2012: #9 – The Dead Girls’ Dance (Rachel Caine)

Title: The Dead Girls’ Dance
Author: Rachel Caine
Series: Morganville Vampires #02
Format: Kindle
Pages: 256 (2012 total – 2,470)
Approx. Word Count: 64,000 (2012 total – 695,504)
Release Date: April 03, 2007
Publisher: Signet
Categories: young adult, urban fantasy, vampires
Source: personal copy
Rating: 4 out of 5

Back of the book:

Claire has her share of challenges. Like being a genius in a school that favors beauty over brains; homicidal girls in her dorm, and finding out that her college town is overrun with the living dead. On the up side, she has a new boyfriend with a vampire-hunting dad. But when a local fraternity throws the Dead Girls’ Dance, hell is really going to break loose.

My thoughts:

This book picks up exactly where the first left off. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. It’s good if you’ve read the first book recently, because it means no waiting! But if it’s been over two years (like with me), it leaves you a bit disoriented until you can get up to speed again. I actually wonder if these first two books were actually just one that the author was forced to split in two.

But, once you do get up to speed again, this is a decent little book. Claire and her roommates really only want one thing — to be left in peace. But Shane’s father has other ideas, and once the  vampires find out his plans, someone has to pay. I like the group of roommates, though Claire does tend to get on my nerves a bit. She makes some really stupid decisions. I do have to give her a little benefit of the doubt. Just because you’re smart doesn’t necessarily mean you have common sense. (I might just know this from experience.)

Overall, I think this is a good series. I’m interested in seeing where it is going. Maybe this time I won’t wait two years to read the next one.

Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | WorldCat

Other reviews:

• “DEAD GIRLS’ DANCE is one of the best books in the series and the shocking ending will leave you panting and begging for the next installment.” — Karin’s Book Nook
• “This review has probably come across as a bit harsh and while I didn’t enjoy The Dead Girls’ Dance as much as Glass Houses I didn’t totally hate the book either so don’t let me put you off reading it if you are so inclined.” — Love Vampires
• “The Dead Girls’ Dance was an interesting book that moves the story and the characters forward.” — Fluttering Butterflies

Past reviews:

2011: Charm City (Laura Lippman)
2010: Forbidden Falls (Robyn Carr)
2009: Amelia Peabody’s Egypt (Elizabeth Peters)
2008: The Copenhagen Connection (Elizabeth Peters)
2007: Birthright (Nora Roberts)
2006: Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
2005: E is for Evidence (Sue Grafton)