subplot, but it really works. The story Caine started in Last Breath definitely needs time to finish!

There was a very emotional aspect of this book that is possibly one of my favourites, if not my absolute favourite part of the whole series. Shane is a big focus in this (trying not to give giant spoilers here!), and I felt so deeply connected to the characters because of it.

‘”News flash, lady. There are no queens anymore,” Shane said. He loaded shells in a shotgun and snapped it shut, then searched for a place to strap it on that didn’t interfere with the flamethrower.’

This plotline is just epic, and I was once again kept guessing and on the edge of my seat. I think it’s just getting predictable again, and then Caine will throw me a massive twist that makes me react out loud. What a feat. And alongside this, we had numerous subplots (romantic, political, etc) that kept me interested.

These books might be fun and I do love them so much, but they’re not without their problems. Sometimes I struggle to find the things that keep the group tied to Morganville, especially in the middle of chaos like this. Like why not just leave? Even though my niggles have explanations, it doesn’t stop the annoyances sometimes.

‘”No queens, no kings, no emperors. Not in America. Only CEOs. Same thing, but not so many crowns.”’

I think it’s because this series is so long that despite my small annoyances, Morganville always feels like coming home. I can’t quite believe I only have a few books left, because I’ll definitely be sad to leave it behind completely!

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: Last Breath (Morganville #11) by Rachel Caine

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments
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Claire finds out that vampires aren’t the top predators. There’s something worse that preys on them. So if Claire and Morganville want to live, they will have to fight on to the last breath.

Wow. So this book turns Morganville on it’s head, and I’m impressed. Caine’s ingenuity is amazing, and the fact she keeps coming up with new and refreshing ideas for this small town astounds me.

There’s definitely something different about this book that the series really needed in my opinion. I’ve been feeling the tension throughout the whole series, but it ramps up so much in this one. There’s an overall feeling of hopelessness, and of real possibility of loss. I think the fact we now have multiple viewpoints puts everyone’s life on the line, and it’s kept me so interested in the series.

‘”Yes,” she whispered back. “I promise.”‘

Without giving away any massive spoilers, something massive happens in this book. Something I never saw coming, and made me question the comfortable routine I’ve got into with this series. Because the series is so long, it’s easy to expect everything will be okay in the end. But honestly, not anymore. I was shocked. I gasped out loud.

Talking of those other points of view, I loved them! Not only do we have our group of friends, but also an insight into Amelie’s head, the Founder of Morganville. She’s one of those characters you never know how to feel about, and it was great to find out more about her inner workings. Despite her flaws, I really love and admire her as a character!

‘And she kissed him, and kissed him, and kissed him, while the sun came up and bathed Morganville in one last, shining day.’

This series, that I thought had found it’s gentle rhythm, has been revitalised for me. What an awakening, and a new taste of a great series.

★★★★★
5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: Bite Club (Morganville #10) by Rachel Caine

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review5 Comments
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Claire has come to realise that the undead of Morganville just want to live their lives. But there’s a new extreme sport being broadcast over the Internet – bare-knuckle fights pitting captured vampires against one another – or, worse, against humans. What started as an online brawl will soon threaten everyone in Morganville.

I feel like these books almost alternate from being about a wider enemy, to being about something happening inside Morganville that brings the humans and vampires together. As you may have guessed from the synopsis, this is one of the latter and I really enjoyed it!

I actually think it’s a great way of writing about Morganville that manages to keep the tension for such a long time and for so many books, but I do enjoy seeing everyone working together.

‘”You think that because I want to do what’s right, because I want to make things better, I’m weak,” Claire said.’

The emotional scenes from Ghost Town continued in this book, and I really liked that. This book focuses on Shane, which was great. He’s a character with a really intriguing background that is discussed a lot throughout the series, and it was interesting to see more about his feelings in depth.

One way Caine showed this was through different viewpoints of the different characters. This is the first time in the whole of Morganville that we’ve seen multiple points of view, and it helps so much. Due to the books being in third person, it’s not so jarring when the viewpoints change, and in fact we just learn more as a reader without Claire having to physically be in every scene!

‘“Or that I’m stupid. But I’m not. It takes a lot more strength to know how bad the world is and not want to be part of that, give in to it.”‘

Unfortunately, Morganville still isn’t perfect, and I want to take this chance to warn you all again that it’s definitely a guilty pleasure series. Although I find them less trashy as the series carries on, there’s still a certain degree of cringe. Luckily, I love them for the entertainment value!

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: Ghost Town (Morganville #9) by Rachel Caine

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments
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While developing a new system to maintain Morganville’s defenses, Claire Danvers discovers a way to amplify vampire mental powers. Through this, she’s able to re-establish the field around this vampire-infested Texas college town that protects it from outsiders. But the new upgrades have an unexpected consequence.

So I’m 9 books in and I think I’m about to write my first 5 star Morganville rating! I’ve been loving these books so far but they definitely can come across as lacking depth sometimes. Well, this all changed in Ghost Town for me!

Caine tackled so many new subjects in this book. Claire finally kills the inevitable and faces the guilt that comes with it. Claire is then faced with a difficult decision, and chaos ensues shortly after (because, of course, periods of quiet are rare and short lived in this town).

‘”Stop it! Claire screamed, and put herself in front of Shane,’

My favourite thing about this series is always the group of friends. Claire, Shane, Michael and Eve are one of my favourite YA friendship groups, and the fact they stick together for so long really shines through. Each of the group are different, wonderful and complicated in their own ways and I love them for it.

I always flick through these books wanting and longing for the quiet moments between friends, which are often must needed respite between tense action scenes. For the first time in the series, Ghost Town seemed to combine the two, with the action and tension being based mainly on what is going on between the friends.

‘like she could protect him from words the way he protected her from fists.’

Without giving away loads of spoilers for this book, the emotion and depth is at 100%. I nearly ended up in tears in some moments, and it was the first time I felt such a deep connection to the characters. Caine’s writing has definitely developed since book 1 and it shows so much here!

★★★★★
5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: The Quiet at the End of the World by Lauren James

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review4 Comments
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How far would you go to save those you love?
Lowrie and Shen are the youngest people on the planet after a virus caused global infertility. Closeted in a pocket of London and doted upon by a small, ageing community, the pair spend their days mudlarking for artefacts from history and looking for treasure in their once-opulent mansion. 
Their idyllic life is torn apart when a secret is uncovered that threatens not only their family but humanity’s entire existence. Lowrie and Shen face an impossible choice: in the quiet at the end of the world, they must decide who to save and who to sacrifice . . .

Lauren James is an auto-buy author for me. I loved The Next Together and The Loneliest Girl in the Universe was one of my favourite books of 2017, so I picked up The Quiet at the End of the World pretty much as soon as it came out. And trust me, Lauren hasn’t disappointed.

Again, we have a female protagonist who loves engineering, which I admire so much. It’s so important and yet unfortunately uncommon to see female main characters in YA like Lowrie, and we need more of her to inspire future readers. And the diversity doesn’t stop there, with a bi main character, British/Asian main characters and a trans character. The Quiet even explores class boundaries.

‘Maybe that’s what matters. Maybe that’s what being “alive” is. It’s not some trick.’

I’m constantly on edge with Lauren’s books and she honestly writes plot twists like no one else! I was again left on the edge of my seat with this book, and it kept me so interested that I finished it in just a few days.

But alongside a fast-paced and thoroughly entertaining plot, Lauren manages to explore some of the deepest subjects humanity can comprehend – namely what makes us human. To throw such a huge topic in but not make the reader feel overwhelmed is beyond me.

‘There’s no magic chemical that gives something a soul. It’s about being loved and loving in return.’

This book was hopeful, lighthearted and emotional at times. I related so much to Lowrie and Shen, and ended up close to tears at some scenes. The uniqueness of the concept is astounding, and I endlessly admire Lauren for her ingenuity and creativity. The Quiet has quickly become one of my favourite books of 2019 so far!

★★★★★
5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: Kiss of Death (Morganville #8) by Rachel Caine

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments
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Claire Danvers has a few things on her mind. First of all there is the laundry, which is now an unfortunate shade of pink. Then there is her boyfriend, Shane, who is never too far from her thoughts. Finally there is her best friend Eve’s relationship problems. As if life as a student wasn’t complicated enough, Claire just happens to be studying in Morganville. A town run by vampires. Trouble seems to follow Claire and her friends like a shadow and tonight is no exception to the rule. They must find the most difficult documents for a vampire to acquire; people passes that will allow ‘bad ass’ Morley and his friends to leave Morganville. But it’s proving incredibly difficult, and with the odds seemingly stacked against them, the biggest question of all is…Will they survive?

This book was so unexpected and different. We definitely needed an answer to the ‘why can’t we leave Morganville?’ question, and Caine gave us a whole book. Without giving any spoilers, this is a road trip book with a twist. After the group being trapped in Morganville for so long, they are finally given a chance to see the outside world.

I loved this one, it may have been my favourite book yet! Seeing Claire and her friends outside Morganville was so fun, but not without it’s troubles and tension.

‘My dad used to say that life’s a journey’

As usual, this book was jam packed with action, twists and turns and I still found it gripping! Having said that, we did have a few well needed breaks and emotional scenes. I love that these books also tackle Claire growing up and moving away, and the scenes with her parents really bring this series back down to earth.

I have to say though, I did miss Morganville and the people in it. Which I guess is what the reader is supposed to feel as Claire finds herself missing home too, so also a clever play on Caine’s part as I’m looking forward to getting back into familiar territory.

‘but somebody screwed up and lost the map.’

Overall, a great idea to mark the halfway point in this series. The series has become pretty predictable for me after so many books but I’m still finding them really entertaining!

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: Fade Out (Morganville #7) by Rachel Caine

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review5 Comments
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Life has changed dramatically in Morganville. The resident vampires have made major concessions to the human population and with their newfound freedoms, Claire Danvers and her friends are starting to feel comfortable again – almost.

Are you fed up of Morganville yet? You would have thought I would be, but here I am 8 books in and still enjoying the very entertaining lives of Claire and her friends.

Fade Out was definitely a bit of a change of pace, and didn’t pack in the action quite as much as the previous books in the series. However, I still really enjoyed it, and valued the differences. When we’re 7 books in and everyone keeps dying over and over, the little breathers are pretty welcome most of the time.

‘”Because you’ve got guy parts, you’re automatically a better mechanic than me? I don’t think so,”‘

For me, I’ve always loved the characters in these books and they’ve been so important to me. Because of the nature of this plot, the book was very character heavy and I loved that. The friends banded together to save each other from something, and some of the scenes that came out of it were priceless.

That being said, of course Caine kept up on the twists and turns and I was still kept on the edge of my seat. Other characters, such as Amelie, also kept the tension high and I found certain scenes with them so interesting!

‘Eve said, and bailed out of the passenger side.’

All in all, this is definitely different to the rest so far, but I still enjoyed it. Having more personal battles to fight worked for me and kept me close to the characters I know and love. A slower but also enjoyable part of the Morganville series.

★★★★
3.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: Carpe Corpus (Morganville #6) by Rachel Caine

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments
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In the small college town of Morganville, vampires and humans lived in (relative) peace—until all the rules got rewritten when the evil vampire Bishop arrived, looking for the lost book of vampire secrets. He’s kept a death grip on the town ever since. Now an underground resistance is brewing, and in order to contain it, Bishop must go to even greater lengths.
He vows to obliterate the town and all its inhabitants—the living and the undead. Claire Danvers and her friends are the only ones who stand in his way. But even if they defeat Bishop, will the vampires ever be content to go back to the old rules, after having such a taste of power?

I know these books are creepy, but honestly what is that title? It hit me about halfway through reading this book that Carpe as we all know from ‘Carpe Diem’ means Seize or Seize the. And of course, Corpus means corpse or body. So there we have Seize the Body. Fun.

Title aside, I really enjoyed this one yet again. Looking back on the earlier books, I can definitely see how much Caine’s writing has improved! It’s also so different for me reading this and the next books as I had read the first 5 years ago but these are all new for me. But I still found I’m enjoying them just as much, if not more, to have even more tense moments where I have no clue what happens!

‘There was just that one moment when she’d seen him as a man who loved his son.’

Shane and Claire were great in this book. Shane hasn’t exactly been my favourite person in the past few books, but the way he treats Claire brought it all back for me. He’s troubled, but also so heartfelt. As always, all of the Glass House residents were great, but I missed having Michael around all the time!

Without giving too many spoilers, I really liked the addition of Ada. As always, Myrnin was great and his crazy episodes make him such an interesting character to read. Like is he a villain? No one knows, and it makes it so intriguing to find out. Talking of characters, this one is definitely the most emotional so far, and I loved it. Although I’m obviously sad/emotional over what happened, it gave a new depth to the story I hadn’t really seen before.

‘Maybe everybody has those moments. Even the worst people.’

The ending of this one kind of reminded me of City of Glass in the plot style. Unlike usual Caine, we had a lot of loose ends wrapped up and not such a big cliffhanger, but I’m not complaining! Even though it didn’t make me feel as though I needed to read the next one immediately, I feel like we have enough of an opening to continue in Morganville, but enough closure to know things are going to be different. Let’s see what book 7 brings!

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: Lord of Misrule (Morganville #5) by Rachel Caine

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review6 Comments
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In the college town of Morganville, vampires and humans coexist in (relatively) bloodless harmony. Then along comes Bishop, the master vampire who threatens to abolish all order, revive the forces of the evil dead, and let chaos rule. But Bishop isn’t the only threat.

Rereading this book made me wonder how the hell I didn’t continue with the series last time I read them. I think I maybe didn’t own the next books back then, but I’m so happy I do now so I can continue straight after that cliffhanger!

Honestly, this book was the best so far for me. I’ve enjoyed them all so far, but the introduction of Bishop and a new threat was just great. And I love Myrnin. Having a villain that you as a reader never know when to trust works so well – I was so on edge with him.

‘Hannah leaned against the wall. “Mind if I call shotgun?”‘

I also found this book more atmospheric and creepy. Not only is the town deserted and empty, but the addition of abandoned warehouses etc really put me on the edge of my seat. Reading this while I was alone overnight was kind of perfect for this type of book, and really added to the atmosphere.

Lord of Misrule includes the most action I’ve seen in these books so far which made it (yet again) fly by, and my intrigue from that ending means I’m already 100 pages into the sixth book!

‘”Since you’re carrying one? Feel free.”’

Overall, this series is becoming self-absorbing, and I can’t believe I’m already six books in and not even thinking about other books. It’s guilty-pleasure with action and I love it.

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Feast of Fools (Morganville #4) by Rachel Caine

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments
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In the town of Morganville, vampires and humans live in relative peace. Clare Danvers has never been convinced, though – especially with the arrival of Mr. Bishop, an ancient, old-school vampire who cares nothing about harmony. What he wants from the town’s living and its dead is unthinkably sinister.

Yes, we’re back! I can’t even describe how much better Feast of Fools was compared to Midnight Alley. Although the pacing can still be a bit off in places, I found the second half of the book especially fast and interesting. I’ve been flying through all of these books, but I definitely hit a lull at the end of 3 and start of 4. So glad it’s picked up again for me!

‘“I’m gonna kill him,” Eve said, or at least that was what it sounded like filtered through the pillow.
Stake him right in the heart, shove garlic up his ass, and-and-“‘

I think a lot of this was due to the new characters. Having a new threat like Mr Bishop was so brilliantly written on Caine’s part. I feel like after having 3 books including only people from Morganville, we definitely needed a fresh insight on the vampire community. The introduction of a new, common enemy was just perfect.

I also have to say the character growth was great. I really feel like I spent more time with the main characters in this one than any books previously. Some of my favourite scenes from Morganville are definitely just scenes between the friends, and they can be the funniest too!

‘”And what?”
“When did you get home?” Claire demanded.
“Apparently just in time to hear my funeral plans. I especially like the garlic up the ass. It’s…different.”’

Overall, a really enjoyable read and perhaps my favourite Morganville book yet! I’m excited for Lord of Misrule now.

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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