Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine Part 1

Morganville Vampires Series by Rachel Caine  ~V^^^V

Well, it took my a bit but I managed to get almost all the way through the series. There are a LOT of books in this one. Heck all the Teen series tend to get a little long. This one is a lot like any other long running series, it has its ups and downs. I will give you my book by book review in two parts because there is just so much to say. So Morganville Vampires Review Part 1. 

Glass Houses ~V^^^V

Such a breath of fresh air after some very disappointing YA series reads. For one I liked that there wasn't a large amount of sex, don't get me wrong there is some mention but its not a huge factor. Second I was very much enjoying the vampires being the bad guys for once. I think that romanticizing vampires has taken away a bit of their stigma, really fun to see them get some of their "evilness" back. All of the main characters were likable, well written and interesting. Some were VERY hateful a...more Such a breath of fresh air after some very disappointing YA series reads. For one I liked that there wasn't a large amount of sex, don't get me wrong there is some mention but its not a huge factor. Second I was very much enjoying the vampires being the bad guys for once. I think that romanticizing vampires has taken away a bit of their stigma, really fun to see them get some of their "evilness" back. All of the main characters were likable, well written and interesting. Some were VERY hateful and some were super likable. In essence a perfect balance. I am excited to continue this series. With any luck it won't go down hill, we shall see. 

Dead Girl's Dance ~V^^^V

Still one of the more interesting of the YA vampire series I have read to date. Once again, Claire is in pretty deep. This time Shane's father has shown up with intentions of killing all the vampires. He is of the belief that they are the reason his daughter and wife are dead. Now that was one of the issues I had with this story. If he was so upset over their deaths you would believe that family is important to him, therefore he wouldn't be an abusive father. Instead he is smacking around his so...more Still one of the more interesting of the YA vampire series I have read to date. Once again, Claire is in pretty deep. This time Shane's father has shown up with intentions of killing all the vampires. He is of the belief that they are the reason his daughter and wife are dead. Now that was one of the issues I had with this story. If he was so upset over their deaths you would believe that family is important to him, therefore he wouldn't be an abusive father. Instead he is smacking around his son, the only blood family he has left. Not to mention he and his crew seem content to just murder both vampire and human alike with out recourse.

My second issue it to do with Monica and Claire's relationship. Monica is a typical bully and is escalating in her abuse of Claire. And while Clair is smart and brave enough to talk to vampires and stand up for her maybe boyfriend, she isn't brave enough to stand up for herself? Monica has no repercussions and her actions definitely warrant at least a few. I find it very bothersome that Claire continues to take the abuse and never retaliates.

Beyond those issues the book itself was good. The plot thickens and some major changes occur for several characters. Overall I can still tell its a teen or YA but it seems to manage to hold my interest and maintain plausibility in my adult mind. 

Midnight Alley ~V^^V

Everyone is still living in the Glass House but tensions are high. Shane can't seem to get past Michael's transformation and its constant bickering between the two. Eve and Michael are still all good as are Claire and Shane despite the fact that she signed up to be a vampire slave. Amazing how he can get over that but not over Michael. Anyway my main issues with this book are that while Claire is supposed to be so smart, she does the dumbest things.
First she goes to advanced placement classes b...more Everyone is still living in the Glass House but tensions are high. Shane can't seem to get past Michael's transformation and its constant bickering between the two. Eve and Michael are still all good as are Claire and Shane despite the fact that she signed up to be a vampire slave. Amazing how he can get over that but not over Michael. Anyway my main issues with this book are that while Claire is supposed to be so smart, she does the dumbest things.
First she goes to advanced placement classes but then blunders through giving herself away to the murderer. Who does that? Who says, you were there. While they are trapped in a vehicle with them? GAH! My other issue is the addition of the "drug" and Claire giving it to Monica. Really? Again I would think she has more sense than that.
Now something that annoys me but because I can't change it; the vampires. God! They are SO evil; I just want to stake them all. I can believe that a house full of teenagers would often be pushed around by older adult residents even though that too makes me so upset.
The thing I don't believe is that Claire's mother wouldn't honestly believe her that she was abused in the dorm. I really believe, and speaking as a parent, that if my kids said something terrible like being pushed down the stairs at the dorm, happened to them that I would believe them, Despite the a "vampire voodoo mind trick" parents of an underage student would definitely be more overbearing. Anyway on to the next book.

Feast of Fools ~V^^^V

It was OK. When the last book ended things seemed a really bad. Well that was just the tip of the iceberg. Not only are Claire's parents now involved but now a scary vampire wants her boyfriend. The Feast of Fools seems to be quite a problem, as no one is going with whom they should and Claire isn't going at all. At the same time Claire is still working with Myrnin to find a cure. All in all this book was good, there was plenty of action and some interesting new ventures for some characters. My...more It was OK. When the last book ended things seemed a really bad. Well that was just the tip of the iceberg. Not only are Claire's parents now involved but now a scary vampire wants her boyfriend. The Feast of Fools seems to be quite a problem, as no one is going with whom they should and Claire isn't going at all. At the same time Claire is still working with Myrnin to find a cure. All in all this book was good, there was plenty of action and some interesting new ventures for some characters. My only thought is that I personally would have ended the story at the "Feast". However this book still continued on to a whole new cliff hanger. I also can't seem to wrap my mind around why, when given the opportunity, did Claire or any of the humans help the vampires. This happens more than once throughout the series and to be honest is I was being oppressed by these jerks, I would NOT help them ever. Maybe its the victim mentality I can't follow, either way I will be continuing on to see what happens next.

Lord of Misrule ~V^^^V

The battle continues between Bishop and Amelie. As this story starts, the city is burning and our four favorite residents of the glass house are separated. The each have their own chores to help the cause. There is a whole lot of action in this book, some of which is vampire inspired and some of which is caused by nature. Speaking of which I still am not sure what the purpose of the tornado was. I almost felt like that just lead to confusion for me and made it harder to follow. Nonetheless my ma...more The battle continues between Bishop and Amelie. As this story starts, the city is burning and our four favorite residents of the glass house are separated. The each have their own chores to help the cause. There is a whole lot of action in this book, some of which is vampire inspired and some of which is caused by nature. Speaking of which I still am not sure what the purpose of the tornado was. I almost felt like that just lead to confusion for me and made it harder to follow. Nonetheless my main issue with this book is the victim mentality of the town as a whole. Claire and other humans who are helping the vampires keep coming into contact with human groups who want to take the town back and get rid of the vampires. I have to agree with that idea and couldn't understand why Claire was so against the idea. Just didn't make sense since the vampires, no matter who was in charge, always treated the humans like crap. More to the point though, I liked the book for the action and sadly the cliffhanger as well. If there had to be an end of the book cliffhanger, this one was a dozy.

Carpe Corpus ~V^^V

So Bishop has control of the town and Claire. It seems as though Amelie has abandoned them leaving Michael and Mernon as his minions. Low and behold that is not the case as Amelie is in the underground working to kick Bishop out and take back over. Shane and his father are back together but things do not go well for them. Claire hits her 17th birthday and that means good things for her relationship with Shane. What else? We meet a few new characters, some old ones come back and we lose a few. Th...more So Bishop has control of the town and Claire. It seems as though Amelie has abandoned them leaving Michael and Mernon as his minions. Low and behold that is not the case as Amelie is in the underground working to kick Bishop out and take back over. Shane and his father are back together but things do not go well for them. Claire hits her 17th birthday and that means good things for her relationship with Shane. What else? We meet a few new characters, some old ones come back and we lose a few. There is a whole lot going in this book and in the end things have definitely changed forever. ~Michelle