Rating: 
Summary: it's all come very far
Review: First of all, let me start by saying that I have no idea why anyone would want to give this book any less than four stars. I for one finished it in a single night just because I could not keep my hands off it! This book, along with the two previous ones, definitely shows just how far Anita has come and how much she's matured. Her sarcastic humor and wit are definitely still there, but in smaller quantities because she IS mentally growing older by the day, a "side-effect" of her lifestyle. At least, that's how I take it. She is definitely on the way to "burning out", and it'll be interesting to see how she deals with it. ;) This brings me to my favorite part: Jean-Claude. I mean, come ON people, we've been waiting for so long for Anita to just finally admit that she love LOVES him, and now, with a bit of Jason's help, she has! And for some reason, I also think that the length and complexity of their relationship has forged a bond far more intimate, shocking, and tender than that which she had with Richard. By the way, I am SO glad he's out of the picture, for now at least. Micah is a good character for Anita because, like Jean-Claude, he accepts every single bit of her. I would have hoped that once she had realized all that she'd been holding back from JC, Anita would break all the barriers that Jason described (::cough:: Micah ::cough::), but then again, Anita does what she will. Nathaniel and Jason are lovable as always, though I would have liked to see more of how Nathaniel has changed with Anita as his Nimir-Ra. That story definitely has major potential. Our heroine is now immersed in vampire politics and vampire life, and this is definitely a change from the good ol' days when she was just "your friendly neighborhood animator". And exutioner, of course. LKH, nicely done! Can't wait for Incubus Dreams!
Rating: 
Summary: Okay, WTH...
Review: I've been reading reviews for Cerulean Sins and have found that the opinions of the readers are split; half find the book just as entertaining as the other novels and the other half does not. I am of the half that find Cerulean Sins extremely entertaining, and believe that Laurell K. Hamilton had done an excellent job. Granted, this installment of the series was not as fast pace as the other novels and sex was a reoccurring theme, just as in Narcissus in Chain. If you don't look at the big picture, then yes this book will most likely be a slight disappointment. Being a writer myself, I understand the big picture. CS is a bridge of sorts. It furthers the plot from Narcissus in Chains, and the character relationships and beliefs that changed in NIC were further developed in CS. In NIC Anita took the last steps that officially elevated her into the ranks of the "monsters" that she fights on a near daily basis. The lines are blurred for her as to who and what the monsters really are. The other books in the series worked on humanizing the monsters, showing their pasts, vulnerabilities, shortcomings and strongpoint and NIC and CS takes that a step further. Minor SPOILERS read at your own risk! *******SPOILER ALERT*************(...)*******SPOILER ALERT************* Faithful readers of The Anita Blake Vampire hunter series, this newest installment of the series has to be read, it sets up the plot for the next book as well as the rest of the series. Don't turn your backs on LKH just because this book wasn't what you are used to from her. Continue to read her books with the faith that she wrote CS the way she has for a reason, we just don't know what that reason is yet. Personally, I enjoyed CS immensely and I can't wait to read Incubus Dreams in September!
Rating: 
Summary: Anita Blake: Vampire Humper
Review: I have been avidly reading the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series since I first discovered Guilty Pleasures around Christmas time 2003/2004. I have literally been reading the books one after the other and It seems like they are going downhill! Anita used to be more of a PERSON, someone that readers could relate to in some ways, and now she is just a negative, overwhelming, bitter person, that is hard to like. I don't like what has happened with Richard in the last two books of the series, and I am not very happy with Micah's character. (...) I couldn't believe there was a two page descriptive of Anita giving Jean Claude Oral sex! I was shocked! Anita needs to stop calling herself a Christian too...She doesn't act like one, behave like one, or inherit any characteristics of being a Christian in any way! She's a hypocrite! She seems to be getting in way too many arguments and conflicts that are totally unnecessary and her personality has really started to suck! I like the old Anita better...this new, (...)Anita has way too many issues and It's utterly mind boggling to keep up with her various personal problems. I am dissapointed in this book and am HOPING that the next book brings us back to a more likable, relatable, familiar Anita.
Rating:
Summary: It hurts me to do this!
Review: I've been in love with LKH's writing for a decade now, and it grieves me to part with her, but part with her I must. What began as an awesome series staring a wonderfully tough but ethical herione infused with sarcasm has evolved into someone with about as much depth as a porno-movie plot. I've stayed with her two books longer than I should have. I'm jumping ship to Charlaine Harris, anybody want to join me in the life boat???
Rating:
Summary: Sex AND story...
Review: I am not going to go into too much detail since there are something like 250 reviews on this site already. I just have to say, yes, there is a lot of sex. But there is also a lot of interaction and plot. If you don't want to read sex scenes, please don't read this book (or the previous one of the series, Narcissus in Chains). But don't be fooled into believeing it is "just sex." It seems to me that LKH has a line of stories in her head and some books need to be used to get there, and to get Anita where she is going, she needs to be in these situations - to learn to deal with them. So, the mysteries and more elaborate investigations should be back, but Anita is evolving. And hey, if she wants to have lots of sex, it's her choice. My only qualm is that she holds the men in her life up to a stricter standard than she holds for herself. I would imagine eventually they would tell her to ... off and have the same sex that she is having. But, yes, if you don't like sex scenes, don't read this. But don't give up on this series just because of this novel.
Rating:
Summary: Anita's Character Moves Along
Review: Just finished this book. Definitly not what you would expect comparing to the first books in the series. Anita's character has moved along in a good way. She does alot of things that you would not expect from Anita Blake, but is backed up by the character she has always been. I do think this book and the last one (Narcissic in Chains)has moved her to be TOO comfortble with too many people, but at the same time im definitly not complaining. Asher has recently m oved onto my 'character i like' list, and i was very happy to see him in this book.
I would definitly suggest reading, but start at the begining of the series.
Rating: 
Summary: Someone take LKH's pen away from her!!
Review: I am officially done w/ Anita. I have always reread books but starting w/ Narcissus and now this abomination, I am boycotting her! Sex is fine, I'm no prude, but LKH either needs therapy or a good lay, because her frustration is ruining her writing. I wish she paid even a modicum of attention to her fans. Just about all of them hate the direction that this series has gone, the only reason the Anita makes the bestsellers list is because her fans buy the book in hopes that this time it will be different. That won't last two more Anita books. If you like LKH and want to read something that is closer to her older stuff than I recommend the Merry series. Consign Anita to the grave, something I wish that LKH's publisher would do!
Rating:
Summary: Can I give it 0 Stars?
Review: Here we go again! Ok, I'll try to keep this brief. Ms. Hamilton, you've managed to thoroughly destroy the character of Anita Blake. With Merry Gentry, we knew we were getting sex, amoral morons, and really ridiculous amounts of the supernatural. Sadly, you have decided that this is the direction in which Anita Blake must travel as well. Which is a shame. Anita had conflict, Ania evolved, and Anita was a person. Now Anita, JC, Richard, et al, are simply charicatures of a once-enjoyable series. The only character experiencing any growth is Jason. What could have been an abolutely amazing and mind-blowing plot was relegated to a few parts of the book. What bugs me is that the publisher had the audacity to state that this was a main part of the book. Please, don't insult my intelligence! Instead we get a shot to the head in the middle of a mall food court. Anita spent sooo much time griping about the lack of morals of everyone around her, she failed to notice that she doesn't have a whole lot left herself. Part of Anita's charm was the fact that things like her faith or a stuuffed penguin or her boyfriend could be her refuge, her sanctuary from the big, bad world. And the struggle to keep from becoming Edward was a huge plus. There was passion, and drama, and well, everything this book lacked. First, enough with the ardeur and the sex. It's tedious, boring, and dull. Do we really need to read about Anit'as sex-capades? NO. This whole ardeur/incubus/succubus thing could have been handled much less graphically. And with better writing and more effort on LKH's part. Instead, we get the lazy attempt which is this book. Second, Micah needs to be shot. So do the following characters: Nathan, the wereleopards, the werewolves (I think that's enough). Oh, and please stake Jean Claude, Damien, and Asher. Then please put Anita out of our misery. Probably the only way to save the series. Third: What happened to Animators, Inc.? Where are the fun bunch from there? The human element of Anita's life? What happened to Ronnie? Burt? Anita's zombie-raising red-headed trainee? His wife? Their kid? C'mon, all these perfectly good characters going to utter waste. Fourth: Resolve the Dolph sitch. Or spend more time on it. It was handled very poorly. Period. Fifth: Enough with the "Super-Anita". Able to make all men love her, constantly develops new powers through judicious use of the sadly overused "deus ex machina", etc. I understand that Anita has to grow and evolve as a person, Animator, triumverate member, pard leader, werewolf enforcer, girlfriend to the Master of the City, Federal Marshall on all things supernatural, and I think that about covers it. Too much going on, LKH! What this book needs is for most of te characters to be cut. There is talk that Edward will be returning, and hopefully that's with enough grenades to take out the Circus of the Damned, the Thronnos Rokke Clan, the Blooddrinker Clan, and any spare freaks left laying around. LKH, you've gone completely over-the-top, and I'm not sure how you plan to resolve this. Or are you just laughing all the way to the bank as we, your fans, spend out well-earned cash on this literary masturbation?
Rating:
Summary: Good Bye Ms. Blake For Good!
Review: I am a big-time Anita Blake fan. Yes I am one of those who waits with anticipation for her newest novel. From my first reading of Guilty Pleasures I was hooked. I was still very happy novels 2 through 4. Novels 5 through 8 started to become whiny and melodramatic, but I hung in there, hoping the newest addition to the series would improve. I AM DONE! This is my last Anita Blake Novel! I not only spent my hard earned $22.95 plus tax to purchase this novel, but used my free time to read this smut. Now where do I begin? First there is our hero Anita Blake. Imagine a comic superhero gone wrong. Give this superhero the attributes of Superman, throw in all the skills of the entire X-Men cast and the strength of the Incredible Hulk. Now take this overblown superhero and then try to turn it into a workable character. Well you have Anita Blake in a nutshell. She has now become a twisted cartoon character from hell. And if that is not bad enough, a miserable whinny, self-centered cartoon character from hell. Anita Blake, who is not only the best necromancer in the world (she not only raises full cemetaries of zombies with the wave of her hand, but can raise sleeping hundred year old vampires with another wave of her hand). Take that and add the fact that she is part of a very powerful triumverate which gives her more power than most of the other powerful creatures who are working alone. On top of this, she is becoming a master vampire with her very own little vampire follower. Now throw into this mix, the fact that she is the queen of the wereleopards, and has her very own wereleopard pard that follows her around with devotion (even though she can't change into a complete wereleopard. I'm still not done! She is also the assigned enforcer for the werewolves. Now you have the new and improved Anita Blake on steroids. (Is she going to grow a penis soon I wonder or is it already there and coming about in a future novel?) Take this overblown cartoon character and now throw in all her followers which include: (1) a pack of wereleopards who spend entire novels on their hands and knees just to rub against her and acknowledge her for being a mini cartoon god. (2) the enforcer for the werewolves (because even though the werewolves are a powerful race in their own right, there is not one other werewolf in the entire world who has the power to fill this job which of course makes the werewolves fear her. (3) Throw in her necromancer/zombie raising skills which make vampires tremble at her feet (I mean she can raise you from your coffin with the wave of her tiny little hand) and finally (4) don't forget she is also Ms. 5'3" commando unit with her own set of guns with silver bullets that she can spray and kill you with if you look at her wrong. Who could handle this much power? Only Ms. Anita Blake, sterioid super hero extraordinaire! Now that the main chracter is set, you get to watch her interact with all the other characters in this book. Please note all characters are one-dimensional so therefore not worth naming, and there are only three types of chracters in the novels anyway: (1) Powerful Men that Anita is having sex with (this of course includes orgies but not anal sex because she is a lady); (2) Male characters who want to sleep with Anita; and (3) a couple of male characters who do not have the privilege of sleeping with Anita at the moment. Of course, these two chracters have the most problems. Now describing these one-dimensional characters in more depth. First there are the most powerful men in the book (master vampires hundreds of years old) who follow Anita like puppets on a string, waiting for her every command because they can't make her angry or she won't have sex with them. Then you have the characters who Anita sleeps with as one night stands who follow her around and worship her hoping they get to have sex with her more than once. Of course, there are the other male characters who want to have sex with Anita, but because she's having sex with everyone else in the book, have to worship her without the sex. Still like dutiful one dimensional characters, they follow her around like puppets and give in to her every whim. Then there are the last set of characters who are not having sex with her at the moment and do not worship her. And, in this entire Anita Blake world of course it only amounts to two people. Now because they do not worship her and are not having sex with her, of course they have to be either a suicidal depressed werewolf who wants to die because he can't have sex with Anita, and a racist psychotic cop. So for over 400 pages you get to watch Anita have sex, have group sex, walk around naked, and then have more sex. You also get to listen to her whine about her life and her moral values and then you get to watch her have more sex. While all of the powerful vampires and weres follow her around and listen to her whine. Still, don't piss Anita off, or she'll pull out a gun and shoot you with a silver bullet. Vampire writing at its best! Now I know this is a long shot, but do you think somewhere in this world of Anitas there is a manufacturer out there that maybe has a second gun with silver bullets that someone in the novel can buy and go on a hunting spree and kill every chracter in this series and then shoot his or herself in the head so this depressing sickening waste of paper and space series can end!!!! Good bye Anita I will miss the woman I met in Guilty Pleasures, but there are too many good authors out there for me to waste additional money and free time on you. Adieu!
Rating:
Summary: Big Time Disappointment
Review: I am a big fan of vampire/lycanthorpe novels. I have quite a collection I have gathered over the years. Of course no collection is complete without the Anita Blake series by Laurell Hamilton. I still remember when I first read "Guilty Pleasures" I fell in love instantly with Anita Blake's world. How she worked part-time with the police dept., how she raised zombies for her money hungry boss; and even though she was tough as nails, she still had a heart and felt for those around her. Once I read the first novel, I immediately went and bought the entire series. Now as a fan of vampire novels, the first four novels cannot be beat. But once you reach no. 5 on, you start to feel as if you are part of a very bad soap opera. Still, there's always hope so I continue to buy her series. This latest novel is downright "disappointing." Anita is pretty much a whore. This novel should not be in the vampire category or even in the romance category, it should be in the xxx rated/erotica category. This novel is not about romance and not about vampires. It's about orgy sex, sex with strangers in showers, sex standing up, sex in bed, and sex with anyone who is in the room when everyone else she usually has sex with is not in the room. That's pretty much the plot for 400+ pages, and I am not exaggerating. And what's worse, throughout the novel you are led to believe while she's sleeping her way through every male in the novel, that this is not her fault. Also, when she's not having sex, there's even one point in the novel where she actually has the nerve to whine about how the one true love in her life "Richard the werewolf" abandoned her. If you have been reading this series you would know that Richard (who she was engaged to marry) became angry with Anita for sleeping with Jean Claude (a vampire) after she ran from Richard because he killed one of his biggest enemies, Marcus (who Anita had been begging Richard to kill for at least two previous novels). The night he kills Marcus as soon as she leaves the man she is going to marry she sleeps with another man. So they break up. And from then on they have sex and break up again and between their sex and break ups Anita finds more men to have sex with. Finally, Richard walked out on Anita when he wouldn't allow her to feed on him. And Anita whines about this even though she doesn't allow anyone (including Jean Claude) to feed on her. Of course, as usual with Anita her values changes depending on who she is having sex with, and once its acceptable to her, everyone else around her should follow her lead and think its acceptable too. What I loved initially about this series was Anita's strength of character. She had a huge inner battle to face as she fought the monsters while not trying to become a monster. Very understable. My empathy for Anita has dissipated by the number of times she has had sex with strange men. She is not a likeable heroine anymore. I hope Laurell decides to start a brand new vampire series. This one had disappointedly run out of steam. If you are looking for a good "fresh" vampire series try Charlaine Harris' Dead Series (Dead Until Dark; Living Dead In Dallas and Club Dead). This has a likeable heroine with a believable heart of gold.
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