Rating: Summary: Unfortunately, the last Anita book I will be reading. Review: I, like most people, loved the first 10 books. I loved that Anita was a strong female character that could really kick ass when she needed to. She was strong and capable. But the series has turned to a whole new focus--EVERYBODY WANTS ANITA. Her main boyfriends, her extracurricular boyfriends, and all the bad guys--that includes international vampires and international terrorists--want her. Only a few people don't and they seem to have jealousy issues. The whole book seems to be more of a teenage fantasy than a slick vampire story.
Anita is offered up as such a powerful female figure and I like that. But where are the others?? Anita has no real women friends... Ronnie, Cheryl, and Claudia all have bit parts--although no Ronnie in this book--and do nothing that advances the plot. They are all only token. The books are all about Anita and her harem of men. In some ways, Anita is beginning to remind me of the vampires in that she suffers no one that could be any sort of competition. It almost seems to me that Anita, and perhaps LKH, don't care for other women. A few more people not in love with Anita would really air out the storyline.
I wish the series would change with the next book, but from the reviews I have read it seems to be more of the same with more typos. The whole "ardeur" problem needs to go away. I am okay with Anita having sex with whomever she wants, but does LKH have to give her such a silly reason to do it? How about she just wants to? It reminds me too much of the woman that must get drunk in order to give herself permission to have sex.
I am losing hope for Anita.
Rating: Summary: Going downhill Review: Like many others I have to say that the series seems to be going downhill, starting with the previous book, Narcissus in Chains. Cerulean Sins isn't a bad book, mind you, but it doesn't have the engaging plot or characters that the earlier books in the series have.
I find it amusing that the person that seems to really like this book has only read three books in the series, that would leave 7 books from which to compare this one too. I know, I know...this is its own seperate work, that said, it is part of a series and you would think it would follow suit.
Anita's powers are continuing to grow, great...tell us why? All men seem to want her....ok, again, why? Then there is the fiasco LKH made of Dolph...why?
I admit that I will read Incubus Dreams, but at this point it is only because I am anal and want to read the entire series. My interest level is waning.
Rating: Summary: Weakest Anita Blake book so far... Review: Like the 10th book in the series - Narcissus in Chains - the focus of Cerulean Sins is very much on Anita Blakes emotional conflicts with her lovelife. It is almost as if the action has taken a backseat in preference of detailed and lengthy description of Anitas erotic encounters. The book is not badly written, but I soon found myself skipping large parts of the book to get on with the plot. And talking about "plot", there isnt much, if you look past the emotinal and erotic stuff. It is allmost as if that IS the plot. Before long I was thinking: "If I see the word "ardeur" ONE more time, I'm going to scream!" If you have read the book, you will know what I mean... :-) I have been told that mrs. Hamilton has twice as many female readers compared to males, so maybe she is simply adjusting her style to fit her main audience. In the later books Anita Blake seems to have changed her personality from the Marlowe-Gumshoe kinda toughie to a whiny gothic drama queen. Character development is a good thing, but to me "the new" Anita Blake is far less entertaining than the old one. Despite this, I find mrs. Hamilton to be an excellent writer and I will continue to follow the Anita Blake series to see where it goes in the future. If for nothing else, then because I've been a fan from the beginning. But so far I consider the first nine books to be vastly superior to the last two. Therefore I would recommend that new readers start with book nr.1 - Guilty Pleasures - and work their way up. Book 1 to 9 are brilliant, book 10 is a bit slow, but sums everything up nicely. Cerulean Sins is the worst of the bunch so far, in my humble opinion.
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: Book in search of a plot Review: Ms. Hamilton has fallen into the trap of making each new book more sensational than the last, at the expense of the twisting plotlines that made us love Anita in the first place. The preternatural crimes in Cerulean Sins are relegated to a secondary role, while Anita's enthusiastic love life takes center stage.
The summary on the back of the book says Cerulean Sins is about a hitman who hires Anita to raise a dead relative. That happens in the first 30 pages then falls off the radar for 400 pages of Anita having sex with various vampires, werewolves and wereleopards...sometimes more than one at a time. I'm all for plenty of sex in a book, but as Richard the wereworlf, Anita's ex-boyfriend, says, "What is it with you, Anita? Are there any men in the world you haven't slept with?" At least she loves them all.
For a good Catholic girl who started out 10 books ago not believing in casual sex, Anita has certainly broadened her horizons. Richard is about the only male not on her list of bed buddies.
At long last, Anita crawls out of bed long enough to investigate the murders almost as an afterthought. C'mon, Anita, you've a better hunter than this!!!
Rating: 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: Summary: I really don't like Anita Blake anymore Review: So I was looking for a light and entertaining book to read over lunch. Unfortunately, pickings were mighty slim at the LuValle bookstore next to the law school. As a last resort, I grabbed a copy of Laurell K. Hamilton's Cerulean Sins. Big mistake.
I used to be quite a fan of Hamilton's Anita Blake series, but I eventually lost interest in it. Fifty pages into Cerulean Sins, I remembered why.
It's not just the gratuitous S&M-tinged sex and violence. It's not just the incredibly formulaic plots (big bad vampire comes to town; Anita's not allowed to kill vampire bad guy due to some contrived rule of vampire politics; after killing and screwing lots of other folks, Anita finally gets to kill the bad guy. Yawn).
It's simply that the main characters have become so unlikeable. Anita Blake is the worst of the lot. She's a insufferably smug psychopathic [...] who is constantly pissed off at something and whose first reaction to somebody new is either to screw them, kill them, or both. She's also one of the most remarkably self-centered major characters I've ever encountered, leaving behind a trail of broken hearts and (dare I say it?) blue balls wherever she goes. (One of the oddities of the series is that, despite the amount of sex in the books, Blake is always leaving somebody high and dry.)
It's a bad thing when you root for the bad guys. It's much worse, however, when you want the bad guys to obliterate the story's only POV character. But that's what I want.
Rating: Summary: Book 11 Review: This book is pushing the series in a new direction. Anita's powers are further developing and she doesn't know how to handle it. The arduer is a way to gain power remember, not just a way to add a bunch of sex into the mix. If the arduer hadn't been added a certain very old vampire wouldn't have a way to control Anita. (Anita doesn't like feeling powerless and if the she hadn't gained the arduer she could have easily fought Belle in book 10.) This book feels like a prelude to something much bigger that will happen in the next. Anita's personal life is becoming extremely complicated because of the power she seems to be gaining. She is developing a mix of powers that she shouldn't be able to receive. I don't think you will be disappointed if you read into what is going on in the story. I thought this book was fine, but I think it is building up to a battle royale in the next book. Something much bigger and badder than before is what Anita will be up against soon. It doesn't have a lot of explosive situations like in the previous books. I think the only thing that I didn't like was the story seemed to be over too quickly. All I can say is something big is brewing and if you don't read the book you'll miss out.
Rating: Summary: I hope it does not get any worse then this Review: Well I have all the books for this series and all I can think of is how far the series has sunk. From the start the series was excellant with a great storyline but the last 3 books have been for the most part trashy sex novels. While this novel was a bit better then the last two I will NOT be buying the next book in this series until I read it from the library as my money is limited and I cannot and will not waste it on a bad book or a series that has become bad. To the author I say this. Get back to writing the story and bring back the mystery but please stop using the sex as filler. If you are having problems getting to the x number of words you are supposed to have for the novel then take a break and delay it for a year or two. I would rather have a novel of the past quality I know you can do rather then a roll of toilet paper that most of the last 3 books for the series have been.
Rating: Summary: Anita Gone Wild!!! Review: Well, if you are already up to book number 11 in this series then I can assume you have met and feel as though you know all the essential characters. In CS Anita is far from the no nonsense-vampires-are-bad type of gal we know her to be in GP. Jean Claude and Asher get a suprise visit from Belle Morte's right hand. This little predicament opens doors for new relationships. Damian fans be prepared to be teased mercilessly!! Hamilton only minutely covers the connection between Anita and the thousand year old red-headed hotty!! Jason is his usual witty,charismatic self but even Jason is surprised when Anita's "fire" engulfs both of them. Anita Blake Fans will love this book. It still has Anita's wit. Her sharp tongue and fast draw. Its still filled with our familiar sexy heroes and it introduces a couple of new villains sure to make your skin crawl. Fans of Hamiltons other works will see a slight resemblance between Anita and Merry Gentry. But fear not Anita may encompass some of Merry's heat but she'll still pull her Browning and put a bullet between your eyes. All in all...read it. You'll thank me.
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