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kathydavie's review against another edition
5.0
An anthology of 13 stories with strong, independent, and intelligent heroines who are quite capable of solving their own problems and slaying their own dragons (or demons, as the case may be).
Series:
"Shiny" (Weather Wardens, 8.5)
In Vino Veritas" (Dorina Basarab, 2.5; Cassandra Palmer World, 6.5)
"Hunt" (Shifters, 6.5; Wildcats, 0.5)
"Vampires Prefer Blondes" (Vampire Files: Jack Fleming, xx.5)
"Nine-Tenths of the Law" (Morgan Kingsley, 5.5)
"Double Dead" (Night Tracker, 5.5)
"A Rose by Any Other Name Would Still be Red" (Epic of Palins, 1.5)
"Superman" (The Anna Strong Chronicles, 5.5)
"Monster Mash" (Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator, 2.1)
"Mist" (Midgard, 0.5)
The Stories
Rachel Caine's "Shiny" sees Joanne and David heading out for a drive on a lovely day with a picnic at its end only to be detoured by a Bugatti Veyron and a girl, er, djinn, in a diamond bikini.
Karen Chance's "In Vino Veritas" has Dory barely surviving a drinking bout of fae wine with Lord Cheung so she can avoid fighting a duel with him.
Rachel Vincent's "Hunt" ends with Abby Wade, having spent two summers training with Faythe, finding her courage when the memories of her own rape threaten to overwhelm as she watches the attack on her friends. Jace's endorsement puts the seal on it.
Lilith Saintcrow's "Monsters" feels like an excerpt from a full-length story. And I WANT TO KNOW which one!! Eleni is a Preserver. A Preserver who has lost the children and their remarkable talents which she has been preserving for the future to a group of hunters. Well, turnabout is fair play, and Eleni goes hunting the hunters.
P. N. Elrod's "Vampires Prefer Blondes" has Bobbi on her own adventure as she is ending a singing tour and a group of overbearing men come pounding on her door looking for the right blonde. Seems the "right blonde", Katie, became immune to her husband's mesmerizing stare and learned the truth. A truth that sent her running for her life.
Jenna Black's "Nine-Tenths of the Law" is a scary indictment of religious zealots when parents look for any excuse to burn their oldest daughter to death. A demon has indeed illegally possessed the girl but only to save her HIV-infected life. Now Morgan and Barbara have to save her from her parents.
I haven't read the Morgan Kingsley series but this story feels as though it could fit between 3 and 4 or 4 and 5.
Cheyenne McCray's "Double Dead" is an interesting group of characters from Night Trackers to Metamorphs based in New York City. In this story, Nyx Ciar has been kidnapped by Metamorphs and forced to reveal the location for a meeting of the Paranorm Council. An ignored branch of the supernatural family, the Metamorphs intend to kidnap and impersonate all but one member of the Council and get their revenge. Sounds like Nyx has a nice family group going.
Elizabeth A. Vaughan's "A Rose by Any Other Name Would Still be Red" is a walk in a fantastical history in which a mercenary, Red, is supposed to deliver a message and get out. Hey, this is a chick who kicks butt and what woman would want to pass up this opportunity to get illegally-held slaves released?
Jeanne C. Stein's "Superman" is a sad little story that has Anna encountering Matt who needs her help on a case. In spite of his dumping her and then hitting on other vamps, Anna agrees to help catch the coyote giving Matt grief.
Carole Nelson Douglas's "Monster Mash" is a fun look at Las Vegas and its need for the outrageous. In this story, Cesar Cicereau, the werewolf owner of the Gehenna Hotel, is plagued by an operatic soprano driving all his customers away. Turns out there's a family issue among the CinSims which Cesar expects Delilah to fix for him. I'm curious to read more if only to find out more about Sansouci…he sounds pretty sexy to me.
L. A. Banks's "Wanted: Dead or Alive" is a different take on a human assassin turned into a vampire by her target whom she still manages to take out. In this world, when someone takes out a vamp, they inherit everything they owned including his vamps. None of whom are happy to be owned by Tanya. It's okay, this wasn't Tanya's life plan either. At least, not until she meets Anastas.
Susan Krinard's "Mist" is an exploration of Norse legends: Ragnörak, Odhinn, Loki, weapons, and living in Midgard. Mist discovers that the dead-end life she's been living in San Francisco isn't so devoid of meaning. Now that the frost giants have returned and she discovers Eric's perfidy.
Nancy Holder's "Beyond the Pale" is a different take on the Hunt and the Erl King and his true purpose in taking human children and replacing them with changelings. Interesting but a bit vague. Holder doesn't give much away and some of it is darn confusing. When she shouts "trade" to the Erl King but then doesn't trade anything when he responds. Too many questions left on this one.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a perfect graphic novel depiction of a hot chick with arms upraised and hands grasping something with light shooting out.
The title, "Chicks Kick Butt" is also perfect as every story is about a chick who don't take no shit.
Series:
"Shiny" (Weather Wardens, 8.5)
In Vino Veritas" (Dorina Basarab, 2.5; Cassandra Palmer World, 6.5)
"Hunt" (Shifters, 6.5; Wildcats, 0.5)
"Vampires Prefer Blondes" (Vampire Files: Jack Fleming, xx.5)
"Nine-Tenths of the Law" (Morgan Kingsley, 5.5)
"Double Dead" (Night Tracker, 5.5)
"A Rose by Any Other Name Would Still be Red" (Epic of Palins, 1.5)
"Superman" (The Anna Strong Chronicles, 5.5)
"Monster Mash" (Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator, 2.1)
"Mist" (Midgard, 0.5)
The Stories
Rachel Caine's "Shiny" sees Joanne and David heading out for a drive on a lovely day with a picnic at its end only to be detoured by a Bugatti Veyron and a girl, er, djinn, in a diamond bikini.
Karen Chance's "In Vino Veritas" has Dory barely surviving a drinking bout of fae wine with Lord Cheung so she can avoid fighting a duel with him.
Rachel Vincent's "Hunt" ends with Abby Wade, having spent two summers training with Faythe, finding her courage when the memories of her own rape threaten to overwhelm as she watches the attack on her friends. Jace's endorsement puts the seal on it.
Lilith Saintcrow's "Monsters" feels like an excerpt from a full-length story. And I WANT TO KNOW which one!! Eleni is a Preserver. A Preserver who has lost the children and their remarkable talents which she has been preserving for the future to a group of hunters. Well, turnabout is fair play, and Eleni goes hunting the hunters.
P. N. Elrod's "Vampires Prefer Blondes" has Bobbi on her own adventure as she is ending a singing tour and a group of overbearing men come pounding on her door looking for the right blonde. Seems the "right blonde", Katie, became immune to her husband's mesmerizing stare and learned the truth. A truth that sent her running for her life.
Jenna Black's "Nine-Tenths of the Law" is a scary indictment of religious zealots when parents look for any excuse to burn their oldest daughter to death. A demon has indeed illegally possessed the girl but only to save her HIV-infected life. Now Morgan and Barbara have to save her from her parents.
I haven't read the Morgan Kingsley series but this story feels as though it could fit between 3 and 4 or 4 and 5.
Cheyenne McCray's "Double Dead" is an interesting group of characters from Night Trackers to Metamorphs based in New York City. In this story, Nyx Ciar has been kidnapped by Metamorphs and forced to reveal the location for a meeting of the Paranorm Council. An ignored branch of the supernatural family, the Metamorphs intend to kidnap and impersonate all but one member of the Council and get their revenge. Sounds like Nyx has a nice family group going.
Elizabeth A. Vaughan's "A Rose by Any Other Name Would Still be Red" is a walk in a fantastical history in which a mercenary, Red, is supposed to deliver a message and get out. Hey, this is a chick who kicks butt and what woman would want to pass up this opportunity to get illegally-held slaves released?
Jeanne C. Stein's "Superman" is a sad little story that has Anna encountering Matt who needs her help on a case. In spite of his dumping her and then hitting on other vamps, Anna agrees to help catch the coyote giving Matt grief.
Carole Nelson Douglas's "Monster Mash" is a fun look at Las Vegas and its need for the outrageous. In this story, Cesar Cicereau, the werewolf owner of the Gehenna Hotel, is plagued by an operatic soprano driving all his customers away. Turns out there's a family issue among the CinSims which Cesar expects Delilah to fix for him. I'm curious to read more if only to find out more about Sansouci…he sounds pretty sexy to me.
L. A. Banks's "Wanted: Dead or Alive" is a different take on a human assassin turned into a vampire by her target whom she still manages to take out. In this world, when someone takes out a vamp, they inherit everything they owned including his vamps. None of whom are happy to be owned by Tanya. It's okay, this wasn't Tanya's life plan either. At least, not until she meets Anastas.
Susan Krinard's "Mist" is an exploration of Norse legends: Ragnörak, Odhinn, Loki, weapons, and living in Midgard. Mist discovers that the dead-end life she's been living in San Francisco isn't so devoid of meaning. Now that the frost giants have returned and she discovers Eric's perfidy.
Nancy Holder's "Beyond the Pale" is a different take on the Hunt and the Erl King and his true purpose in taking human children and replacing them with changelings. Interesting but a bit vague. Holder doesn't give much away and some of it is darn confusing. When she shouts "trade" to the Erl King but then doesn't trade anything when he responds. Too many questions left on this one.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a perfect graphic novel depiction of a hot chick with arms upraised and hands grasping something with light shooting out.
The title, "Chicks Kick Butt" is also perfect as every story is about a chick who don't take no shit.
ckjaer88's review against another edition
2.0
I have to admit I only picked this up because of the Karen Chance short. Normally I loathe reading short stories, that teasing of a great story and then.. nothing. Very unsatisfying. But since I got my hands on it I figured I might as well read the whole thing, might actually discover some new authors. Fat chance. As predicted I loved the KC short - her writing is as alway fantastic and immensely entertaining - and the one from Jenna Black, and pleasently intrigued by Rachel Caine.. the rest was just plain bad.
eastofthesunwestofthemoon's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars. This was a fun collection of stories, each featuring a strong female protagonist, and each with a paranormal element. As is usual in collections, some of the stories were quite good, and some less so. It was a good way to catch up on some of the fictional characters I already like, but fortunately there are a couple of stories in here that introduced me to characters I think I would like to read more about. The biggest drawback is that most of the stories don't stand alone well, and are better read by those who know something about the series/world the characters come from.
anastasiaadamov's review against another edition
4.0
Wow it took me quite a while to read trough all of the stories but I'm glad i did it. Some of the stories were very good and only 3 out of 13 were giving me trouble reading trough them. This collection gave me few new authors to explore and I really liked the general girl power kick it gave me.
pamwinkler's review against another edition
3.0
Shiny by Rachel Caine was nice; I got a bit tired of the Weather Warden stories but I read it.
In Vino Veritas by Karen Chance was pretty much the same; tired of the series but a nice story.
Hunt by Rachel Vincent was pretty good; but I was getting really tired of the painful past of the heroine.
Monsters by Lilith Saintcrow I really, really enjoyed. I'd gotten a bit tired of her stuff, but I'll have to pick it back up, because this one I liked.
Vampires Prefer Blondes by P.N. Elrod was very good. This is the first one from her Jack Fleming series that was written from the perspective of Bobbi. I really liked it!
Nine-Tenths of the Law by Jenna Black was pretty good. I forgot about this series, I'll have to get some more.
Double Dead by Cheyenne McCray I read the very beginning and then skipped it. I thought the intro to the types of creatures was funny, but it was long. 15 different types of creatures. That was a bad sign. And then it just wasn't impressive.
A Rose By Any Other Name Would Still Be Red by Elizabeth A. Vaughan was good. I was wondering if it was going to be a bit heavy-handed, since her name is Red, but it was actually really good.
Superman by Jeanne C. Stein, I read the prologue and part of the first chapter, but it wasn't for me.
I skipped Monster Mash by Carole Nelson Douglas. I don't like the Delilah Street stories.
Wanted: Dead of Alive by L.A. Banks started interesting, but the "I'm remembering my past now" got to me pretty fast.
Mist by Susan Krinard started really well, and just slowly got less and less interesting. I'm slightly biased, because I like Loki as a mythological character, and I really don't characterize him as evil, mostly just an asshole. It was very heavily into the Norse mythology and got a little dense.
Beyond the Pale by Nancy Holder. I ended up very strongly wanting to know what she's going to do.
Overall, a solid good read.
In Vino Veritas by Karen Chance was pretty much the same; tired of the series but a nice story.
Hunt by Rachel Vincent was pretty good; but I was getting really tired of the painful past of the heroine.
Monsters by Lilith Saintcrow I really, really enjoyed. I'd gotten a bit tired of her stuff, but I'll have to pick it back up, because this one I liked.
Vampires Prefer Blondes by P.N. Elrod was very good. This is the first one from her Jack Fleming series that was written from the perspective of Bobbi. I really liked it!
Nine-Tenths of the Law by Jenna Black was pretty good. I forgot about this series, I'll have to get some more.
Double Dead by Cheyenne McCray I read the very beginning and then skipped it. I thought the intro to the types of creatures was funny, but it was long. 15 different types of creatures. That was a bad sign. And then it just wasn't impressive.
A Rose By Any Other Name Would Still Be Red by Elizabeth A. Vaughan was good. I was wondering if it was going to be a bit heavy-handed, since her name is Red, but it was actually really good.
Superman by Jeanne C. Stein, I read the prologue and part of the first chapter, but it wasn't for me.
I skipped Monster Mash by Carole Nelson Douglas. I don't like the Delilah Street stories.
Wanted: Dead of Alive by L.A. Banks started interesting, but the "I'm remembering my past now" got to me pretty fast.
Mist by Susan Krinard started really well, and just slowly got less and less interesting. I'm slightly biased, because I like Loki as a mythological character, and I really don't characterize him as evil, mostly just an asshole. It was very heavily into the Norse mythology and got a little dense.
Beyond the Pale by Nancy Holder. I ended up very strongly wanting to know what she's going to do.
Overall, a solid good read.
vikcs's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
hoping4more's review against another edition
4.0
I would have given it 4.5 stars if I could. I didn't like one of the stories (couldn't finish it actually - it was far to confusing) so it knocked off half a point for me. Other than that I really enjoyed this antho. I bought it for Rachel Vincent's short about Kaci and it didn't disappoint. If you've read the Shifters series you should buy this book just for the short about a grown-up Kaci. There were so many great heroins and stories that I ended up adding some new authors to my watch list. Great read!
nicolelin23's review against another edition
3.0
This collection was ok. I have read better once. There were only a three stories that I did not read. Because i just could not get into them. The reason why I wanted to read this collection was for the Karan Chance and La Banks stories. I enjoyed both of those stories. When I read these type of collections I hope to find new authors that I might want to read in the future I really liked, Shiny by Rachel Caine, Vampires Prefer Blondes by P N Elrod and Superman by Jeanne C Stein. Also I really liked Mist by Susan Krinard and Monster Mash by Carole Nelson Douglas. But I found these stories were a little bit too involved. I wish that i had more back ground information.
wilda85's review against another edition
5.0
I got this anthology for only 1 story-Rachel Vincent's 'Hunt'. Its a spin off about Faythe's cousin Abby a few yrs later and I must say I LOVED it! Its a tragic story, but it took me back to a world I deeply miss and Abby reminded me SO much of Faythe. I couldn't be prouder of the woman she's become.
I'd love to see a spin off series about Abby in the future becoming an Enforcer, falling in love and someday taking over the Pride. But that would be way too good to ever happen.
OH and Jace is in this. He has a small part, but any part with Jace is well worth the read imo. I just hope we see him get his happy ending someday *hint hint Rachel* ;)
I'd love to see a spin off series about Abby in the future becoming an Enforcer, falling in love and someday taking over the Pride. But that would be way too good to ever happen.
OH and Jace is in this. He has a small part, but any part with Jace is well worth the read imo. I just hope we see him get his happy ending someday *hint hint Rachel* ;)