Review: Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

UK Publication Date: 26 May 2008
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Pages: 361
Series: The Morganville Vampires #1
Format: Paperback
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Vampires, Young Adult
Rating: 4 out of 5

Morganville is a small town filled with unusual characters - when the sun goes down, the bad come out. In Morganville, there is an evil that lurks in the darkest shadows - one that will spill out into the bright light of day.

For Claire Danvers, high school was hell, but college may be murder. It was bad enough that she got on the wrong side of Monica, the meanest of the school's mean girls, but now she's got three new roommates, who all have secrets of their own. And the biggest secret of all isn't really a secret, except from Claire: Morganville is run by vampires, and they are hungry for fresh blood...

Glass Houses tells the story of Claire Danvers, a brainy 16 year old, who has been sent to college in Morganville by her parents. Not only is Claire the youngest college student in Morganville, she is also having a hard time making friends. This isn't made any easier as she has to share a dorm with girls that torment her for just being her.

Claire, realising that she's had enough of dorm life, decides to try living off campus. After looking a few different places, she finds an advertisement for a roommate at the Glass House. But what Claire doesn't realise is that the occupants of the Glass House have secrets of their own.

Once Claire moves in the story really picks up and doesn't stop until its shocking climax.

I found Glass Houses to be an interesting read, with characters that I both loved and hated at the same time. Rachel Caine has created a intriguing and mysterious town that I cannot wait to find out more about.

I recommend this book to fans of vampire novels.
(please note this review was written back in November, but was never published on the blog.)

Review: Feast of Fools by Rachel Caine

Feast of Fools by Rachel Caine

UK Publication Date: 23 February 2009
Publisher: Allison & Busby Limited
Series: The Morganville Vampires #4
Pages: 367
Format: Paperback
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Rating: 4 out of 5

In the town of Morganville, vampires and humans have learnt to live in relative peace. Claire Danvers knows that after dark, her homework can take a backseat to staying alive. But this tenuous harmony is turned on its head with the arrival of Mr Bishop.

Bad to the bone, the ancient old-school vampire cares nothing about keeping the peace; staying at the top of the food chain is enough. What he wants from the town's living and dead is unthinkably sinister. It's only at a formal ball attended by vampires and their human dates that Claire realises Bishop's plan - and the elaborately evil trap he's set for the warm-blooded souls of Morganville...

I'm not going to say too much about this book, I have noticed that my previous reviews are starting to contain spoilers, which I don't want to do. I will say that this is another page turner with the same level of character development that the other books had.

I am still finding the character of Claire Danvers to be very intriguing, especially in this book. Claire seems to have developed an attachment to the Glass House that allows her to do something that only the owner can do.

I will say that I found the build up to the celebration a little bit slow, but, what happens at the celebration really makes this book gripping and again we are left on a cliffhanger.

Again I highly recommend this book and this series.

Review: Midnight Alley by Rachel Caine

Midnight Alley by Rachel Caine

UK Publication Date: 2008
Publisher: Allison & Busby Limited
Series: The Morganville Vampires #3
Pages: 365
Format: Paperback
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Rating: 5 out of 5

When Claire Danvers learnt that her college town was run by vampires, she did what any intelligent, self-preserving student would do: she applied for a transfer and stocked up on garlic. The transfer is no longer an option, but the garlic may come in handy.

Now Claire has pledged herself to Amelie, the most powerful vampire in town. The protection her contract secures does little to reassure her friends. All of a sudden people are turning up dead, a stalker resurfaces from Claire's past, and an ancient bloodsucker extends a chilling invitation for private lessons in his secluded home.

Midnight Alley starts off, as usual, where The Dead Girls Dance ended.  Claire has now signed herself over to Amelie, in hopes of protecting her friends.  Again this book is as action pack as the previous books, and once it gets hold it doesn't let go.

Claire is still my favourite character. With every book she becomes bolder and in this one she's going to need all the help and protection she can get. We are introduced to another vampire called Myrnin, who is working on a cure (not going to say what for) and Amelie assigns Claire to help him.

One of the things I like about this series, apart from the action and character development, is that we learn more about the history of Morganville as the story progresses.  How Rachel Caine is able to introduce new characters and still make the other characters as likable is a testament to her as a talent writer.

This is another highly recommended book.

Review: The Dead Girls Dance by Rachel Caine

The Dead Girls Dance by Rachel Caine

UK Publication Date: 2008
Publisher: Allison & Busby Limited
Series: The Morganville Vampires #2
Format: Paperback
Pages: 380
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Rating: 4 out of 5

Claire Danvers has had her share of challenges - like being a genius in a school that favours beauty over brains, dealing with the homicidal girls in her dorm and, above all, finding out that her college town is overrun with blood-sucking fiends. On the plus side, so far Claire and her friends have managed to survive getting on the wrong side of some of Morganville VIPs... Vampire Important Persons. But their temporary peace is in danger of collapsing, thanks to the arrival of her new boyfriend's scary father and his vampire-fighting supporters.

The Dead Girls' Dance is action packed from start to finish.  It starts a few minutes after the shocking climax of Glass Houses, with Michael dead and Shane's dad, Frank, looking to cause as much trouble as he can for Shane, Claire and Eve.

All of the characters in this book have started to grow on me, especially Claire. In Glass Houses I found Claire to be a bit whiny, but in this book Claire has really started to mature and we witness Claire taking a more active role in helping both her friends and the vampires.

The developing romance between Claire and Shane is written in a way that doesn't make it take over the book.  You can really feel the tension and passion growing that really helps when Shane is faced with his own mortality.

The vampires in this book are proper vampires. They burn when exposed to sunlight, although older ones seem have developed an immunity to it.

Although I found the ending a little bit bland I did enjoy reading Eve's Diary, which Rachel Caine included in this book, as it gave more insight Eve's character as well as events that weren't really touched upon in the main story.

Overall The Dead Girls' Dance is a riveting read and I highly recommend it to fans of vampire fiction.