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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
Enjoyed this, but it didn't get 5/5 because the ending was totally predictable. I'd worked out who dunnit early on in the book, and hoped that the thing that happened towards the end wouldn't happen - I wanted to see how things would have turned out had that not happened. Instead, I spent the entire book expecting it to happen, and lo! It did. *{:-(
Well I did kind of suspect but I sure as heck did not see that coming!!
Things are heating up in Chicago and Merit is right smack dab in the middle of it all and not by her choice.
I really like the new relationships she is making, I don’t think she is moving on per say I think she is living on as he would have wanted.
Again I am loving the narration.
Things are heating up in Chicago and Merit is right smack dab in the middle of it all and not by her choice.
I really like the new relationships she is making, I don’t think she is moving on per say I think she is living on as he would have wanted.
Again I am loving the narration.
I HATE THIS SERIES I HATE THIS BOOK I HATE EVERYONE OTHER THAN MERIT ETHAN AND JONAH BUT I KEEP READING IT I DON'T KNOW WHY.
Jonah though.
Good Lord, I want to have him. He's like, perfection. I'm no longer shipping him with Merit, I like them being partners. The only person I can ship romantically with Merit is Ethan I guess. But I like Jonah much better *sighs*
Jonah though.
Good Lord, I want to have him. He's like, perfection. I'm no longer shipping him with Merit, I like them being partners. The only person I can ship romantically with Merit is Ethan I guess. But I like Jonah much better *sighs*
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Weak. Transitional story. Not enough explanation on Mallory’s magic and how it works.
Wellllllll ... I'm not quite sure what to think about this latest edition in the Chicagoland Vampires universe. I enjoyed reading it almost as much as the previous books in the series, but this one just left me feeling a bit off as I finished the book. One reviewer commented that this book felt a bit like New Moon in the Twilight series, and I have to kind of agree with that. In this series we were fed a particular relationship to root for, that between Merit and Ethan. They struggled over and over to figure out how to work through the issues that were preventing them from jumping all in and having a relationship together. In book three it seemed as if they were finally able to overcome any obstacles and work on a relationship, and then Ethan makes a major boneheaded decision that throws all of that away. He spent the rest of that book and all of book four trying to correct that massive mistake. Then at the end of book four when it seemed like Merit was finally working toward forgiving Ethan the rug was pulled right out from underneath all of us as readers as Ethan literally turns into a pile of ash right before Merit's eyes. I knew as I read that scene that Ethan was going to be coming back. That's just how these things work in the typical PNR book. So all that was left was to see how Neill was going to handle the time that Merit waits until that happened and how the magical resurrection was going to occur.
So that leads us to Drink Deep, book five in the Chicagoland Vampires series. This book did suffer a lot from Ethan's absence, but I have to say that I was super glad that the entire book didn't wallow in self-pity and overwhelming sadness. Merit is definitely grieving, but she continues to live and to move on with her life the best that she can. She continues on in her duties as Sentinel for Cadogan House, and in this book that leads her to try to figure out what is causing apocalyptic events to occur over the city of Chicago.
Her job is made more difficult because of the addition of a GP representative who has been sent to whip the house into shape. This man is a complete maniac. He imposes new rules and restrictions that test the house vampires and definitely create a depressed atmosphere in the group. I have to say that I was not entirely happy with his character in this book, not just because he was a horrible GP representative, but because he was so over the top that it stretched my ability to stay with the story. He was just so horrible that he became a cardboard cutout of a character, and I don't find those sort of characters to be that interesting to read. He seemed to exist simply to be a force of evil and unyielding restrictions that was there to create some sort of handy dandy crisis for the newly reorganized house to have to deal with, as if just having your liege and master killed wasn't enough of a plot line to hold through the story.
Then there is the actual crisis of the story -- Chicago being destroyed through the four elements of magic, water, air, earth, and fire. I wasn't totally unhappy with this story line, but it lacked some of the emotional punch that some of the earlier conflicts of the series held. It is more powerful for me when it seems like Merit is fighting against real life enemies rather than some nebulous force that is destroying the world. Granted, there are some enemies in this book, Mr. Vigilante Justice Man, the new mayor, the old mayor -- but these enemies just seem stuck in the story. There isn't a lot of depth to them. I don't fear them much, and I don't care to know much more about their intentions or underlying layers.
Staying away from the finer details of plot -- what in the world happened to Mallory? This plot seemed to come out of nowhere. Was she just the last character left in the pile without a purpose in this book, so Neill gave her this big role in this book? She has been the faithful best friend who occasionally has spats with Merit, usually just because they have different ideas of what would be better for the life of each other. But this? What the heck? I feel like I've been introduced to a character for five books, only to find out I was part of a big giant prank. This makes no sense to me in the scope of the entire series, and it seems like it is going to be an awkward thing to try and correct.
And then there is Jonah. I really like his character. He is a genuinely good guy -- or at least he seems to be. If things go according to form, I'll probably find out that he is a secret vampire magician who has plans to take over the world on his own, using Cadogan House in his evil plan. But for now at least he seems to be sweet and understanding and brave and caring. He is partnered up with Merit for a lot of this book, and they do make a good pair. He is understanding when he kisses Merit, and she finds that it is too soon after Ethan's "death" to begin a relationship with another. He might be a bit too understanding. There aren't a lot of guys out there who could bounce back so quickly after being rejected and act like it is no big deal, but it worked for me. I like him a lot, and I think that it is going to suck big time when Merit eventually is reunited with Ethan, dumping Jonah along the side of the path. I really would have preferred that a new romantic interest wasn't introduced, only to be knocked out. It is an irritating plot device that shows up all too often in these stories. And his noble speech at the end? What was that? Maybe that was his entry speech in his try for Most Altruistic Vampire of the Year. But hurray, I guess. He'll be around for another day. Something tells me that eventually Merit is going to have to explain her working relationship with Jonah to Ethan someday. But that's for another book.
So that brings us finally to the big ending. Spoilers ahead, I'm sure, so read at your own risk. This is what we all wanted after the events of the last book, right? Then why did this feel so wrong? I should have been jumping for joy, with tears in my eyes as Merit finally is reunited with Ethan. I should have rejoiced that they were able to quickly re-establish their relationship with all of the walls removed. But something was just weird about the whole thing. The whole magical process that occurred made absolutely no sense. I know that I'm reading paranormal stuff here, and that requires a bit of suspension of reality to appreciate it, but still this entire process seemed like it was invented simply to find some way to bring this guy back from the dead. He was ashes, for goodness sake. The explanation given made no sense at all. Yet there he was, like the Phoenix. So, fine, it happened. I can deal with that, but it seemed so rushed. I felt like everything just resolved itself without any of the emotional punch that I should have felt. I can't exactly put my finger on why that was. I just knew that I felt nothing. It was almost as if nothing at all had occurred in the last few months, like it had all been a dream. Except now Merit was in a real relationship with a new laid-back Ethan who was unwilling to sit around and wait for Merit to work through her issues. He's no longer the master of the house (now I can't stop singing the Les Mis song), so it seems as if any of the issues the two of them may have had in the past may be solved. Only he may or may not be a pawn to be controlled by a newly evil Mallory. Total craziness! I wish that the events of the last book involving Ethan had never occurred. It would have kept this series at its absolute peak. But, nevertheless, I still do like the guy a lot, and I'm glad he's back.
So, I still gave this a four star rating because I do really enjoy the series overall. This book was a bit of a blip in the writing, but it wasn't so horrible that I need to quit reading on. I love Merit as a character, and I do love Neill's writing a lot. I think that the problems found in this novel can easily be overcome, and I have high hopes that Neill will do this with the next book in the series. I'm hoping that the newly resurrected relationship between Ethan and Merit can still be as strongly written as the relationship was before the unfortunate staking incident. They had an easy banter that was coupled with strong arguments between two strong-willed individuals. I hope that that sort of relationship remains, even though Ethan is no longer Merit's master. Their wonderful relationship, whether personal or professional, forms the heart of the best parts of this series. If Neill can continue building this as they fight the newest enemies they face then she will continue to write a wonderful series for me to love. Fingers crossed!
So that leads us to Drink Deep, book five in the Chicagoland Vampires series. This book did suffer a lot from Ethan's absence, but I have to say that I was super glad that the entire book didn't wallow in self-pity and overwhelming sadness. Merit is definitely grieving, but she continues to live and to move on with her life the best that she can. She continues on in her duties as Sentinel for Cadogan House, and in this book that leads her to try to figure out what is causing apocalyptic events to occur over the city of Chicago.
Her job is made more difficult because of the addition of a GP representative who has been sent to whip the house into shape. This man is a complete maniac. He imposes new rules and restrictions that test the house vampires and definitely create a depressed atmosphere in the group. I have to say that I was not entirely happy with his character in this book, not just because he was a horrible GP representative, but because he was so over the top that it stretched my ability to stay with the story. He was just so horrible that he became a cardboard cutout of a character, and I don't find those sort of characters to be that interesting to read. He seemed to exist simply to be a force of evil and unyielding restrictions that was there to create some sort of handy dandy crisis for the newly reorganized house to have to deal with, as if just having your liege and master killed wasn't enough of a plot line to hold through the story.
Then there is the actual crisis of the story -- Chicago being destroyed through the four elements of magic, water, air, earth, and fire. I wasn't totally unhappy with this story line, but it lacked some of the emotional punch that some of the earlier conflicts of the series held. It is more powerful for me when it seems like Merit is fighting against real life enemies rather than some nebulous force that is destroying the world. Granted, there are some enemies in this book, Mr. Vigilante Justice Man, the new mayor, the old mayor -- but these enemies just seem stuck in the story. There isn't a lot of depth to them. I don't fear them much, and I don't care to know much more about their intentions or underlying layers.
Staying away from the finer details of plot -- what in the world happened to Mallory? This plot seemed to come out of nowhere. Was she just the last character left in the pile without a purpose in this book, so Neill gave her this big role in this book? She has been the faithful best friend who occasionally has spats with Merit, usually just because they have different ideas of what would be better for the life of each other. But this? What the heck? I feel like I've been introduced to a character for five books, only to find out I was part of a big giant prank. This makes no sense to me in the scope of the entire series, and it seems like it is going to be an awkward thing to try and correct.
And then there is Jonah. I really like his character. He is a genuinely good guy -- or at least he seems to be. If things go according to form, I'll probably find out that he is a secret vampire magician who has plans to take over the world on his own, using Cadogan House in his evil plan. But for now at least he seems to be sweet and understanding and brave and caring. He is partnered up with Merit for a lot of this book, and they do make a good pair. He is understanding when he kisses Merit, and she finds that it is too soon after Ethan's "death" to begin a relationship with another. He might be a bit too understanding. There aren't a lot of guys out there who could bounce back so quickly after being rejected and act like it is no big deal, but it worked for me. I like him a lot, and I think that it is going to suck big time when Merit eventually is reunited with Ethan, dumping Jonah along the side of the path. I really would have preferred that a new romantic interest wasn't introduced, only to be knocked out. It is an irritating plot device that shows up all too often in these stories. And his noble speech at the end? What was that? Maybe that was his entry speech in his try for Most Altruistic Vampire of the Year. But hurray, I guess. He'll be around for another day. Something tells me that eventually Merit is going to have to explain her working relationship with Jonah to Ethan someday. But that's for another book.
So that brings us finally to the big ending. Spoilers ahead, I'm sure, so read at your own risk. This is what we all wanted after the events of the last book, right? Then why did this feel so wrong? I should have been jumping for joy, with tears in my eyes as Merit finally is reunited with Ethan. I should have rejoiced that they were able to quickly re-establish their relationship with all of the walls removed. But something was just weird about the whole thing. The whole magical process that occurred made absolutely no sense. I know that I'm reading paranormal stuff here, and that requires a bit of suspension of reality to appreciate it, but still this entire process seemed like it was invented simply to find some way to bring this guy back from the dead. He was ashes, for goodness sake. The explanation given made no sense at all. Yet there he was, like the Phoenix. So, fine, it happened. I can deal with that, but it seemed so rushed. I felt like everything just resolved itself without any of the emotional punch that I should have felt. I can't exactly put my finger on why that was. I just knew that I felt nothing. It was almost as if nothing at all had occurred in the last few months, like it had all been a dream. Except now Merit was in a real relationship with a new laid-back Ethan who was unwilling to sit around and wait for Merit to work through her issues. He's no longer the master of the house (now I can't stop singing the Les Mis song), so it seems as if any of the issues the two of them may have had in the past may be solved. Only he may or may not be a pawn to be controlled by a newly evil Mallory. Total craziness! I wish that the events of the last book involving Ethan had never occurred. It would have kept this series at its absolute peak. But, nevertheless, I still do like the guy a lot, and I'm glad he's back.
So, I still gave this a four star rating because I do really enjoy the series overall. This book was a bit of a blip in the writing, but it wasn't so horrible that I need to quit reading on. I love Merit as a character, and I do love Neill's writing a lot. I think that the problems found in this novel can easily be overcome, and I have high hopes that Neill will do this with the next book in the series. I'm hoping that the newly resurrected relationship between Ethan and Merit can still be as strongly written as the relationship was before the unfortunate staking incident. They had an easy banter that was coupled with strong arguments between two strong-willed individuals. I hope that that sort of relationship remains, even though Ethan is no longer Merit's master. Their wonderful relationship, whether personal or professional, forms the heart of the best parts of this series. If Neill can continue building this as they fight the newest enemies they face then she will continue to write a wonderful series for me to love. Fingers crossed!
Slow start, but last few chapters were great. I'm really enjoying this series!
My rant halfway through the book: Okay. I have got some serious problems with this book. Well Jonah to be more specific. what the hell is with all this the familiarty? how does he really know so much about Merit. about her problems with her parents, her relationship with Mallory and the finer workings of Catcher's personality. it's like Ethan been replaced by, and let's be frank, a subpar bastardian of himself.
I mean yeah he's had her back. But seriously, Ethan did so much more from Merit she gave him the worst time. I don't like this relationship. I don't like who Merit is with him, I don't like that everyone is forcing a relationship with him, and ugggghh I'm just really, really pissed.
The Red Guard better be really essential to the story or I'm going to be very angry, because then Neill would have f***** it up for no reason! Merit was supposed to be with Ethan, goddammit. Since he didn't do any of that mean shit she thought he did. He didn't turn didn't turn her for political reasons, he was beginning to become human, and I just fell in love with him, with them. And those dreams sequences were just wrong... if he's gone let him be gone.
My conclusion: So I figured it was Mallory. I never liked Mallory. But making Ethan a zombie familiar... that, I did not know. Or would have ever, ever expected. And frankly, I can't stand the bitch!
Yeah, yeah, she's Merit's old BFF but seriously. She never liked Ethan. Always had it in for him... and then to go all crazy-like and say "I did it for you" was such bullshit. I really hope they kill her.
One good thing about it. Well, it skips over the whole "Will they, won't they" scenario they've been bouncing around. Merit was never 100% sure - on her feelings, her loyalty/oath, his true feelings, his true motives... nothing. But now, how he's like "All never let you go" and she's like "All never let you go" and I'm like "YAY!"
I mean yeah he's had her back. But seriously, Ethan did so much more from Merit she gave him the worst time. I don't like this relationship. I don't like who Merit is with him, I don't like that everyone is forcing a relationship with him, and ugggghh I'm just really, really pissed.
The Red Guard better be really essential to the story or I'm going to be very angry, because then Neill would have f***** it up for no reason! Merit was supposed to be with Ethan, goddammit. Since he didn't do any of that mean shit she thought he did. He didn't turn didn't turn her for political reasons, he was beginning to become human, and I just fell in love with him, with them. And those dreams sequences were just wrong... if he's gone let him be gone.
My conclusion: So I figured it was Mallory. I never liked Mallory. But making Ethan a zombie familiar... that, I did not know. Or would have ever, ever expected. And frankly, I can't stand the bitch!
Yeah, yeah, she's Merit's old BFF but seriously. She never liked Ethan. Always had it in for him... and then to go all crazy-like and say "I did it for you" was such bullshit. I really hope they kill her.
One good thing about it. Well, it skips over the whole "Will they, won't they" scenario they've been bouncing around. Merit was never 100% sure - on her feelings, her loyalty/oath, his true feelings, his true motives... nothing. But now, how he's like "All never let you go" and she's like "All never let you go" and I'm like "YAY!"