A review by novelbloglover
Burnt Offerings by Laurell K. Hamilton

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

 

Book Review 

Title: Burnt Offerings by Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Book 7) 

Genre: Paranormal. Fantasy, Romance 

Rating: 5 Stars 

The opening to Burnt Offerings was great as it begins with Anita receiving a call from Stephen asking her to help him protect his friend, Nathaniel who is a wereleopard. This is a bold move from Stephen since Sylvie is in charge of the pack while Richard is away and she has forbidden the wolves to help the leopards because of her own personal dealings with them. There is also the issue of Sylvie climbing the ranks at a rapid rate and many believe she is harming the pack by doing so. Anita agrees because Stephen is her friend and she calls in Kevin to help since she still holds the rank of lupa until Richard takes another. However, she speaks with Irving in the hospital and he is worried about Richard since after killing Marcus and losing Anita he has been prone to rages where he hurts the wolves who challenge him which isn’t like him so Anita steps up. 

As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Anita is developing some sort of connection to the wereleopards, starting with Nathaniel and Zane. Zane was pimping Nathaniel out to others but when Anita arrives he breaks down in tears telling the unconscious Nathaniel that she will protect them and I think this is foreshadowing Anita becoming the leader of the wereleopards since they don’t have an Alpha and she has already proven herself to the wolves and earned the rank of lupa and Dominant. She is also continuing her relationship with Jean-Claude and they are closer now after she finally slept with him at the end of The Killing Dance but they are having trouble with the Vampire Council who have been sticking their noses where they aren’t wanted and thanks to Anita’s refusal to bend to their will they have taken the gloves off. Whether this is a direct challenge remains to be seen but they are some of the sickest characters we have seen so far and we have following Gabriel and Raina which is definitely saying something and Anita is once again confronted by the leopards silently asking for her help and she doesn’t understand why at this point. 

As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, I was flying through Burnt Offerings and loving it and if this continues it might just be the second book bar the first one to get a five star from me. With several members of the Council present Jean-Claude is an awkward position of defending and protecting his people without making an enemy of the Council but Anita isn’t in such a position and defends her friends with the threat of violence and her own power. Yvette is one member I will be happy to see die since she is one of the people that abused Jean-Claude when he was a new vampire and now she is tormenting Jason with his fear of the rotted flesh and this enrages her. The Traveler’s possession of Willie is also something that she doesn’t like since Willie is her friend even before he was made into a vampire and she wants to protect him too. Thanks to the Council’s posturing she shows them that she can call and heal a vampire with Damien and that she can easily break the Traveler’s hold on someone by calling Willie to her even when he is possessed which makes the Council angry but it forces them to acknowledge Anita’s power and keep the promise they made to her about safe passage for her friends and those she protects. 

As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Anita learns that things are taking a nose dive and fast when the Council begin targeting the shifters wanting to control them and they are resisting but she has a lot of friends among the shifters. When she learns that Rafael has been hurt badly and Sylvie raped she vows to kill those responsible for these horrid acts no matter what. Through Sylvie and Gwen she also learns that she is the leader of the wereleopards now since she killed Gabriel and she has been protecting them like she has for the wolves as their lupa. Her plan now is to protect the wolves and the leopards until Richard sorts himself out and then she will step down as the wolves’ lupa in order to lead the leopards since they need her more right now. She is also dealing with a police investigation since there have been two attacks on vampires that are definitely targeted which is nothing new but there is something off about these crimes and Anita wants to know what it is. Jean-Claude is trying to negotiate with the Council to leave the shifters alone but the deal isn’t going to be a good one since they have nothing to offer for them since Anita won’t allow them to take new hostages to potentially rape and kill at their leisure. I really liked the fact that Anita was getting over her view of everything non-human being a monster and coming to treat them as friends and family in some respects and I think she is going to be good leader for the leopards unlike Gabriel. 

As we cross into the second half of the novel, Jean-Claude negotiates for the release of the shifters but the vampires are crafty so not all of them make it out. When she learns of this Anita plans to use her own cunning to get them out without violence but Jean-Claude still sends Richard and Zane with her for protection and backup if she needs it. By the time they get there Gregory has had his legs broken and they are beginning to heal poorly and another female shifter has been raped which sends Richard into a rage and he attacks Fernando for it. Anita manages to use their bond to tame Richard’s beast and get him to calm down and also to heal him which leads to a kiss that proves that the love between them isn’t dead. By the time they back to Anita’s new house, Richard is back to being an ass because he still wants Anita but his self-hatred is getting in the way. Anita confesses to Ronnie that she will never be able to forget Richard but she could never forget Jean-Claude either so for her there is no choosing between them it has to be both since she loves them equally in slightly different ways. Anita is really stepping up to be a leader and proving to the leopards, her pard, that she can protect them no matter the cost to herself which is the way Anita has always been. Warrick through his faith seeks Anita out during the day as he isn’t burning to tell her that the Council have ordered the deaths of her trio, and targeting her specifically because they fear the power they have and the new ideals that Jean-Claude is promoting which would change the old ways which they don’t want which means they have some very powerful, very scary enemies on their tail now. 

As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Anita is still dealing with people possibly hired by the Council trying to kill her left and right but she is surviving but it isn’t without cost. Her relationship with Richard despite that kiss is going downhill since neither of them can cast their pride aside and Richard’s loathing of what he is doesn’t help. There are also a lot of attacks on vampire happening all over the city that Anita has been called in to help with since she is the vampire expert. One of these attacks was at a church halfway house where young vampires are taken under the wing of a guardian but lately they have been riding earlier which they should be able to do. Anita learns through Jean-Claude that is the influence of the Council. They aren’t doing on purpose but them just being there is increasing the strength of the vampires and this isn’t always a good thing especially in the newer vampires since it wakes them in the day and increases their hunger which they aren’t good at controlling. Malcolm has also been trapped in his basement due to a fire, he wasn’t affected by it but the basement is flooded and even Anita isn’t sure he is going to be alive down there. She also uses her power to heal Nathaniel’s injuries which the wolves have only ever seen Raina or Richard do although in very different ways. She commands the pack to protect the leopards as they are her pard now and they accept because the leopards offer the same protection in return. I really hope Anita and Richard work out their problems soon since the lives of the pack members hang in the balance and right now it seems like Anita is the only one truly protecting them rather than their Ulfric. 

As we cross into the final section of the novel, the power plays that we’re shown were divine and seeing Anita use and harness the power inside of her or a portion of it was divine. The introductions of Asher and Nathaniel were also important in this book as I believe they place a much larger role later in the series and I can’t wait to see more of them especially Asher, since Anita tamed him so easily in this book. Overall, this is the first book in the series bar the first one I have given five stars to and it was rightly deserved. I think this book might be the turning point in the series for me but I would like one book that isn’t so focused on action and focused more instead on character development and backstories but I can hope.