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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Let's get ready to rumble!, October 21, 2004
This review is from: The Vampire De Sade (Mass Market Paperback)
I want my vicious killers back and I want them now! Yes the new breed was cool ... for about five minutes. That time has come and passed, now bring back the revolting murderers! No more do I want to see our bloodsuckers sexy and self-loathing. I'm tired of reading whine-after-whine about the pain. So please for all that is pretty and yellow in the world, end the madness. I'm warning you, don't make me get a pitchfork and some stakes.
Warning* you need to read the first four books in this series in order to have a clue as to what's going on. Also the back cover blurb is very misleading. If for some reason you thought it would be a battle of great evil forces, you were wrong. Oh Dear God where you were wrong.
Now here is where I tell you about the plot, but the thing is, there wasn't one. The story wanders aimlessly, drifting with the hope that the pretty vampires will distract the readers long enough so as not to notice. Sorry didn't work, I noticed. The layout is patent, the events predictable and the outcome is anticlimactic. The ending is a tangled mess that not even Houdini could figure out. Do not delude yourself into thinking that it has to get better, it doesn't.
The pace starts out slow, accelerating sporadically and with little grace. Think of accompanying a first time driver in a car that requires you know how to maneuver the stick shift, and then maybe you'll understand my meaning. Mitchell's style of writing is overworked and accommodating. Basically people, she's trying too hard. Instead of writing from the heart, her book comes off as distanced and restrained. Were she to find her own voice, the connection between her readers and her writing would alter dramatically. For the better!
The atmosphere aims to create a sense of revulsion, but only manages to pull off a quiet irritation - towards the book. The taste of the story wreaks havoc on your senses, never deciding if it wants to set a romantic tone or a horrifying one. Neither worked. The characters are a mass of self-indulgent, pathetic creatures with no redeeming qualities to speak of. Their interactions are weak and their dialogue clichéd. Instead of using De Sade's history as an advantage, Mitchell whips it out whenever he's in his "woe is me" phase. That is just wrong.
Don't buy it, don't borrow it, just Burn This Book!
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Lost In ...what? Where?, August 16, 2005
This review is from: The Vampire De Sade (Mass Market Paperback)
Simply put - one of the worst books I have read lately! While it's true that to give a fair assessment of this book, one should have an idea of what has gone on before, I believe that a well-written series would give the reader a sense of what transpired previously in any one of the books that makes up the series. The reader should be able to pick up on the general story line even if she/he has not read any of the previous books. Fellow book-buffs: do not look for any such flow in this book. Ms. Mitchell, while I acknowledge your efforts as a writer, (it is a talent that few of us possess, and it's darn hard work, we know), I must repeat my original opinion: BAD! This book is boring, confusing, and badly written in terms of dialogue (stilted, awkward, and archaic). The characters are flat and without interest. Sade comes off as a bumbling, whining entity, who stumbles through the book, looking for all the world like a Master Vampire/Sadist/Manipulator/Sex Fiend, in control of his world and all those around him - NOT!! The plot is (almost) non-existent, and the action scarce; the sentences dis-jointed and in some cases seem irrelevant. The book consists of mostly dreams scenarios, and conversations between lacklustre protagonists.
I love the Vampire genre, and will read anything that boasts these bad boys/girls of the night on its cover - but 'The Vampire De Sade' will NOT be making it to my 'keeper' shelf! Wish I could get my money back! So sorry, Ms. Mitchell.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Train Wreck Combined With a Plane Crash..., June 20, 2005
This review is from: The Vampire De Sade (Mass Market Paperback)
"The Vampire de Sade" is Mary Ann Mitchell's latest installment in the series of the same name. The Marquis is a vampire living in present day Paris. He begins to dream of his niece, Liliana. This would not appear to be troublesome, except vampires in this reality lack the ability to dream. They die and rot each night as they sleep. Clearly magic is being used against him and the Marquis soon learns that it comes from his former love, New Orleans Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau.
Doesn't my synopsis sound terribly interesting? Too bad the novel wasn't! This novel was a catastrophe! I expected a wonderul fantasy novel because the scenario seemed so intriguing, but I was let down and disappointed. I wasn't aware when I purchased this novel that it was part of a series and that in order to have a clue as to what was going on, I need to have read all of that series. I was so lost. Also, there was almost no action in this novel. Everything was dreams and dialogue which can become cumbersome after 200 pages. The characters were also very surfacey. They had almost no depth. I will probably give Mitchell another try, but I will definitely keep my expectations low.
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