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kelbell182's review
4.0
Reviewing each of these books individually is something I am just not capable of doing. Each book intertwines with the other so completely that it is nearly impossible to separate them. The relationships are complicated and nothing is black and white.
It seems to me that after the first 4 or so books, the author developed a love of BDSM. The series takes a twist from Urban Fantasy and ends up in the Erotic Fantasy. At first, the story doesn’t suffer and the erotic moments are a part of the story rather than consuming the entire plot. That is at first though….
After about book 11 or 12, the erotic becomes the sole focus. Sure, other stuff is going on, but it is all pushed to the back burner. There are so many relationships that is gets hard to be invested in each one of them.
I had to just ignore the parts that described anyone’s clothing, it was that bad. Sure, the series started a long time ago, but even in the more recent books, there are shoulder pads… yeah, should pads. Ugh! Plus, all of the men have long hair. ALL of them!!
All of the supernatural beings stick pretty close the versions told throughout history. The vampires can’t be in the sun, the werewolves have a short temper and get protective, the demons are bad… no need to reinvent the wheel here people.
ctrlaltcassie's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
finalgirlreads's review
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Book 7 of Anita Blake kicks off with Anita being asked to help in an arsonist case, with the fire department thinking it might be a pyrokinetic. In shifter politics, Anita is sort of thrust into the role of protector for the were leopards after taking out their alpha. Some members of a vampire council have come to town, to force Jean Claude to take over a spot for a vampire Anita killed whom was on the council. A vampire by the name of Asher comes with and he has one thing in his mind- revenge against Jean-Claude. This book had a touch more eroticism to it that still flowed rather nicely with the story. There wasn't an epic tense last scene, but a power struggle still went down with Anita and the others being victorious.
sarahhbeth_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Book 7, still hooked.
Possibly best yet in series (I say that after every book). Although coincidentally also most graphically violent; the sexual violence scenes were vile and maybe unnecessary. Still managed to captivate as Anita an co. become more powerful and relationships between characters develop.
Possibly best yet in series (I say that after every book). Although coincidentally also most graphically violent; the sexual violence scenes were vile and maybe unnecessary. Still managed to captivate as Anita an co. become more powerful and relationships between characters develop.
wtaylor1321's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
whatcha_listening_to's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book.
We learn more about how the three are connected and you can genuinely see how much Anita loves both Richard and Jean-Claude. I wish she would let one of them in wholly though I don’t know if she even knows how. She calls them monsters but she isn’t completely human either so she doesn’t really have room to talk.
The traveler was an interesting character I would like to see more of him. I feel like he was a him.
Thank god for not a lot of fire, I have a huge phobia of it and it was nice that there wasn’t a lot in this book.
The scene with the vamps in the basement that was pretty intense I liked how this book it felt like all action all the time.
Liked the narration as I have with the ones before.
We learn more about how the three are connected and you can genuinely see how much Anita loves both Richard and Jean-Claude. I wish she would let one of them in wholly though I don’t know if she even knows how. She calls them monsters but she isn’t completely human either so she doesn’t really have room to talk.
The traveler was an interesting character I would like to see more of him. I feel like he was a him.
Thank god for not a lot of fire, I have a huge phobia of it and it was nice that there wasn’t a lot in this book.
The scene with the vamps in the basement that was pretty intense I liked how this book it felt like all action all the time.
Liked the narration as I have with the ones before.
craftingrama's review against another edition
4.0
I loved the book but the damn background music was pissing me off especially when it didn't match the story HRMPH
merlin_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Despite what Goodreads says, this is probably the bazillionth time I've read this book. I used to do this thing where when a new book in the series was released, I would go back and reread all the prior books. I have since stopped this with this series. But I've also lost where I stopped reading them. So I decided to just reread from the beginning with the intentions of getting caught up.
Burnt Offerings is number 7 in the life of Anita Blake and by now we mostly know her and the main players (Jean-Claude, Richard, Dolph, Ronnie, etc...). The book jumps right in with Anita being asked to help find a firebug loose in the city. While committing to this, she hasn't yet realized that the Council has arrived and they aren't happy with whatever her and Jean-Claude are setting up in St Louis. The shit hits the fan, needless to say, and our triumvirate are forever changed.
I've seen some of the other reviews on this one and there is one part I have to agree on. This book was really busy. Had Hamilton chosen to just focus on the fires or just the Council, I think the book may have flowed better and not been so compacted. Like I don't think Anita slept once, unless she was knocked out.
Another thing I'm noticing now that I'm rereading these at an older age than when I started is just how much Anita kind of annoys me. Her whole view of how she can't possibly be good because of all the bad things and good girls don't have premarital sex with vampires and blah blah blah. Girl, own your shit. You're a sexual being and there's nothing wrong with that. Also, the way she treats other females is really lacking. She's often like, yay another female around and then promptly finds a way to dehumanize them. There's a way to write a strong female character without putting all of the others down.
So why did I rate this four stars? All the other characters who aren't Anita, for one. Even when I read this years ago, I remember Anita not being my favorite. What held my interest was Jason, Richard, Jean-Claude, Jason, Stephan, oh, did I mention Jason? The background/side characters are so rich and witty and just fun. I love getting to know all of them again.
And then there is the cunning of the plots. Yes, they are busy and sometimes convoluted. But more often than not, I have an 'oh shit!' moment where either I figure something major out or I had just been fooled and I love it. So while it may not be the best vampire hunter series out there, it fits for me.
Burnt Offerings is number 7 in the life of Anita Blake and by now we mostly know her and the main players (Jean-Claude, Richard, Dolph, Ronnie, etc...). The book jumps right in with Anita being asked to help find a firebug loose in the city. While committing to this, she hasn't yet realized that the Council has arrived and they aren't happy with whatever her and Jean-Claude are setting up in St Louis. The shit hits the fan, needless to say, and our triumvirate are forever changed.
I've seen some of the other reviews on this one and there is one part I have to agree on. This book was really busy. Had Hamilton chosen to just focus on the fires or just the Council, I think the book may have flowed better and not been so compacted. Like I don't think Anita slept once, unless she was knocked out.
Another thing I'm noticing now that I'm rereading these at an older age than when I started is just how much Anita kind of annoys me. Her whole view of how she can't possibly be good because of all the bad things and good girls don't have premarital sex with vampires and blah blah blah. Girl, own your shit. You're a sexual being and there's nothing wrong with that. Also, the way she treats other females is really lacking. She's often like, yay another female around and then promptly finds a way to dehumanize them. There's a way to write a strong female character without putting all of the others down.
So why did I rate this four stars? All the other characters who aren't Anita, for one. Even when I read this years ago, I remember Anita not being my favorite. What held my interest was Jason, Richard, Jean-Claude, Jason, Stephan, oh, did I mention Jason? The background/side characters are so rich and witty and just fun. I love getting to know all of them again.
And then there is the cunning of the plots. Yes, they are busy and sometimes convoluted. But more often than not, I have an 'oh shit!' moment where either I figure something major out or I had just been fooled and I love it. So while it may not be the best vampire hunter series out there, it fits for me.