#4 The Dead Girls' Dance: The Morganville Vampires, Book 2 by Rachel Caine

My Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

This is the second book in the Morganville Vampire series and it picks up right where book one leaves off. By now, we've learned a bit more about all the inhabitants of the Glass House, where Claire is currently living off-campus while attending Texas Prarie University. Her roommates—Eve the Goth girl, sexy hunk Shane, and mysterious Michael—have been having to fight off the vampires that rule Morganville because situations beyond their control have really pissed some of them off. It certainly doesn't help when Shane's vampire-hunting father comes to town either, with a plan to take care of all the vampires of Morganville once and for all.

If I hadn't read the first book so recently I think I may have been lost for the first several pages as this book picks up mid-scene from the events of book one, with very little reminder cues. I really don't like when authors do this, particularly since these books are published several months apart and most people aren't going to read them right after another, but instead would read a number of other books in betweeen. Therefore, with this particular series, you might be better served picking up the first two or three books and then reading them all in one go.

In comparison to the other young adult urban (paranormal) fantasy books I've been reading, specifically the House of Night Novels by P.C. Cast, these seem a bit slower paced and not nearly as exciting. I remember thinking something similar about the first book of Ms. Caine's Weather Warden series, Ill Wind, when I read that. Certainly an interesting enough story, but it didn't have that wow factor for me that makes it a favorite. *shrug*

That said, the story is still interesting enough to keep going, and does pick up the pace more as things progress. Though written in the third person, you really only see into Claire's head most of the time, not any of the other main characters, so the inclusion of a few excerpts from Eve's diary at the end of the book is a welcome addition which lets you learn a bit more about what makes her tick.

I certainly plan to keep up with future books in this series, and already have Midnight Alley, the third in the series, waiting on my bookshelf. I'll just have to remember to read it sooner rather than later for the reasons stated above since I'll be passing this second book along and won't have it to refer back to.

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