About Me
- Danni
- I'm a total bookworm and a romantic at heart. I'm also a little bit of a paranormal nerd so I absolutely love books that are about creatures of the night and allow me to submerge myself into a world of fantasy.
Monday, February 15, 2010
You'd think headlines like that would have provoked the fine citizens of the Windy City to take up arms against us bloodsucking fiends. Instead, ten months later, we're enjoying a celebrity status reserved for the Hollywood elite—fending off paparazzi only slightly less dangerous than cross and stake-wielding slayers. Don't get me wrong, Joe Public isn't exactly thrilled to be living side-by-side with the undead, but at least they haven't stormed the castle yet.
You'd think headlines like that would have provoked the fine citizens of the Windy City to take up arms against us bloodsucking fiends. Instead, ten months later, we're enjoying a celebrity status reserved for the Hollywood elite—fending off paparazzi only slightly less dangerous than cross and stake-wielding slayers. Don't get me wrong, Joe Public isn't exactly thrilled to be living side-by-side with the undead, but at least they haven't stormed the castle yet.
But all that will change once they learn about the Raves—mass feeding parties where vampires round up humans like cattle and drink themselves silly. Most civilized vampires frown on this behavior, putting mere mortals at ease with their policy of asking a person's consent before taking a big gulp of the red stuff. However, that doesn't make good copy for a first time reporter looking to impress his high society family.
So now my "master," the centuries old, yet gorgeously well-preserved Ethan Sullivan, wants me to reconnect with my own upper class family and act as liaison between humans and vampires—and keep the more unsavory aspects of our existence out of the media. But someone doesn't want people and vamps to play nicey-nice—someone with an ancient grudge.
Friday Night Bites was a very enjoyable and wonderfully detailed book. I loved that I could almost see the story playing out in my head, as if the characters and world we real lol. The only issue I had was that I felt that the pace of the fist half of the book could have been faster.
It was so interesting to see how Merit evolved from the beginning of the first book, Some Girls Bite, thru the second. Going from Grad student to vampire to Sentinel of the house couldn't have been easy. I really appreciated that Neill didn't make it seem like a walk in the park, which I thought made Merit easier to relate too. Merit really struggles with her new life and new responsibilities throughout Some Girls Bites and continues learning how to deal in book two. Merit seems to be fighting a whirlwind of emotions in Friday Night Bites. She is forced to return to a family she doesn't consider herself to be apart of, trying to remain somewhat human, and above all doing everything that she can to ignore her feeling for her master, Ethan. Except disdain.
Merit and Ethan's relationship runs very hot and cold one minute they can barley tolerate being in the same room, almost to the point of convincing the reader that perhaps they really do loath one another, and then the next scene it's hot an steamy. There were many times in the book where I became more than a little frustrated with Merit for deluding herself that she doesn't care for Ethan while at the same time shes alienating everyone that cares for her to make Ethan happy. It'll be very interesting to see how their "relationship" will play out in the third book Twice Bitten.
Neill's writing style does a great job of keeping me turning the page. The world that she has created as well as her portrayal of vampires is a wonderfully new and creative outlook and I can't wait to read book three as her series of the Chicagoland Vampires continues.
Cover: 3.5
Plot: 4
Characters: 3.8
Writing: 4.5
Overall: 4
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Chloe Neill is the author of the Chicagoland Vampire series. I recently read Some Girls Bite and was very impressed, I can't wait to read Friday Night Bites.
RH: How did you come up with the story Some Girls Bite?
CN: I knew that I wanted to write an urban fantasy series starring a female vampire--which, at the time, seemed like a new concept. I wanted to write about the kind of heroine I might want to be, and I was also really interested in exploring the vampire House structure, and all the rules and regulations that entails.
RH:How many books do you plan to write for this series?
RH:Do you already have the series planned out?
RH:What made you decide to have different houses for the vampires?
RH: Will Merit always be the main character? If so, will it always be told from her point of view?
RH: Are we ever going to find out Merit's first name?
RH: Why was it that all the girls who were attacked looked somewhat alike?
RH:When vampires commit a crime against humans, like murder, do they just get a slap on the wrist or are more severe measures ever taken?
RH: Why is not drinking, or drinking, from humans considered such a big deal now that vampires no longer have to worry about keeping their existence a secret?
RH: Is every house required to have a sentinel, if not then why have one all of the sudden?
RH: Which character was the most fun to write about?
RH: Can anyone be turned into a vampire?
RH: Can anyone be born a vampire?
RH: Which male character did you fall in love with?
RH: About how long did it take you to write the story?
RH: What type of environment do you enjoy most for writing?
RH: Did you always want to be a writer?
RH: Do you plan to do any signings in Georgia soon? I'd love to get my book signed. :)
Thank you Chloe so much for the interview!!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Synopsis:
Sure, the life of a graduate student wasn’t exactly glamorous, but it was Merit’s. She was doing fine until a rogue vampire attacked her. But he only got a sip before he was scared away by another bloodsucker—and this one decided the best way to save her life was to make her the walking undead.
Turns out her savior was the master vampire of Cadogan House. Now she’s traded sweating over her thesis for learning to fit in at a Hyde Park mansion full of vamps loyal to Ethan “Lord o’ the Manor” Sullivan. Of course, as a tall, green-eyed, four-hundred- year-old vampire, he has centuries’ worth of charm, but unfortunately he expects her gratitude— and servitude. But an inconvenient sunlight allergy and Ethan’s attitude are the least of her concerns. Someone’s still out to get her. Her initiation into Chicago’s nightlife may be the first skirmish in a war—and there will be blood.
Review:
Some Girls Bite is a great blend of suspense, action, emotion, and sci-fi. In the beginning humans have just found out about the existence of vampires, and to some level are informed about their society. The structure of the vampire world was a completely new take that really made the story more interesting to read. The house system reminded me of a sorority or fraternity, you have to take oaths to get in and once you're in the other members become your family. What really surprised me about the house system is that each house is run by a master "Liege", and he/she is the only one who is allowed to turn humans into vampires. The rest of the world was, ironically, realistic. For the exceptions of a few minor things, like the actual time that the vampires came out, the story sucked me in. I could see the world Neill was creating playing out in my head.
The characters in this book blew me away! I loved Merit she's an independent-stubborn- I won't take any crap from anyone-girl. Even though her world has been completely turned upside down she doesn't fall apart, she decides to deal with it...but on her terms. The only issue I had with Merit was that she had trouble letting go of the past, I understand that her life didn't go how she planned but I felt that after the initiation she was somewhat OK with it. An that she just kept bring up that this wasn't what she choose to make some sort of point in her book. As far as Ethan is concerned I'm a little conflicted. I kept altering between loving him and wanting to break a large object over his head. He seems incapable of loosening up, and I felt that he expected Merit to adjust to her new life with no problem. He didn't seem to show much sympathy to her situation, he mostly came off as arrogant and had a "holier than thou" attitude. The other characters of the book were just, if not more, as exciting to read about than the main characters.
My two favorite characters had to be Jeff and Morgan. Jeff was an adorable little horn-dog, he's the character that you can't help but smile when you see his name cross the page. Morgan, on the other hand, seems to be everything Ethan refuses to be. He's loyal, humble, and somewhat stable. My favorite part of the book was when he and Merit are facing off, it was so clever and perfectly played I couldn't help but laugh at how Morgan "diffused" the situation. Unfortunately, I think he's the character that is forever the friend and nothing more.
The story was told from Merit's point of view, which I surprisingly enjoyed. Normally I don't care for first person stories, I feel like I'm being jipped of the other characters point of views. But Neill more than made up for that with great dialogue: witty and sarcastic with a great balance of humor. There was nothing that was drawn out or felt unnecessary in Some Girls Bite, the author never veered away from the story. I love Neill's writing style and I can't wait for book two, Friday Night Bites.
Cover: 3.5
Plot: 4.5
Characters: 4.5
Writing: 4
Overall: 4.1
