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chars_books's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
blondeebeth's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
kimbapnboba's review against another edition
4.0
Fast paced book. Good action, love interests. Can't wait to read the rest of the series.
tayrod4594's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
patchworkbunny's review against another edition
4.0
Claire is only sixteen but she's clever and has been accelerated in school twice so she's heading off to university early. Whilst she got accepted to several top schools, her parents think she's too young to go out of state so she has to go to the small university in Morganville. When she makes the popular girl in the dorms feels stupid, she soon becomes the victim of incessant bullying and starts to fear for her life. She's determined to find a room off campus where she feels safe but little does she know the secret of Morganville. It's run by vampires.
For those of you thinking “oh no, not another soppy teen vampire series” Morganville is run by proper vampires, that would rather eat students than date them. Despite the dangers of the vampires, Clare's fears of bully Monica are the strongest and her feelings are of helplessness. One thing I enjoyed was the fact that, other than the vampires, the characters live a pretty normal student/young adult existence, with a small repertoire of meals, part time jobs and not a lot of money for clothes.
And a warning, the cliffhanger ending will leave you reaching for the next instalment.
For those of you thinking “oh no, not another soppy teen vampire series” Morganville is run by proper vampires, that would rather eat students than date them. Despite the dangers of the vampires, Clare's fears of bully Monica are the strongest and her feelings are of helplessness. One thing I enjoyed was the fact that, other than the vampires, the characters live a pretty normal student/young adult existence, with a small repertoire of meals, part time jobs and not a lot of money for clothes.
And a warning, the cliffhanger ending will leave you reaching for the next instalment.
fyrekatz's review against another edition
4.0
This book was pretty good, I'll have to read the next to see how I feel about the series and if I continue.
pewterwolf's review against another edition
3.0
Review Taken From The Pewter Wolf
In the small town of Morganville in Texas, Claire Danvers just started college. And it looks like it could be murder. Not only has she found herself on the wrong side of the meanest girl in town, Claire finds herself inside a secret. A secret so big, it engulfs the town and everyone in it. Expect for Claire...
Now, this isn’t your typical vampire story (did I reveal the secret? Oops!). Well, it wasn’t a typical vampire read for me, and maybe it’s because of this, it didn’t sit well with me. I’m not 100% certain if its the writing style that bother, how she tackled bullying (which is a huge issue I have with the story, FYI) or how Rachel wrote the story, but there was something about this that I couldn’t warm to.
With most of the vampire novels I have read in the past few years (Twilight, Blue Bloods & Sookie Stackhouse to name a few), they twist the vampire myth to make the mythology their own. However, with Glass Houses, this seemed to be very close to the mythology. Vampires don’t really like going out in the daytime, they have fangs and they have a hierarchy. But there are some times that weren’t answers (if they hate sunlight, why are they in the middle of Texas? [I believe that was answered in a later book]) and I think that (and the character development) is the key to why this series is so popular.
Now, I want to talk quickly about the bullying that was featured in here. As you know, I am quite edgy when it comes to certain subjects. Bullying isn’t one of them. When I read [b:Hollow Pike|10836484|Hollow Pike|Juno Dawson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1311348328l/10836484._SY75_.jpg|15750630] by James Dawson, I felt that he tackled the issue of bullying with a great amount of sensitive, yet was unflinching over what this does. This book wasn’t anything like that. Within the first chapter, Claire is pushed down the stairs and, halfway through the book, someone tried to throw battery acid on Claire’s back. This wasn’t bullying. This was worse. The character lived in fear that Monica was going to kill her and, to me, it felt like this wasn’t tackled and, when it was, it was brushed aside with a “Oh, Monica’s a vampire/human-in-league-with-the-vamps so she can do what she likes so you have to put up with it or shut up”, and that upset me. People get bullied and to have that reaction was horrifying!
But, saying that though, I found the last 20% of the book gripping. And for that cliffhanger ending – if you fell for the story, you will be itching to get your hands on book two, Dead Girls' Dance, as you won’t see it coming....
As for me... it’s not my cup of tea. But I won’t say no to reading book two in the series (I did want to jump to book 11, Last Breath, but I have been told by two book blogger pals told me that you have to read the series through due to the game-changing nature of the series and the character development). I’m in no rush to read [b:The Dead Girls' Dance|261122|The Dead Girls' Dance (The Morganville Vampires, #2)|Rachel Caine|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388182865l/261122._SY75_.jpg|253091] so when I do get round to it, I expect something awesome and shocking to happen or I might leave the series alone...
In the small town of Morganville in Texas, Claire Danvers just started college. And it looks like it could be murder. Not only has she found herself on the wrong side of the meanest girl in town, Claire finds herself inside a secret. A secret so big, it engulfs the town and everyone in it. Expect for Claire...
Now, this isn’t your typical vampire story (did I reveal the secret? Oops!). Well, it wasn’t a typical vampire read for me, and maybe it’s because of this, it didn’t sit well with me. I’m not 100% certain if its the writing style that bother, how she tackled bullying (which is a huge issue I have with the story, FYI) or how Rachel wrote the story, but there was something about this that I couldn’t warm to.
With most of the vampire novels I have read in the past few years (Twilight, Blue Bloods & Sookie Stackhouse to name a few), they twist the vampire myth to make the mythology their own. However, with Glass Houses, this seemed to be very close to the mythology. Vampires don’t really like going out in the daytime, they have fangs and they have a hierarchy. But there are some times that weren’t answers (if they hate sunlight, why are they in the middle of Texas? [I believe that was answered in a later book]) and I think that (and the character development) is the key to why this series is so popular.
Now, I want to talk quickly about the bullying that was featured in here. As you know, I am quite edgy when it comes to certain subjects. Bullying isn’t one of them. When I read [b:Hollow Pike|10836484|Hollow Pike|Juno Dawson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1311348328l/10836484._SY75_.jpg|15750630] by James Dawson, I felt that he tackled the issue of bullying with a great amount of sensitive, yet was unflinching over what this does. This book wasn’t anything like that. Within the first chapter, Claire is pushed down the stairs and, halfway through the book, someone tried to throw battery acid on Claire’s back. This wasn’t bullying. This was worse. The character lived in fear that Monica was going to kill her and, to me, it felt like this wasn’t tackled and, when it was, it was brushed aside with a “Oh, Monica’s a vampire/human-in-league-with-the-vamps so she can do what she likes so you have to put up with it or shut up”, and that upset me. People get bullied and to have that reaction was horrifying!
But, saying that though, I found the last 20% of the book gripping. And for that cliffhanger ending – if you fell for the story, you will be itching to get your hands on book two, Dead Girls' Dance, as you won’t see it coming....
As for me... it’s not my cup of tea. But I won’t say no to reading book two in the series (I did want to jump to book 11, Last Breath, but I have been told by two book blogger pals told me that you have to read the series through due to the game-changing nature of the series and the character development). I’m in no rush to read [b:The Dead Girls' Dance|261122|The Dead Girls' Dance (The Morganville Vampires, #2)|Rachel Caine|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388182865l/261122._SY75_.jpg|253091] so when I do get round to it, I expect something awesome and shocking to happen or I might leave the series alone...
ck714's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
samilou33's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0