Customer Reviews

Undead and Unappreciated

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(28)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

While I think this book was somewhat of a letdown, that may be my own fault. I absolutely adored the first two books and they were both so funny that I literally rolled! This book was still funny, the characters are still quirky, but it just seems as if Ms. Davidson did not put a whole lot of thought into this book, just rushing through to get it published sooner.

Betsy Taylor, that charming but ditzy queen of the vampires, has had a hard week. After being painfully reminded that her wicked stepmother is pregnant, finding out she has a half-sister, and going sociopathic after a long night reading the Book of the Dead, you would think she deserved a break. However, the trouble is just beginning...

While reading through the Book of the Dead, the vampiric version of the Bible, Betsy finds out that while pregnant with her half-sister, the devil inhabited her stepmother's body. How ironic that the incarnation of all evil should take over her stepmother and no one notices the difference. Though she garnered useful information in the book, unfortunately she spent too long reading, and went on the warpath, injuring anyone who got into her way. Whoops! What's a girl to do?

Though I can enjoy this book when seen dispassionately, I feel disappointed when comparing this to the two previous books. Too many things are smoothed over without any resolution whatsoever. Towards the end at the actual fight scene, readers feel confused as to the action leading up to that sequence. However, as addicted as I am to the series, I know I will continue to wait anxiously for the next MJD book. I just hope that the next book will be somewhat longer and more flowing!

Betsy, queen of the dead, is back and running her own nightclub - she inherited it as part of the spoils (all part of vampire lore) in the last book, Undead and Unemployed - so now she is employed - more than she would like as the nightclub's in the red - appropriate really for a vampire

There is a problem in her life though, as if she doesn't have enough problems, her half sister is spawn of satan (Satan being Betsy's step mother, wouldn't you know it) and it is written in the book of the dead that there is going to be serious consequences when this happens - they will rule the world together, although how and why this will happen isn't specified.

You also can't read the book of the dead without going a little crazy - and Betsy does with quite serious consequences for her friends at the house they share, Marc and co are a bit freaked by it, and she even tries to kill a vampire friend.

This book still has some of the sparkle of the previous two, there are the usual cast of strange characters as well Betsy's rather louche acceptance of her fate and its attendant problems. I really liked the slow unfolding of more detail of Vampire lore and way of life as the novel went on, and there were some genuinely funny moments in it - The Ant coming downstairs when Betsy, Sinclair, Tina etc turned up at the door was just magic.

The parallel story of George the fiend was interesting too, but a little creepy - did she really think it was ok to have a fiend in the house with her friends? and I know that if I was sharing a house with vampires that turned on me in a moment I would not be inclined to continue sharing a house with them,but hey this is fiction isn't it?

It still read quickly and brightly and was a nice read too, I didn't find there were any laugh out loud moments as with the other two books, and I don't think this is the best she has ever done. It wasn't so much a story with beginning a middle an end, it was more like a series of connected incidents with the theme of finding her younger sister. I liked the first two for the fact that they were very oriented to something big happening in them. I think there is room for more of these Betsy stories, they are fun and romantic as well as being adventurous and kick-ass. A great thing to try if you are a buffy fan or like Janet Evanovich - but start with the first two and if you like them carry on with this one - this one definitely sets things up for the future books

Yes, indeed this is food for the fangs: And as my existence has forever bled no small amount of empathy towards anything bearing the fate of being simultaneously undead and unappreciated, without ado does my pulse quicken in adoration of this book.

I first was made aware, whilst flitting here & about on Amazon, that there existed in some or other realm of reality a Vampire named Betsy. I found this to be a most singular matter of fact. So, in short, when I happened upon this title, I set about acquainting myself with this particularly fetching bit of literature...um, most precipitously. Now, after having read all the books in this series (though not in order: UNDEAD AND UNAPPRECIATED was the first) - I find myself quite convinced that Ms. Davidson must have had some experience with vampires...

Betsy is certainly no pour of the pump Vampire- She's a tall, blonde beauty hailing from (of all places)- Minnesota - She's neither a voracious reader, a brooding dreamer, nor a thirsty fiend - her number one passion is designer shoes, in fact. And though she's fervently loyal to her friends, she considers most of the Vampires of her acquaintance to be- well, weirdos- at best...

In this episode of her (after)life, Betsy encounters a good number of nearly insurmountable problems. First of all, her nasty stepmother Antonia ("the Ant") is pregnant with her half-sibling, and she's just found out that she has a half sister named Laura, now a 20-year-old church-going college student who'd been raised by a minister, whom the Ant had given birth to while possessed by the Devil- (Unfortunately, not once during the entirety of the Ant's nine months of Satanic dominion did anyone notice any change in her personality). To further complicate matters, a heavy volume made of human flesh and blood called THE BOOK OF THE DEAD foretells that Betsy, Queen of the Vampires, and Laura, Spawn of Satan, will someday rule the world together. Betsy sets about reading THE BOOK OF THE DEAD for a few hours, in search of some or other loophole that would serve to thwart this prophesy. Unfortunately, reading THE BOOK OF THE DEAD for more than 15 minutes in one sitting induces madness. So Betsy proceeds to raise all manner of havoc upon those closest to her: her roomates & good friends Jessica & Marc, her Vampire friend Tina, and her Vampyric King Consort Eric Sinclair.

Betsy's troubles do not by any means stop there: She also has a nightclub filled with disgruntled vampyric employees to manage, as well as a den of fiends to attend. The whole of it plays out into one of the more humorous tales of my reading repertoire. Betsy proves again and again, throughout the six books so far in this series, that a passionate sense of humor can get one through just about anything...

-And for that, I most certainly do appreciate her-

Betsy's Back! Along with her usual cast of unusual characters she contiues to bumble her way through after-life. As a special treat characters from MJD's related short stories also make appearances.

In this newest episode Betsy, Queen of the Undead and glutiness shoe shopper, tries her hand at managing Scratch, the vampire night club she inherited after killing her last enemy. The clubs in the red and things only get worse when Betsy finds out that she has a long lost half sister. The kicker is she was the Devil's child and is destined to take over the world. What's a girl to do...?

After finding out Sinclair already new about Satan's Spawn from his reading the Book of the Damned she decides to become informed, too. Reading has always been mentally taxing for our heroine, but when she delves into this book she may be in way over head.

Though too short, this is a good continuation of the story we love. You will laugh out loud. You will mourn for her loss of finely pedicured feet. And you will learn how Sinclair and Betsy truly feel about each other and their future... All in all, not too be missed!

This is one of the funniest series around. I have enjoyed every one of them and hope to read many more.

Elizabeth Taylor aka Queen of the Vampires, Betsy, learns that she has a half sister and the Book of the Dead says her sister is the daughter of Saten, who will rule the world. How's that? She finds she has a sibling and the sibling will be evil. She is very upset with Sinclair, her consort, for not telling her the prophecy.

Sinclair, who is king of the Vampires by being consort to Betsy, has been trying through all the books to get her attention. But he had hoped for a better outcome. When Betsy reads the Book of the Dead too long, she turns evil and pretty well messes up her relationship with all her friends. Her detour to the evil side is short but allows her to give into her feelings for Sinclair with a hot and heavy seduction. Eventually she throws the evil off and Sinclair realizes she was not herself when she gave herself to him. With his feelings hurt he pulls away and Betsy finds he leaves a big hole in her life. Unsure of herself, for the first time, she goes to find her sister.

Her sister, Laura is a sweety and between handling her sister, the Ant(her stepmother), Sinclair, and the Club she inherited from Monique she has her hands full. Not only with a Vampire labor strike, but with her sister's mother. You guessed it.(Saten)

I loved it, it was fun, sweet, and finally very romantic with Sinclair and Betsy finding their way to each other. She still loves shoes, but what woman doesn't.

In this third instalment of the Betsy Taylor saga, Betsy is still undead and and still fighting it. She won't drink blood, prefering to keep going on coffee, refuses to be frightened of crucifixes, and in this book she even finds she can stay awake in daylight. and she is still furious to find herself stuck with hunky vampire Sinclair as a consort.

Her life is complicated by her discovery that she has a half-sister who is the devil's daughter (the devil took over the body of Betsy's stepmother for the duration of the pregnancy, readers of the previous volumes will not be surprised by this). Reading the Book of the Dead turns Betsy temporarily into a deranged maniac who attacks her best friends and then seduces Sinclair. And she's having trouble with the staff at her vampire nightclub Scratch as well.

Although this is an amusing story, I didn't think it was as funny or as exciting as the first two. The plot seemed weaker and there were fewer thrills and laughs than in the earlier episodes. If you haven't read any of the Betsy Taylor books before, I would recommend reading 'Undead and Unwed', and 'Undead and Unemployed' before this one.

When I picked up this book I was delighted, especially if it were like the other 2 books - Undead and Unwed and Undead and Unemployed. Oh, how I loved and adored Queen Betsy and found her ditzyness to be hilarious- in the other 2 books.

This book brought much disappointment to me - I felt that it did not have a real plot to the story and it was going no where fast. The story of Betsy and her stepmother is getting old to me. They fight - we get that! They hate each other - we get that! Lets get something else please - something totally unrelated to the stepmother.

While I would recommend Undead and Unwed - that one is hysterical!! I would not waste my time again by reading this book. It went no where fast and continued going no where.

Please go back to developing the characters and DIFFERENT situations that Betsy the vampire queen can get herself into trouble - I am really bored with the family drama - an "undead" girl should just be able to get over and move on with her undead life.

In the third installment of the Undead series Betsy finds herself, after a night of a little light reading, on everyone bad side. With all her old friends acting distant or not even talking to her she feels it is time to get to know her new one. We are introduced to a new character who seems to charm everyone, including Sinclair. With all the crises that seem to find Betsy it's a miracle she has time to fit in baby showers and plan weddings.
This book was more setup for future books then it was action, but just the same I loved it. This new character, Laura, is a welcome addition I feel. I especially hope to see her in future installments of this series.

even though there were times betsy was a tad too crude. but the crassness was offset by genuine laugh-out-loud humor, great characterizations, and a wonderfully satiric attitude toward the vampire genre.

i didn't think the second was quite as good, but still worth reading.

this one...well, aside from it being rushed (at about the speed of light), it's really hard to believe someone forgives having their throat torn open, not to mention some of the other episodes. and while some of the other plot devices showed promise, they were pretty superficial. this may be what happens when an author publishes two novels in less than a year.

also, by this time, betsy should be growing a bit.

i've cancelled the pre-order on the next book--perhaps when it comes out in paperback, i'll try it used.

MaryJanice Davidson is a nut. Her Undead series is hilarious, and though Undead and Unappreciated is not the best of the series, it is nonetheless a fun, fast read. A bit too short to let the story develop in the way that it should...but good enough to make me want more, more, more!