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stefhyena's review
2.0
I suspect my mistake was coming in at book 9. It’s more or a paranormal soap-opera by now than anything else. I enjoyed a few things about it.
1. The sex positivity was ACTUALLY revolutionary not just same old tired porn. There was a context that made the focus on sex relevant and that context was bringing in themes like characters being bisexual and polyamorous admittedly in limited, stereotypical ways but nevertheless these are things that do not appear in books often enough.
2. The sexuality in the book was focussed on female desire. Menolly and Nerissa typify this in a way but there was also Camille and her three husbands and attraction to others. There was no slut-shaming in portraying voracious and joyful female desire and the fact that it could be complicated and directed at more than one person. This was a definitely progressive move.
3. A very persistent theme in the portrayal of sexuality was consent. Consent was both taken for granted as the foundation for any good encounter and explicitly mentioned many times. Consent and desire were shown to be intertwined and non-consensual sex was portrayed as disordered. I was cheering for all this…it needs to be done a LOT more.
Having said all that, I found Roman a problematic character for a number of reasons. Firstly Menolly’s sex with him is portrayed as her “needing a man” (ie phallocentric “naturalness” to a woman’s sexuality) a point of view Nerissa can completely relate to (because hey who doesn’t “need” a dick? Secondly the classism, the uncomplicated ease we are meant to feel at this vampire regency (a form of bullying) comes to a head on p286 where there is one of the most explicitly classist statements I have ever read (you can’t educate a person to have “class” it is just an inborn trait of the aristocracy). This is a historically ridiculous suggestion, and I do realise that this is a fantasy story but it’s insultingly ridiculous to present that view of class untroubled by facts.
Then there is the way that Roman gradually overshadows Nerissa in the story, hijacks Menolly and controls her. By the very last page she is really just Roman’s bitch which undoes a lot of the good liberative work of the earlier chapters (and probably the earlier novels). Early on she is good on boundaries, won’t let him buy her clothes and sets her own agenda but by the end of the book Nerissa is an irrelevant background figure (more hairdresser than girlfriend) and Menolly is sparkling on the arm of a control freak.
Added to the problem of Roman is a question about the title of the book. Yeah I get that Blood Wyne is Roman’s mother and a very powerful vampire but she does not actually appear in the book. A more accurate title would be “Son of blood wyne” or something completely different. There seemed to be some sort of backhanded mother-hatred flowing through the book as an underground sub-theme.
The plot itself was indifferent. The writing was not offensively bad but didn’t blow me away. This was much better than many paranormal books I have read, but not good enough for me to seek out more of the series. Nevertheless it was refreshing to have some woman-woman romance and other ways of stirring the pot and I can’t stress enough how good the emphasis on consent was.
1. The sex positivity was ACTUALLY revolutionary not just same old tired porn. There was a context that made the focus on sex relevant and that context was bringing in themes like characters being bisexual and polyamorous admittedly in limited, stereotypical ways but nevertheless these are things that do not appear in books often enough.
2. The sexuality in the book was focussed on female desire. Menolly and Nerissa typify this in a way but there was also Camille and her three husbands and attraction to others. There was no slut-shaming in portraying voracious and joyful female desire and the fact that it could be complicated and directed at more than one person. This was a definitely progressive move.
3. A very persistent theme in the portrayal of sexuality was consent. Consent was both taken for granted as the foundation for any good encounter and explicitly mentioned many times. Consent and desire were shown to be intertwined and non-consensual sex was portrayed as disordered. I was cheering for all this…it needs to be done a LOT more.
Having said all that, I found Roman a problematic character for a number of reasons. Firstly Menolly’s sex with him is portrayed as her “needing a man” (ie phallocentric “naturalness” to a woman’s sexuality) a point of view Nerissa can completely relate to (because hey who doesn’t “need” a dick? Secondly the classism, the uncomplicated ease we are meant to feel at this vampire regency (a form of bullying) comes to a head on p286 where there is one of the most explicitly classist statements I have ever read (you can’t educate a person to have “class” it is just an inborn trait of the aristocracy). This is a historically ridiculous suggestion, and I do realise that this is a fantasy story but it’s insultingly ridiculous to present that view of class untroubled by facts.
Then there is the way that Roman gradually overshadows Nerissa in the story, hijacks Menolly and controls her. By the very last page she is really just Roman’s bitch which undoes a lot of the good liberative work of the earlier chapters (and probably the earlier novels). Early on she is good on boundaries, won’t let him buy her clothes and sets her own agenda but by the end of the book Nerissa is an irrelevant background figure (more hairdresser than girlfriend) and Menolly is sparkling on the arm of a control freak.
Added to the problem of Roman is a question about the title of the book. Yeah I get that Blood Wyne is Roman’s mother and a very powerful vampire but she does not actually appear in the book. A more accurate title would be “Son of blood wyne” or something completely different. There seemed to be some sort of backhanded mother-hatred flowing through the book as an underground sub-theme.
The plot itself was indifferent. The writing was not offensively bad but didn’t blow me away. This was much better than many paranormal books I have read, but not good enough for me to seek out more of the series. Nevertheless it was refreshing to have some woman-woman romance and other ways of stirring the pot and I can’t stress enough how good the emphasis on consent was.
reader44ever's review
5.0
4.5 stars - great!
This story was pretty great, but though I both laughed and cried during the reading of it, somehow it's not hitting my "it was amazing! 5 stars!" meter. But it's definitely a 4.5-star-great story. :-)
I am rather astonished, thinking back, to find that Shadow Wing's demons and the spirit seals did not play a role in this story. They were mentioned, but that was it. All of the action in this book was centered around other things. And wow! Was there ever a lot going on!
It opened with Menolly in the Wayfarer Bar and Grill, bemoaning the fact that she needs yet another new bartender. But not for long. :-) Then Chase shows up and Menolly learns that there is a vampire serial killer (meaning a serial killer who is a vampire) on the loose in Seattle.
In tracking the killer, Menolly and Camille, et.al., come up against a bunch of hungry ghosts, and they are not friendly. In the battles that ensue,Morio is mortally wounded and saved when Menolly shares her blood with him. This event leaves the two of them connected, and whoa! *DANGER AHEAD* ;-) Also, Camille had sex with Vanzir. (!!!) And this event will have repercussions when Camille's husbands find out. (But they didn't find out in this book.) This event also resulted in Vanzir losing his powers to feed on energy and the soul binder disappeared, too. So he's free, but it seems that he will stick around and still obey the D'Artigo sisters. :-)
Menollyacquires a new lover in this book: Roman, an ancient vampire, son of Blood Wyne, Queen of the Crimson Veil. I am still holding out judgment on whether or not he'll truly be good for Menolly, but by the end I was feeling cautiously optimistic. :-)
In the end, Menollyand Wade find the serial killer and put an end to him. And then Menolly and Roman went to Fangtabula and killed Terrance. :-)
I am happy that Menolly and Wade are friends again, and Menolly and Nerissa pledged to one another. They're planning a promise ceremony for the spring. (They will promise to be together for a year and a day, then reevaluate to see where they are.) :-) And I do like Roman. I am really hoping that he will be good for Menolly. :-)
The lines that made me cry and laugh were in the same chapter (Chapter 10), just three pages apart:
First, on page 125, after Menollystakes Sassy (!!!), Sassy's spirit returns to say thanks. And she had Janet, who passed away in Chapter 9, and her daughter alongside her. :-) Then on page 126, Sassy says goodbye and walks away/disappears from sight. Menolly finds a crimson handkerchief and a rose and . . . Cue tears. :-)
Then Menolly returns to the Wayfarer only to findViper, a regular, and some cronies of his threatening Chrysandra, with Derrick, the new bartender, holding them off with a shotgun. Menolly is able to talk Viper down and, on page 129, we have this line that surprised a laugh out of me:
We met only two new creatures/beings in this book: an Elder Fae, whohelped Menolly by taking out the hungry ghosts (and I highly doubt that we've seen the last of her), and a werebadger (Menolly's new bartender, Derrick Means, is of the Badger People ). :-)
There were also a number of ghosts and spirits (and new types of demons?) of varying types. They provided for much of the action in this book. It was pretty fantastic. :-)
Back to the end, in the final chapter, we open with Menolly and her sisters talking with Iris in the kitchen of their house, and then the plot advances by one week, and we see Menollyattend an event at the Clockwork Club with Roman. She is his Consort. (!!!) And he tells her he might be growing to love her. (!!!) Menolly tells him not to get hooked on her, as her heart belongs to Nerissa. . .
:-)
So again, this was a really fun story, really great. And I agree that things are changing for the sisters, but then, they've been changing since book one. :-)
This story was pretty great, but though I both laughed and cried during the reading of it, somehow it's not hitting my "it was amazing! 5 stars!" meter. But it's definitely a 4.5-star-great story. :-)
I am rather astonished, thinking back, to find that Shadow Wing's demons and the spirit seals did not play a role in this story. They were mentioned, but that was it. All of the action in this book was centered around other things. And wow! Was there ever a lot going on!
It opened with Menolly in the Wayfarer Bar and Grill, bemoaning the fact that she needs yet another new bartender. But not for long. :-) Then Chase shows up and Menolly learns that there is a vampire serial killer (meaning a serial killer who is a vampire) on the loose in Seattle.
In tracking the killer, Menolly and Camille, et.al., come up against a bunch of hungry ghosts, and they are not friendly. In the battles that ensue,
Menolly
In the end, Menolly
I am happy that Menolly and Wade are friends again, and Menolly and Nerissa pledged to one another. They're planning a promise ceremony for the spring. (They will promise to be together for a year and a day, then reevaluate to see where they are.) :-) And I do like Roman. I am really hoping that he will be good for Menolly. :-)
The lines that made me cry and laugh were in the same chapter (Chapter 10), just three pages apart:
First, on page 125, after Menolly
Then Menolly returns to the Wayfarer only to find
"Viper blushed again and stared at his feet, looking for all the world like a giant teddy bear."lol I just had to laugh at this. I mean, the guy's name is Viper and he looks like a giant teddy bear? I could so picture him and so had to laugh. ;-)
We met only two new creatures/beings in this book: an Elder Fae, who
There were also a number of ghosts and spirits (and new types of demons?) of varying types. They provided for much of the action in this book. It was pretty fantastic. :-)
Back to the end, in the final chapter, we open with Menolly and her sisters talking with Iris in the kitchen of their house, and then the plot advances by one week, and we see Menolly
But Roman's words sliced through my thoughts. "There's no reason you can't share your love, you know. Your sister Camille does."
And then, before I could protest, we sped up, and the music flowed as we danced away blood and murder and the ever-present darkness in which we lived. [fin]
:-)
So again, this was a really fun story, really great. And I agree that things are changing for the sisters, but then, they've been changing since book one. :-)
abookandacup's review
3.0
I am not sure to which point I liked this book. For sure, Menolly finally took my interest but then, some thgs hapinpened...that really makes me doubt the writer's choice...
bookertsfarm's review
5.0
LOVE LOVE LOVE this series. The series only gets better and better. So glad the new one comes out sometime later this year.
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