Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
I'll read the next book solely out of morbid curiosity. :-(, June 3, 2003
Sheer disappointment. I keep seeing that word, "disappointment," all throughout these reviews, and I don't think that's simply coincidence. These are my personal, major complaints in no particular order:1) *Shift of plot type*
I got hooked on these books because they were a cool, supernatural combination of the whodunit, detective, and action genres. Don't get me wrong, Anita's love/sex-life has always been part of the stories, but it wasn't ever really the primary plotline. Now it is, and since I don't dig soft-core erotica nor romance novels, I don't care for it. 2) *Apparent metamorphosis of major characters*
When I was reading passages involving Dolph or Richard, I couldn't imagine why they're now such different characters. People go through difficult, sometimes traumatizing times in life, but for pete's sake, these guys are so different from the way they were in the previous books that their names ought to be changed! 3) *The ardeur*
I'm sick of it, sick of it, sick of it. That's about as concisely as I can put it. 4) *Long hair on men*
Okay, Hamilton, so you like long hair on guys. So do I -- on the right guy, of course. But get over it! I'm weary of reading endless descriptions of some man's long, flowing, beautiful, cascading, lustrous, rippling, flaxen, luxurious, blah blah blah hair. Oh, and lets not forget how traumatizing it is for his friends when a man cuts off his long hair!! 5) * "So much meat" *
Might there possibly be any other phrase to describe a human being who's been ripped to shreds? <reaching for thesaurus...> Seriously, I should've kept track of how many times that particular phrase was abused... er, used. 6) *Lack of editing*
Way too many typos, grammatical errors, blatant overuse of some phrases and words (e.g. #5 on my list). Need I say more? Although, like another reviewer said, this is less the fault of Hamilton than of her editor/agent/publishing house/whatever. There's more, but I think I'll leave it at that. Back when my friend first got me hooked on this series, I practically salivated with anticipation during the weeks before each new book was released. Since _ Narcissus in Chains_ was a letdown to me, I was eager to see if the next book would be an improvement. How sad that it wasn't. I would say I won't bother to read the next book in the series, but I know my lack of willpower won't let that happen. I'm sure I'll read it anyway, if only out of pure, morbid curiosity.
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50 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
not so very hot, November 9, 2003
I know, we don't confuse fiction with reality. Yet, when you read enough about a character, you start relating to "it" (him or her) as if that character were a personal friend. Sadly, I have broken friendship with Anita in this new installment. "Anita" books used to have two major strengths, I think: a good mystery plot which got solved at the end (and if Anita kept pulling increasingly unbelievable tricks out of her sleeve, more power to her), and Anita's coherence as a character. The reader may have gotten a bit bored with her constant moral qualms ("An affair with Jean-Claude, does that make me a monster? Maybe yes...maybe no...yes...no...") and may not have agreed with some of her choices, but at least they used to make sense within Anita's system of beliefs, the way the author described it. In this book, we encounter a new Anita who, while trying to learn self acceptance, also stops making sense. I don't mean it as moral judgment, but Anita's quite brusque transition from "prudish" to "orgiastic" seemed more motivated by real market pressures than the internal logic of a fictional character. Anita is as coherent as a software with a virus: push the button marked l'ardeur, and lo and behold, there's no stopping her. (I have to say that at this point I sympathize a lot more with Merry Gentry from the other series, who at least does what she enjoys best.) To top it off, one of Anita's strong points, her ability to take control of an explosive situation, here turns into the obsession of control: she whines, she complains, she complicates fairly straightforward circumstances. Unfortunately, that doesn't come across as complexity, but rather as a badly constructed character.My second problem was with the plot of the book. Surely enough, the first 100 pages or so build the right momentum and offer the promise of great suspense. Then it all goes away, leaving the reader increasingly frustrated. The story is only partially resolved - we don't find, for example, the key to Anita's visions (or at least it wasn't clear to me), probably in anticipation of a sequel. Because of that, you cannot help but feel throughout the remaining pages that the author actually had two books in mind, couldn't quite figure out which one to concentrate on, and decided to wait awhile and hope for the best. I don't think the best happens, not in this book. I am not sure whether to give it 4 stars out of nostalgia for the early series, or 2 stars out of disappointment. An average it is.
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206 of 250 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
What a Disaster, June 13, 2003
What on earth has happened to Anita Blake? What was once an engaging, funny, and human character whose vulnerability in a world of superpowered creatures made her so intriguing is now a hypocritical, self-centered, spoiled, childish, delusional, hateful, mean-spirited, nigh-omnipotent, humorless and unappealing sex fiend. Now, usually I rather like sex fiends, but Anita Blake is perhaps the most irritating, unlikable, and revolting character I have come across in a long time, and no amount of orgasmic sex is going to fix that. Anita's supporting cast almost holds CS together and makes it palatable, but unfortunately Anita's overbearing presence kills the other characters' appeal. The fact that all of the characters in this book have been reduced to spineless bootlicking sycophants, hateful villains, or pale, zero-personality ghosts with no will of their own doesn't help matters. What LKH has done to Richard and Dolph is atrocious, and Zerbrowski is getting dangerously close to being yet another Anita groupie. The newest male to be added to Anita's ever-growing harem, Micah, is completely useless as a character. Sadly, I actually *like* Richard's sudden raging hatred of Anita, because at least this means he's not another mindless Anita-worshipper. Jason is adorable, as always, and Nathaniel is finally becoming interesting--almost. Jason alone is the bright spot in the hideous morass that is this book. The ever-escalating superpowers Anita keeps getting are also very tedious: at the rate she's going, Anita will soon be able to control every vampire, ghost, were-animal, and other supernatural creature in the world, and probably not even God will be able to defeat her in combat. Ridiculous. Add a total absence of plot to the mix, and what you get is a self-indulgent mess with little to no redeeming qualities whatsoever. There is nothing to recommend about this book, not even good writing or pacing. The pacing is dreadful, and the writing is... well, I've seen better writing in badly translated assembly instructions. The only way to fix the atrocious mess that this series has become would be to have someone, maybe Edward, come to town and blow Anita Blake to kingdom come. Then, Asher and Jean-Claude can get together without having to ask Anita's permission, Richard can finally find a woman who supports him, the wereleopards can get lives, and Jason can join RPIT, the preternatural police squad, and engage in entertaining high-jinks with Zerbrowski, with Dolph to keep the two in line. And Micah dies, of course. Now THAT'S an Anita blake, Vampire Hunter story I'd pay money to read. Anything else? Won't spend a penny on such disappointing drivel.
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