Scan barcode
kathydavie's review against another edition
5.0
An anthology of eight stories for Young Adults revolving around the theme of immortality and love.
Series
"Dead Man Stalking" (Morganville Vampires, 4.6)
"Free" (Evernight, 0.5)
The Stories
Cynthia Leitich Smith's "Haunted Love" starts vague and slowly lets drop tidbits of truth. It's very well done as we slowly discover the truth about Cody Stryker and then Ginny Augustine, and finally,
Kristin Cast's "Amber Smoke" is imaginative and dorky. I felt like I was being jerked back and forth between possibilities, and I wasn't sure what was happening. I didn't particularly like how "teen-sounding" Jenna was, either. *shrugs, does an eye roll* Sounds like it's a prequel for something.
Rachel Caine's "Dead Man Stalking" is a very short blip as we witness an encounter between Shane and his crazy dad, Frank, over Michael's shackled person. Frank's got a new idea for taking down the Morganville vampires. Everything you'd expect in a Caine story about Morganville!
Tanith Lee's "Table Manners" was different. Lee led by making me believe that Lel was a vampire hunter, then a deprogrammer, before I finally learned what she really was. Interesting take on why a vampire fears certain elements and requires a blood diet. If it's a series, I'd like to read more.
Richelle Mead's "Blue Moon" sounds like it could be a new series uniting human and vampire to ensure equality between the two. If only this young vampire can survive her family. It's a good one with a completely different premise on how humans and vampires get along. Cute, using Lucy as the protagonist's name.
Nancy Holder's "Changed" is more of a horror story as, overnight, New York City is practically destroyed and Jilly is desperate to find the love of her life. The fact that the love of her life loves someone else doesn't matter. Until that love turns viciously on her. It's a good story, but leaves one HUGE unanswered question for me. Was he turned during the invasion or was he part of the invasion?
Rachel Vincent's "Binge" demonstrates youthful optimism, as well as its stupidity and the damage that can result from the loss of control. It certainly gives us a sense of how Andi must feel when she's caught up in her "binging". Great story, and it made me cry.
Claudia Gray's "Free" is a prequel to her Evernight series, and we learn how Patrice Deveraux was turned in New Orleans in 1841. Gotta look up that first story in the series, Evernight.
The Cover
The cover is a gradated gray to black with just a hint of a blow behind her shoulder, just enough to silhouette the wavy strands of hair flowing around her head. She's a beautiful woman on the cover in this partial profile, reminds me of Penelope Cruz. The title is in a degraded Gothic script, in red with swirls and twirls connecting the woman, the title, its subtitle and the editor's name.
The title is the theme and its subset, Immortals: Love Stories With Bite.
Series
"Dead Man Stalking" (Morganville Vampires, 4.6)
"Free" (Evernight, 0.5)
The Stories
Cynthia Leitich Smith's "Haunted Love" starts vague and slowly lets drop tidbits of truth. It's very well done as we slowly discover the truth about Cody Stryker and then Ginny Augustine, and finally,
Kristin Cast's "Amber Smoke" is imaginative and dorky. I felt like I was being jerked back and forth between possibilities, and I wasn't sure what was happening. I didn't particularly like how "teen-sounding" Jenna was, either. *shrugs, does an eye roll* Sounds like it's a prequel for something.
Rachel Caine's "Dead Man Stalking" is a very short blip as we witness an encounter between Shane and his crazy dad, Frank, over Michael's shackled person. Frank's got a new idea for taking down the Morganville vampires. Everything you'd expect in a Caine story about Morganville!
Tanith Lee's "Table Manners" was different. Lee led by making me believe that Lel was a vampire hunter, then a deprogrammer, before I finally learned what she really was. Interesting take on why a vampire fears certain elements and requires a blood diet. If it's a series, I'd like to read more.
Richelle Mead's "Blue Moon" sounds like it could be a new series uniting human and vampire to ensure equality between the two. If only this young vampire can survive her family. It's a good one with a completely different premise on how humans and vampires get along. Cute, using Lucy as the protagonist's name.
Nancy Holder's "Changed" is more of a horror story as, overnight, New York City is practically destroyed and Jilly is desperate to find the love of her life. The fact that the love of her life loves someone else doesn't matter. Until that love turns viciously on her. It's a good story, but leaves one HUGE unanswered question for me. Was he turned during the invasion or was he part of the invasion?
Rachel Vincent's "Binge" demonstrates youthful optimism, as well as its stupidity and the damage that can result from the loss of control. It certainly gives us a sense of how Andi must feel when she's caught up in her "binging". Great story, and it made me cry.
Claudia Gray's "Free" is a prequel to her Evernight series, and we learn how Patrice Deveraux was turned in New Orleans in 1841. Gotta look up that first story in the series, Evernight.
The Cover
The cover is a gradated gray to black with just a hint of a blow behind her shoulder, just enough to silhouette the wavy strands of hair flowing around her head. She's a beautiful woman on the cover in this partial profile, reminds me of Penelope Cruz. The title is in a degraded Gothic script, in red with swirls and twirls connecting the woman, the title, its subtitle and the editor's name.
The title is the theme and its subset, Immortals: Love Stories With Bite.
goodem9199's review against another edition
Seven of today's most popular YA vampire and fantasy authors offer new short stories. Rachel Caine (the Morganville Vampires series) revisits the setting of her popular series, where the vampires are in writes of a love triangle between a vampire, a ghost and a human girl. Claudia Gray (Evernight) takes us into the world of her Evernight series, in which a pre-Civil War courtesan-to-be is courted by a dangerous man. I may just be burnt out on the entire vampire theme, but I wasn't overly impressed with this collection. I think it still has an audience, but I was surprised how many of the stories didn't seem to center around love, at all.
iceangel32's review against another edition
4.0
Overall a great book. P.C. Cast had a really interesting intro relating vampires to teenagers. Relating the things we see in vampires…the invincibility and the feeling of knowing everything, being in charge, in control…to the feeling you have as a teenager. Some of the stories are better than others. I will defiantly be looking at additional books from Cynthia Leitich Smith, Rachel Vincent and Tanith Lee. Some of the stories I would not really consider “love” stories, but I enjoyed them none the less.
Haunted Love ~ Cynthia Leitich Smith
I really enjoyed this story. I will defiantly be looking into more of Cynthia’s writing. In its short 30 pages I was pulled into the story and related to the characters. I enjoyed the allure of the Love Theater and the love triangle or should I say square with ghosts, vampires and mortals. Even though it was short I felt that it was complete and great overall.
*****
Amber Smoke ~ Kristin Cast
This story looked at Vampires in another way. They took energy not blood from mortals. It also had a Greek mythology twist to it which was really cool. Alekos was born from the Furies, the daughter of Night, to protect the mortals from vampires that got out of control and is on a mission to find the girl that he was born to protect. Although it was a good story it was not great.
***
Dead Man Stalking ~ Rachel Caine
This was a good story but I feel that I would have enjoyed it more if I was a reader of the Morganville series (which will happen if I have time). It had vampires and zombies and a war that pitted the morals and zombies against vampires that run the town.
***
Table Manners ~ Tanith Lee
I like how this story sort of changes your idea of vampires. It looks at the science of being a vampire I guess you can say. It takes a medical view on vampirism. I also like the fact that the main character talks to reader at some points of the story. I really made me feel like I was there in the story. I like the way you don’t really know what Lel’s purpose is at the beginning of the story, but how it all makes sense at the end. I also like her father’s role in the story too and how the vampires are not only vampires but shape-shifters. I will defiantly be looking into Tanith’s books also.
*****
Blue Moon ~ Richelle Mead
Ahh the reason I picked up this book…and Richelle did not let me down. This story was nothing like the Vampire Academy series which I thought was great. This story brought a different look at vampires again in this book as leaders of the society, in charge of humans. A vampire is born that can change the order of things, help humans have more of a say. I like the way that both the main characters were figuring out what to do and their role in everything as they went. I made them seem more real. I would love to see this developed into something more.
*****
Changed ~ Nancy Holder
I am really unsure how I feel about this story. Would I characterize this as a vampire love story?…not really. It was predictable at the end and it seemed to have the constant theme of I love him…he is gay repeated over and over again…I got it at the beginning of the story. Then the vampires themselves, when we got to them, could have a better story line, the cell phones and computers didn’t work, but then they did. It seemed like they were an afterthought. Except for the end, they were just in the background…something to run from. I feel like it was a story of two humans one was gay and the other loved him even though he would never love her like that, yet he seemed to still treat her like he loved her (kissing her, showering and spooning her). The end also just kind of left you…it was uneventful and not satisfying.
**
Binge ~ Rachel Vincent
This was a great story, maybe because it was about a siren and a leanan sidhe. This story was just wow…I don’t want to give it away...you just have to read it yourself. But I have to say it was probably my favorite in the book.
*****
Free ~ Claudia Gray
Good story set in 1841New Orleans, where blacks were slaves or Creole mistresses and vampires did not exist…or did they? Another love triangle with a strong female character and a tragic end via vampire. All and all not a bad read, not the best in the book though.
***
Haunted Love ~ Cynthia Leitich Smith
I really enjoyed this story. I will defiantly be looking into more of Cynthia’s writing. In its short 30 pages I was pulled into the story and related to the characters. I enjoyed the allure of the Love Theater and the love triangle or should I say square with ghosts, vampires and mortals. Even though it was short I felt that it was complete and great overall.
*****
Amber Smoke ~ Kristin Cast
This story looked at Vampires in another way. They took energy not blood from mortals. It also had a Greek mythology twist to it which was really cool. Alekos was born from the Furies, the daughter of Night, to protect the mortals from vampires that got out of control and is on a mission to find the girl that he was born to protect. Although it was a good story it was not great.
***
Dead Man Stalking ~ Rachel Caine
This was a good story but I feel that I would have enjoyed it more if I was a reader of the Morganville series (which will happen if I have time). It had vampires and zombies and a war that pitted the morals and zombies against vampires that run the town.
***
Table Manners ~ Tanith Lee
I like how this story sort of changes your idea of vampires. It looks at the science of being a vampire I guess you can say. It takes a medical view on vampirism. I also like the fact that the main character talks to reader at some points of the story. I really made me feel like I was there in the story. I like the way you don’t really know what Lel’s purpose is at the beginning of the story, but how it all makes sense at the end. I also like her father’s role in the story too and how the vampires are not only vampires but shape-shifters. I will defiantly be looking into Tanith’s books also.
*****
Blue Moon ~ Richelle Mead
Ahh the reason I picked up this book…and Richelle did not let me down. This story was nothing like the Vampire Academy series which I thought was great. This story brought a different look at vampires again in this book as leaders of the society, in charge of humans. A vampire is born that can change the order of things, help humans have more of a say. I like the way that both the main characters were figuring out what to do and their role in everything as they went. I made them seem more real. I would love to see this developed into something more.
*****
Changed ~ Nancy Holder
I am really unsure how I feel about this story. Would I characterize this as a vampire love story?…not really. It was predictable at the end and it seemed to have the constant theme of I love him…he is gay repeated over and over again…I got it at the beginning of the story. Then the vampires themselves, when we got to them, could have a better story line, the cell phones and computers didn’t work, but then they did. It seemed like they were an afterthought. Except for the end, they were just in the background…something to run from. I feel like it was a story of two humans one was gay and the other loved him even though he would never love her like that, yet he seemed to still treat her like he loved her (kissing her, showering and spooning her). The end also just kind of left you…it was uneventful and not satisfying.
**
Binge ~ Rachel Vincent
This was a great story, maybe because it was about a siren and a leanan sidhe. This story was just wow…I don’t want to give it away...you just have to read it yourself. But I have to say it was probably my favorite in the book.
*****
Free ~ Claudia Gray
Good story set in 1841New Orleans, where blacks were slaves or Creole mistresses and vampires did not exist…or did they? Another love triangle with a strong female character and a tragic end via vampire. All and all not a bad read, not the best in the book though.
***
fyrekatz's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked Rachel Caine, Richelle Mead, Nancy Holder and Kristin Cast's stories in this book!
eliathereader's review against another edition
1.0
İçerisindeki hikayeler vasattı. Sevdiğim yazarlar yer aldığı için okumak istemiştim ama büyük bir hayal kırıklığı oldu. Bir dek Mead'ın hikayesi çok az daha iyiydi diğerlerine kıyasla o kadar.
meryep's review against another edition
3.0
habría que pntuar las historias por separado porque unas estaban muy bien pero alguna no me ha gustado nada.
melodious16's review against another edition
4.0
Ummm I wish they were actually books!! (Some of them) but they are for the most part pretty good..
siany123's review against another edition
3.0
If your looking for a nice, entertaining quick read but I thought that the stories didn't go into enough detail because they had to set the scene aswell as introducing the characters and writing a small story about them. I also wanted to some of the stories to carry on so I could read more about the characters and get to know them better. Most of them just seemed a but rushed. My favourite was Blue Moon by Richelle Mead!
fairiepixiedust's review against another edition
2.0
Maybe it's because I like characters and plot lines to be well developed, but I did not really enjoy this book as much as I'd hoped. Some stories were far too SLOW (if you can imagine) for being only a few short pages. I love my paranormal romance and this was just a hug letdown.