Rating: 
Summary: Totally awesome and sizzling hot!
Review: Every time the new Anita Blake book comes out, I think it is the best one that Hamilton has written so far and this book is no exception. In each book in the series, Anita becomes more and more "human" or perhaps a better description would be more "emotionally healthy." Anita is so strong and does what needs to be done, no matter how difficult it is for her, and it makes her very admirable as she is not cruel along with it. In Cerulean Sins, Anita fights the usual bad guys, vampire, lycanthrope, even some human, plus even has to fight with her friend, Dolph, head of RPIT. Richard does make his appearance in this book too but he is just another problem [again]. [For a better description of the book plot, read the www.Amazon.com reviews above.] And finally, this is the book where Anita becomes intimate with Asher and Jason. YES!! I can not even describe those scenes because they are way too HOT! There is a bathroom scene with Jean-Claude that is very different from the norm but totally enjoyable. The love ... scenes in this book are even more deliciously descriptive than in former books and definitely make this book totally sizzling.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not as good
Review: Cerulean Sins is a decent Anita Blake book; and that is quite disappointing, since I got used to them being great. The things I like most in the series are the combination of hardboiled detective and magic/vampire/werewolf, with a little sex tossed in and bloody s/m to make you dislike the bad guys and feel sorry for the victims. Unfortunately, Anita's sex life and problems are taking up huge numbers of pages in the more recent books, except for Obsidian Butterfly. I understand that Anita is growing in directions that she (Anita) didn't expect and that is a major series plot point which needs to be dealt with, but I do wish that it took about 1/3 the page count it did in Narccisus In Chains and Cerulean Sins, so that there could have been more time spent on the other major plot points for those particular books. If I wanted to read vampire/werewolf erotica or romances, there are numerous other authors and series out there, including LKH's other series about Princess Merry. I've generally read one or two of the books in a series and quit because they aren't what I want to read. I don't want a vampire/werewolf erotic romance, I don't want blood/terror/s/m with my romance. Nor do I want a book with a supposedly tough, smart protaganist who is always having to be rescued. I want a book with a tough, smart main character who will pull the trigger when required, solves crimes/problems, and rescues others. The fact that the character is female and magic/vampires/weres are included are major pluses. The fact that she sometimes needs help herself means she's human, not a cartoon charcter. I'm hoping that the Anita Blake series will return to that.
Rating: 
Summary: End the SERIES!!!!
Review: After Narc. in Chains I was reluctant to buy another Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Book, but figured I'd give LKH the benefit of having at least 1 bad book. I should have stayed with my instincts and left this book on the shelf, I was happy to give my copy away to get it out of my sight. Put Anita Blake out of her misery, the series is dragging on with no end in sight and no plot or character development worth reading. The introduction of new characters has not been well thought out, new the characters are not very well written or very interesting. LKH's Publisher should put a stake through the next novel and kill the series.
Rating:
Summary: What a Disaster
Review: What on earth has happened to Anita Blake? What was once an engaging, funny, and human character whose vulnerability in a world of superpowered creatures made her so intriguing is now a hypocritical, self-centered, spoiled, childish, delusional, hateful, mean-spirited, nigh-omnipotent, humorless and unappealing sex fiend. Now, usually I rather like sex fiends, but Anita Blake is perhaps the most irritating, unlikable, and revolting character I have come across in a long time, and no amount of orgasmic sex is going to fix that. Anita's supporting cast almost holds CS together and makes it palatable, but unfortunately Anita's overbearing presence kills the other characters' appeal. The fact that all of the characters in this book have been reduced to spineless bootlicking sycophants, hateful villains, or pale, zero-personality ghosts with no will of their own doesn't help matters. What LKH has done to Richard and Dolph is atrocious, and Zerbrowski is getting dangerously close to being yet another Anita groupie. The newest male to be added to Anita's ever-growing harem, Micah, is completely useless as a character. Sadly, I actually *like* Richard's sudden raging hatred of Anita, because at least this means he's not another mindless Anita-worshipper. Jason is adorable, as always, and Nathaniel is finally becoming interesting--almost. Jason alone is the bright spot in the hideous morass that is this book. The ever-escalating superpowers Anita keeps getting are also very tedious: at the rate she's going, Anita will soon be able to control every vampire, ghost, were-animal, and other supernatural creature in the world, and probably not even God will be able to defeat her in combat. Ridiculous. Add a total absence of plot to the mix, and what you get is a self-indulgent mess with little to no redeeming qualities whatsoever. There is nothing to recommend about this book, not even good writing or pacing. The pacing is dreadful, and the writing is... well, I've seen better writing in badly translated assembly instructions. The only way to fix the atrocious mess that this series has become would be to have someone, maybe Edward, come to town and blow Anita Blake to kingdom come. Then, Asher and Jean-Claude can get together without having to ask Anita's permission, Richard can finally find a woman who supports him, the wereleopards can get lives, and Jason can join RPIT, the preternatural police squad, and engage in entertaining high-jinks with Zerbrowski, with Dolph to keep the two in line. And Micah dies, of course. Now THAT'S an Anita blake, Vampire Hunter story I'd pay money to read. Anything else? Won't spend a penny on such disappointing drivel.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing. Very disappointing
Review: I have been an avid fan of the series until Narcissus in Chains. I had hoped that Cerulean Sins would prove the last book just a fluke. Sadly, it seems someone has convinced Ms. Hamilton that she must change from writing fast paced, character driven action novels to becoming the latest Ann Rice clone.
Changing Anita from a character of relatively stable morality to simply sleeping with whoever is close at hand is also a disappointment, as are the gratuitous insults of conservative Christians.
Rating: 
Summary: Getting there...
Review: After reading some of the reviews for this title on Amazon, I felt compelled to share my own. One particular review had more adjectives than my dictionary! The reviewer spent more time trying to impress me with her vocabulary than actually talking about the book.
I feel that LKH is taking Anita on a very complicated journey. I think she has hit some major road blocks on the way. Ones that she might not have wanted to share with her readers. I still have to say that I enjoyed the book. I would love to see LKH concentrate more on the characters she has now, instead of adding any more to the mix. I would love to see Anita and Richard fill the gap between them. We shall see. I think LKH is trying to bring Anita to a new level. We just need to be patient and wait for this to happen.
Rating:
Summary: I enjoy nymphomania
Review: So, sue me. I enjoy a little nymphomania. As usual I could hardly put the book down. It was a fun read, with fun boys and lots of sex. But I have to concede the point, there was hardly any plot. Scene one... Anita meets with suspicious guy who wants her to raise some dead guy. Very mysterious. Plot thickens. And then... a zillion pages of sex scenes and vampire politics. End of book... first guy shows up, admits something hinky was going on, but no need for Anita to raise the dead guy after all. End of story. So rather than a story, this was simply a couple days in the life of Anita Blake. Sort of like what Hamilton did with the second book of the Merry Gentry series. Not sure if this was intentional, or if Hamilton just isn't really focusing on the characters any more. I've gotta say one thing, though, it's a darn good read for a book with no plot.
Rating:
Summary: Mixed Review
Review: I put off reading this book because of the awful reviews. And of course all the reviewers that bashed it had a valid point. Anita has simply become a little neutotic nympho. Nothing wrong with that... It just is a little hard to read continuously. She's a character working hard at accepting herself. Jean-claude accepts her because he is pretty much at peace with himself. Richard's problem is his self hatred. This is basically why the three of them work and clash so well (and are so annoying). I won't give a bad review because I don't like where the story went... There were problems of course - but a majority of it was just my issue. The Dolph plot was sad and the mystery could have been more coherent but all in all - good.
The author writes in a way that it is a fast read (though it can repeat - some plot fillers from previous books, etc). I like the world. The visit is fun. Her earlier books are much better written, but there are more characters now and perhaps too many to keep up with.
And, hey, If Anita is going to be a Nympho, at least Jason got his moment...
Edward needs to come back for the next book.
Rating:
Summary: Such a shame
Review: Like the last reviewer, I was a big fan of the orignial books. One after the other they have disintegrated into utter nonsense. The characters were cool and individual. Now they all clump into one big mass of silliness. And I no longer care about Anita. This was my last book. I thought the last one was my last, but I decided to give it one more chance. And what I've read of the next book bodes ill. So nope. They all went to goodwill and I've a whole row on my library shelf to devote to a new author. Like Susan Sizemore or Tanya Huff. Jeeesh, Christine Freehan is starting to look good.
Rating:
Summary: Read all Anita
Review: I loved this book. The only complaint I have is that Anita can't seem to make up her mind on who she wants to be with. I think she should end up with Jean-Claude he likes or loves her even with all her faults and I think she should accept Jean-Claude because of it. Richard needs to accpet his monster and stop giving Anita hell about how easy it his for her to kill. In that world it's kill or be killed and Anita knows this. Over all it's a very good book and the only problem with Anita is that she should have to think that just because she sleeps with someone that she should start to love that person to. If she's going to love someone it should be Jean-Claude and she should recieve the fourth mark and grow more powerful. Other than that this was a good book and I can't wait for her (LKH) 13th book.
| 
