Rating: 
Summary: Anita--YOU ...!!!
Review: While these books have become somewhate formulaic, this is still a rollicking good read. There is, of course, a monster reeking havoc in St. Louis that Anita must track down and kill. She must also deal with Vampire politics, moody lovers, and protecting her pard. Oh! and don't forget the Mother of all Darkness touching her psyche, too.Our girl is sleeping with just about anything, but she feels guilty about it (sometimes). As ever, Anita realizes a new power that neither she nor Jean-Claude knew she had. There seem to be more humans in this book, and some very interesting human reactions to situations. Not for everyone, but far better than the previous installment.
Rating: 
Summary: An Anita Blake fan no more...
Review: My first Anita Blake novel was, I believe, Bloody Bones. Bought it at the airport before a flight. I liked it so much, I purchases the rest of the series. Narcissus in Chains had just come out in hardback. I loved all of them, except this last, where I first realized that Ms. Hamilton was losing touch with the character Anita Blake. But I remained convinced that Cerulean Sins would redeem the character, and Ms. Hamilton. I am 3/4 of the way through the book, and am both bored and frustrated with lack of a coherent plot or a believable Anita Blake. I was sure that Hamilton's proclivity to write soft porn was channeled into her faerie series. Don't get me wrong, they're a hoot. But I expect more from this series and its characters. Where is our strong, ... heroine with her array of powers that have, until recently, grown and matured with each book? I'm sick to death of whiney, self-loathing Richard and psychotic Dolph, and I miss Edward. I am tired of a series that has turned into juicy romance novels, one that seems to be going the way of Robert Jordan's series... What I miss most of all is Anita, the preternatural detective and necromancer. I feel like I should say good-bye to someone who has been a long-time friend, but who has gone down a path from which they will likely not return. I don't know if I can get through the last quarter of the book, but I feel compelled after purchasing both the hardback and the audio set. What a disappointment...
Rating: 
Summary: Why?
Review: I have been a loyal Anita Blake fan sinice...well, since last August. I bought Guilty Pleasures, and instant fell in love with the series, and devoured the next nine books by November. Although Narcissus in Chains was...wow, really different to say the least, I couldn't wait for Cerulean Sins. Hm. It starts out good. Anita is actually back at her job for the first time in a long while. Then sex seems to take over again. Although I wanted to see her hook up with a certain male character whose name starts with a "J" (not to spoil...) I didn't actually think it would ever happen, and now all the fun is taken out of it. Why Anita has to sleep with some of these men is sad. The Ardeur is just an excuse for gratutious sex. Thankfully, there is more plot inbetween the sex than there was in "Chains", it still isn't enough. The basic plot is Anita feeding the Ardeur, Musette coming to represent Belle Morte, and lots of vampire politics. And some murder Anita that is supposted to be helping figure out, wich is concluded in the last few pages of the book. It almost seemed like Hamilton thought, "Well, I'm not quite sure how to solve this case, so I'll just throw some stuff together that leaves my readers feeling cheated" Not to say I didn't like this book. I did, in fact, like it a lot. There are some good plot points. You feel pain for Asher and Jean-Claudes past. And as for Richard...I coudn't bring myself to hate him until this book. I'm glad it gave me a reason to, I was getting so sick of him. He is awful, and a certain thing he did to himself [made me very angry]. I reccomend this to loyal Anita Blake or vampire/supernatural creature novel fans only. It doesn't have that same multi-genre appeal that the earlier novels did.
Rating:
Summary: mixed reception
Review: hamilton's still one of the very few authors who can keep my attention throughout the novel--i mostly have to force myself to read for many books. her writing style makes the novels interesting, but damn, can you say "gratuitous sex?" ...-- i miss the days of anita going to a showing of "guys and dolls" with him, and do NOT enjoy reading about every single sexual encounter (and there are quite a few, in the interest of quenching the ardeur). in hamilton's other novels, a kiss of shadows and a carress of twilight, the sex plot is thinly veiled-- no, not even veiled, as the entire premise focuses on getting Merry pregnant. she seems to have developed a similar plot mechanism here, and while the concept was nice for plot development, it seemed to have been at the expense of a plot. everything was shortchanged, every possible interesting plot development-notably the vampire banquet, for me. whereas the banquet was damn near the entire book in burnt offerings, it was given little screen time here. i didn't like gregory and stephen's father being treated as a sub-plot--perhaps she intend to further develop it in the next one, in which case i forgive it. i wish she wouldn't write for her widespread popularity-- namely, i wish she'd stop with the sex on every single page and get down to the witty banter and suspense of the early days. anita seems to have attained a status of invincibility, which makes the suspense factor nil. while i liked that the line between good and bad was blurry in the earlier ones, right now it seems anita and her crew are always good, always right, and thus will always win.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful wonderful wonderful
Review: I so loved it. I just wish she could write faster. I'm so happy that Richards starting to heal and their are so many ways she can take the next book. The series is great, we need more authors with her imagination.
Rating:
Summary: How disappointing!
Review: I used to be a huge fan of the Anita Blake series -- I single-handedly evangelized them to all my friends as living up to the title of the first book -- Guilty Pleasures. Alas, this series, which used to be so much fun, has sunk to new lows with this book. The bad points: -- The pretentiousness. The title seems to have no relevance to the book, other than having the color blue appear throughout. But we're never given any meaning behind the color. It's just there, some vague literary conceit. -- The sex. Don't get me wrong. The entire series has been about sex and sexual tension. But in the other books, they were mixed together with the plot and character development. Here, they stand alone, there for no reason other than to allow Laurell to write another porn scene. If I wanted that, I could pay a lot less, and get better porn, frankly. -- The editing. About two typos a page. Does anyone even edit LKH any more? It's unprofessional and lazy (although, to be fair, it's the editor's fault, not Laurell's). -- The plot. The main plot is, once again, a gratuitous mix of sex and violence, without any believable motives. New characters appear out of the blue to menace Anita without any acceptable backstory. -- The characters. Richard continues to act nothing like the man we first meet in book three. Jean-Claude has now morphed into a vampiric Jiminy Cricket, telling Anita what would be "wrong." Micah and the other assorted were-creatures are given about as much personality as chess pieces. Other than Jason and some of the were-rats, the characters are practically interchangeable. The good points: -- We finally get a plot (albeit a B-plot) with Dolph and the police force. It's far more interesting than the A-plot, and could have made the book worthwhile if it had been the focus. -- Jason has some good moments, and is probably the best character in the book. Not much in the way of good stuff to counter the bad, I'm afraid. I think I'll be dropping this series now; I certainly don't plan to buy any more hardcovers by LKH.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the Last One
Review: When I saw the low star rating this book got on Amazon, I wasn't expecting it to be good when I got to read it. Maybe that made me enjoy it more that I was expecting it to be bad, but I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was a lot better than the last one, Narcissus in Chains, especially since Richard's appearances were kept to a minimum.
This book starts off with Anita raising a zombie, with Asher appearing at the end of the ritual to bring her bad news. The representative of Belle Morte, Musette, has arrived several months earlier, and both Asher and Jean-Claude are afraid of her. To make things even more complicated, Anita is having trouble with the ardeur, because even Micah, Nathaniel, and Jean-Claude can't handle her feeding twice a day. She ends up adding Jason and Asher to her list, which we all know makes Jason happy :). Of course, an Anita Blake book wouldn't be complete without a few other problems, so Anita finds herself being followed by assassins. Richard decides that he wants all of the werewolves removed from Jean-Claude's control, and a rogue shapeshifter is running around St. Louis brutally slaughtering women. Dolph's life is more complicated than ever, and he completely loses it in one scene, which results in us seeing more of Zerbrowski than Dolph. Anita also has several encounters with Belle Morte, and even one with the Mother of All Darkness, the first vampire ever, who is beginning to wake from a long sleep. I basically thought this book was great, a lot better than Narcissus in Chains. It's basically about the vampires, though, and appearances by the wereleopards and werewolves (except Jason and Nathaniel) are kept to a minimum. The main guys in this book are Asher, Jean-Claude, and Jason, so we don't see as much of Micah and Richard. Overall, though, you should definitely read this book, it's a true Anita Blake story!
Rating: 
Summary: Oh, how the mighty have fallen
Review: Laurell Hamilton is an excellent writer, so it's depressing that such talent is going to waste. The last two or three books have focused almost exclusively on sex. Sex, sex, and more sex. STOP IT! Laurell Hamilton seriously needs to get back to what attracted most of us to her books in the first place; a strong female character blasting the bad guys' heads off. Please, Ms. Hamilton, go back to writing about Anita as a detective and executioner, not a porno star.
Rating:
Summary: Waiting on the next book
Review: I enjoyed this book but not nearly as much as Narcissus in Chains. The plot line was rushed and the initial story was rushed to a finish at the end in a clumsy merge. I am anxiously awaiting the new book.
Rating:
Summary: It should have been called Sex Sins
Review: The latest in the Anita Blake series is just as bad as the last. I am sorry I read it, it changed my opinion of the character of Anita Blake. The older books were mystery and a no nonsense kinda girl who pulled no punches. Now the whole book is about sex and, in my opinion, the downfall of Anita Blake. She is so out of character anymore, that it is no fun to read. When over 200 pages are devoted to sex scenes, I might as well read romance novels.
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