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Cerulean Sins

Cerulean Sins

List Price: $22.95
Your Price: $16.07
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
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: 3 stars
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: 1 stars
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: 3 stars
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: 3 stars
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: 1 stars
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: 1 stars
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: 2 stars
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: 4 stars
Summary: 4 Stars because I can't give it 4.5
Review: Not my favorite Anita book, but it was still good. The only reason why it didn't get a 5 star is that the editing in the book is weak, and the plot line could have been tighter and more fluid. I liked the sex, it fit with the book. I liked Richard's depression and Dolph's edge-- Let's face it folks Dolph was heading for a down fall since The Killing Dance where I believe he found out his son was with a vampire.

Anita wasn't the save the day hero in the book -- But she did bring in the bad guy at the end.

The reason I believe that you see so many negative reviews on this books is that there is a split in fandom -- Many people find the current characters out of place from the previous books. The favorites are not given page time and Anita seems to have more powers. Also -- Anita seems to have step out of character in accepting complete stranger in her life instead of accepting the men Jean-Claude and Richard that have been in her life since almost the beginning of the series.

Laurell Hamilton seems to have changed the direction of the series from plot/mystery/romance/supernatural to Anita working on her own issues.

I say read the book, judge for yourself-- But don't start with this book, read the series in order.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The Series Has Only Gotten Worse....
Review: In the beginning we had Anita BLake Vampire Hunter. Now we have Anita Blake erotica and not any good at that. In the first few books she was human, a necromancer, had a clue, and some issues. The character was almost/relatively believable and somewhat likable. In 11 books none of the characters in the series have developed, the ones even remotely developed have been totally lobotomized in this book. Anita Blake is no longer a believable or even remotely likable protagonist that anyone can relate to at all. Just a super selfish superhuman witch who'll do anything to have what she wants and do anything or say anything to get it. The self aggrandizing prose of the protagonist(Anita) is enough to make you laugh, so there is humor in it. There is no romance to me in a book where I despise the lead and think she herself is the joke. This book is all about bedding this one and that one with a very lame excuse to do so. It's predictable to follow so there is no plot. Even though these books are listed under romance, the books in this series once had plots and were romantic. This book has neither a plot or any kind of believable or even reasonable romance to it at all. Even the sex is a joke, everybody loves Anita to the extreme. It is badly editted, tons of typos and run on sentences. This book like the last one insulted me as a former fan and as a person it insulted my inteligence. I want my money back.


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