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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
Same Anita, a little more about her at work, a little less sex, but the shorter length still made the book overall lacking.
What a self-indulgent bit of tripe. The conceit for this book is that the plot stems from a thoroughly uninteresting and commonplace thing that actually happened (gasp!) to Hamilton and a few of her friends. The only amazing thing about it is that Hamilton and her friends seem to have blown the incident out of all proportion, into some sort of proof of their inherently awesome artistic sexiness AND something worthy of creating "art" around. The result is little more than a boring and extended anecdote, with a thin covering of "plot" that does nothing to advance the Anita Blake storyline (other than to add another man to her harem. But that hardly counts as advancement of plot at this point.). I'd say that Hamilton needs to get out more, but that would only lead to her having more boring experiences that she feels obliged to write entire books about. What Hamilton DOES need is a better editor, who might prevent her from using the exact same phrase to describe the exact same character ("He looked at me then, his eyes so wide there was a flash of white to them.") on two consecutive pages.
A short story, inflated to a novella, marketed as a novel. I did appreciate that this installment had more of an actual story arc than most late series Blake novels - the length kept it from spinning too far off the rails. It also focused primarily (though not entirely) on her necromancy more than other metaphysical wankery, which was refreshing. Unfortunately she also manages to somehow add a new man to her collection (through force I might add), and repeat herself every other paragraph. So...yay? I give this a resounding meh. (Again, I'm reading these so you don't have to.)
I really love this story. In [b:Flirt|8717849|Flirt (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #18)|Laurell K. Hamilton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388201950s/8717849.jpg|6922779], we have both lighthearted moments and dark ones. We see Anita practice flirting at a local restaurant, with problematic results. This is fun and nice, but what I really like is that this is the book where we meet Nicky and learn more about the werelions (both Anita's and in general). It's also an especially great story because in it, Anita does what she was born to do: she raises zombies. :-)
Two other of my favorite things about this story? Number one, there was no writhing during the one sex scene. And number two, Richard was not even mentioned in this book. :-) (And I just realized, Richard wasn't mentioned at all in the last book, [b:Skin Trade|7456159|Skin Trade (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #17)|Laurell K. Hamilton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388201280s/7456159.jpg|5283119], either!!!)
Writhing did take place in this story, though. It was mentioned three times. Two of those times were during a sexual scene, but it wasn't full sex (the clothes stayed on and there were no orgasms), so the use of "writhe" wasn't as offensive to me as it might otherwise have been.
I noticed just one error and one continuity issue in the text:
The error was a missing word in a phrase on page 28 of my edition. I'll put the missing word in bold in the quote: "...but it was easy for any of us who wanted to to sit as close as we wanted until the food came..." This might not technically be an error, but it reads that way with the first but without the second "to," to me at least.
The continuity issue is once again all about the series timing. :'( In Flirt, on page 31 we are told that Nathaniel is still age twenty-one. On page 73, we have this line: "...he was Nathaniel's age exactly, so I couldn't claim that an eight-year age difference weirded me out." This would make Anita twenty-nine. But if Nathaniel is still twenty-one, then the "summer" mentioned in this book is still summer of AB04 (same time frame as for the last two books). Nathaniel was mentioned as being twenty-one, and Anita as being twenty-seven (itself an error), in [b:Danse Macabre|25825012|Danse Macabre (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #14)|Laurell K. Hamilton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1435679435s/25825012.jpg|7313984], which took place during November of AB03. So Nathaniel's age tracks. Anita's, however, does not. She should only be, at most, twenty-eight. But really, she should have been twenty-six in Danse Macabre and twenty-seven in Flirt. Do you see why I'm confused? We've only been with Anita for four years of her life (AB01, AB02, AB03, and now AB04) and she was twenty-four when we met her. :'(
Of course, now that I'm thinking about it, if Anita met Nathaniel when he was only nineteen, as said in earlier books, and the book she met him in, [b:Burnt Offerings|25886189|Burnt Offerings (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #7)|Laurell K. Hamilton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1436571890s/25886189.jpg|2534676], took place during July of AB02, then Nathaniel should only have been twenty in Danse Macabre. (Him being twenty-one in Flirt is A-okay.)
I give up on the series timing. :'(
Moving back on now to more positive things... I love this book! (See the beginning of this review for why.) There was one quote (an exchange, really) that I found that I would like to share. It always makes me chuckle a bit whenever I read it. :-) Once again, the underlined part is the quote that I love, while the rest is shared just for context:
1. From "Chapter 3," starting three paragraphs from the end (my edition: page 69; roughly thirty percent through the story):
NOTE: I put "Chapter 3" in quotes because the chapters aren't numbered in this book. The only thing that distinguishes the start of a new "chapter" from any other page in the book is the fact that they start partway down the given page the way normal chapters do. (And when the preceding "chapter" ends on an odd-numbered page, the next, even-numbered, page is blank and the new "chapter" starts on the facing odd-numbered page.) In my Chapter-by-Chapter spoiler below, I included the page numbers from my edition.
Most recent (penultimate?) reread of Flirt was on March 4, 2014.
This current reread took place on July 27, 2015. :-)
The following spoiler is a chapter-by-chapter synopsis of what happens in the book. I wrote it for myself and I'm going to try to keep spoilers out of it, but I'm going to hide it just in case...
Chapter 1 (pages 1-26): Anita's client meeting does not go well for the client. He meets Nathaniel, Jason and Micah on his way out.
Chapter 2 (pages 27-51): Anita is having lunch with Micah, Nathaniel, and Jason. Their waiter is distracted by them.
Chapter 3 (pages 53-69): Two days later, Anita has another client meeting. This meeting also doesn't go the way the client wants.
Chapter 4 (pages 71-120): Two weeks later, Anita is back at the earlier restaurant for lunch. Two bad guys come in: they're werelions. They have snipers on Micah, Nathaniel and Jason, so Anita does what they want.
Chapter 5 (pages 121-147): Anita meets their client, and it's not who she expects. ... Her lioness incites a fight between Jacob and Nicky. Anita tries to escape.
Chapter 6 (pages 149-174): Anita comes to in a cemetery. Nicky is with her. She has a plan but Jacob arrives before she can implement it.
Chapter 7 (pages 175-194): Ellen the witch understands that Anita needs to feed. Nicky is the chosen one. But Anita has choices for how she feeds, and she chooses a dark one. [No writhing during the sex!!!]
Chapter 8 (pages 195-223): Nicky is curious; Jacob is pissed; Ellen is repentant. Anita raises the one intended zombie, then she raises the rest. Jacob makes an agreement with her.
Chapter 9 (pages 225-233): The cavalry arrives! Too late to help, but much appreciated all the same. Anita talks with Micah, Nathaniel and Jason about Nicky. The five of them go to the hotel together.
Two other of my favorite things about this story? Number one, there was no writhing during the one sex scene. And number two, Richard was not even mentioned in this book. :-) (And I just realized, Richard wasn't mentioned at all in the last book, [b:Skin Trade|7456159|Skin Trade (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #17)|Laurell K. Hamilton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388201280s/7456159.jpg|5283119], either!!!)
Writhing did take place in this story, though. It was mentioned three times. Two of those times were during a sexual scene, but it wasn't full sex (the clothes stayed on and there were no orgasms), so the use of "writhe" wasn't as offensive to me as it might otherwise have been.
I noticed just one error and one continuity issue in the text:
The error was a missing word in a phrase on page 28 of my edition. I'll put the missing word in bold in the quote: "...but it was easy for any of us who wanted to to sit as close as we wanted until the food came..." This might not technically be an error, but it reads that way with the first but without the second "to," to me at least.
The continuity issue is once again all about the series timing. :'( In Flirt, on page 31 we are told that Nathaniel is still age twenty-one. On page 73, we have this line: "...he was Nathaniel's age exactly, so I couldn't claim that an eight-year age difference weirded me out." This would make Anita twenty-nine. But if Nathaniel is still twenty-one, then the "summer" mentioned in this book is still summer of AB04 (same time frame as for the last two books). Nathaniel was mentioned as being twenty-one, and Anita as being twenty-seven (itself an error), in [b:Danse Macabre|25825012|Danse Macabre (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #14)|Laurell K. Hamilton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1435679435s/25825012.jpg|7313984], which took place during November of AB03. So Nathaniel's age tracks. Anita's, however, does not. She should only be, at most, twenty-eight. But really, she should have been twenty-six in Danse Macabre and twenty-seven in Flirt. Do you see why I'm confused? We've only been with Anita for four years of her life (AB01, AB02, AB03, and now AB04) and she was twenty-four when we met her. :'(
Of course, now that I'm thinking about it, if Anita met Nathaniel when he was only nineteen, as said in earlier books, and the book she met him in, [b:Burnt Offerings|25886189|Burnt Offerings (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #7)|Laurell K. Hamilton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1436571890s/25886189.jpg|2534676], took place during July of AB02, then Nathaniel should only have been twenty in Danse Macabre. (Him being twenty-one in Flirt is A-okay.)
I give up on the series timing. :'(
Moving back on now to more positive things... I love this book! (See the beginning of this review for why.) There was one quote (an exchange, really) that I found that I would like to share. It always makes me chuckle a bit whenever I read it. :-) Once again, the underlined part is the quote that I love, while the rest is shared just for context:
1. From "Chapter 3," starting three paragraphs from the end (my edition: page 69; roughly thirty percent through the story):
"I am not crazy, Ms. Blake. I'm a woman scorned."
"He was married to you for twenty-five years. I think the poor bastard suffered enough."
NOTE: I put "Chapter 3" in quotes because the chapters aren't numbered in this book. The only thing that distinguishes the start of a new "chapter" from any other page in the book is the fact that they start partway down the given page the way normal chapters do. (And when the preceding "chapter" ends on an odd-numbered page, the next, even-numbered, page is blank and the new "chapter" starts on the facing odd-numbered page.) In my Chapter-by-Chapter spoiler below, I included the page numbers from my edition.
Most recent (penultimate?) reread of Flirt was on March 4, 2014.
This current reread took place on July 27, 2015. :-)
The following spoiler is a chapter-by-chapter synopsis of what happens in the book. I wrote it for myself and I'm going to try to keep spoilers out of it, but I'm going to hide it just in case...
Chapter 1 (pages 1-26): Anita's client meeting does not go well for the client. He meets Nathaniel, Jason and Micah on his way out.
Chapter 2 (pages 27-51): Anita is having lunch with Micah, Nathaniel, and Jason. Their waiter is distracted by them.
Chapter 3 (pages 53-69): Two days later, Anita has another client meeting. This meeting also doesn't go the way the client wants.
Chapter 4 (pages 71-120): Two weeks later, Anita is back at the earlier restaurant for lunch. Two bad guys come in: they're werelions. They have snipers on Micah, Nathaniel and Jason, so Anita does what they want.
Chapter 5 (pages 121-147): Anita meets their client, and it's not who she expects. ... Her lioness incites a fight between Jacob and Nicky. Anita tries to escape.
Chapter 6 (pages 149-174): Anita comes to in a cemetery. Nicky is with her. She has a plan but Jacob arrives before she can implement it.
Chapter 7 (pages 175-194): Ellen the witch understands that Anita needs to feed. Nicky is the chosen one. But Anita has choices for how she feeds, and she chooses a dark one. [No writhing during the sex!!!]
Chapter 8 (pages 195-223): Nicky is curious; Jacob is pissed; Ellen is repentant. Anita raises the one intended zombie, then she raises the rest. Jacob makes an agreement with her.
Chapter 9 (pages 225-233): The cavalry arrives! Too late to help, but much appreciated all the same. Anita talks with Micah, Nathaniel and Jason about Nicky. The five of them go to the hotel together.
Micah moved against my back and laid a kiss on my shoulder. "Good morning," he whispered, and that was enough. Did I regret what I'd done to Nicky? Yes, I did, but as Nathaniel blinked those lavender eyes up at me through a veil of his own hair, Jason mumbled, "It's too early to be up," his hand rubbing along my shoulder. I could live with it. [fin]
Enjoyable - A whole book, but felt like a short story.
http://purplemoonmyst.blogspot.com/2011/01/flirt.html
It’s been awhile since I’ve read an Anita book, but this one was fun!
I love these books, that I just can't put them down
I used to love these books when they were mostly about the monsters. Now they are all about Anita and her multitudes of boyfriends. I feel Hamilton went down a track that she can never get out of. I gave this three stars because in this book Anita at least is using her necromancy powers and doing stuff with zombies again.
dark
tense
medium-paced