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Liked It “Reviewed by Karin Perry for TeensReadToo.com |
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“It was a quick read and kind of fun. There are others in the series, but the library doesn't have them so if I don't find them on sale somewhere, chances are I won't read the others. I did enjoy it, but it is one of my books and probably not something I would read again, so it will be sold at my next yard sale.”
Diane G wrote this review Friday, October 16 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“ Reviewed by Karin Perry for TeensReadToo.com
TeensReadToo.com wrote this review Wednesday, July 22 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Four months have passed since Colby was given permission to exist as a half-blood vampire. Not only does she have her license, but she has been given the added responsibility of Protector of all the half-bloods. Colby takes this title in stride and sets about making preparations.
The Vampire Tribunal, the governing board for the vampire community, makes it possible for Colby and the other half-bloods to blend in with society while still being together to train and learn about the vampire ways by securing land on the campus of a local university in order to create a sorority. Colby names it Psi Phi (Sci-Fi, get it?).
With the help of her boyfriend/Vampire Investigator Thomas, Colby expects no problems when it comes to dealing with the other half-bloods. In fact, she expects them to consider her a hero for "saving" them from execution. Instead, she gets a mixed group of girls from extremely different backgrounds who don't think much about her as a Protector.
When one of her charges is murdered right in the sorority house, Colby begins to doubt her ability, as well. With the help of familiar faces from the previous book, Carl and Piper, she begins to unravel the mystery and learns of a spy that is in their midst.
One area of irritation is Colby's attitude toward Thomas. While BRACED2BITE, the first book in this series, was appropriate for middle school and above, FANGS4FREAKS gets a little closer to the edge. The sexual situations are increased and cause arguments between Colby and Thomas. Colby's tendency to blow up in anger over his actions seem a little over the top and happen too often and take too long to resolve. These arguments usually stem from the fact that Colby is very frustrated that Thomas won't take their physical relationship past the make-out stage.
Overall, even though the resolution to the story was rushed at the end, the story leading up to the conclusion was enjoyable. While not as good as the first, FANGS4FREAKS is definitely worth the time to read.”
“Great read! Ecspecially 4 vamp freaks like me! Lots of humor and adventure- but a little too much pink for me:)”
Caroline P wrote this review Thursday, July 9 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“The second book of the cute and campy vampire series. In this one Colby learns that being the head of a sorority house isn't as easy as one would think, especially considering her "sisters" are hated half-blood vampires and one of them could potentially be a murder.
JenineW wrote this review Thursday, April 16 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I'd suggest reading "Braced 2 Bite" before this one.”
“I was at a bit of a disadvantage with this story, which is the second in a series, because I hadn't read the first one. There was enough information that I wasn't lost completely, but there were still some things that weren't quite explained and left me wondering.
DKayeS wrote this review Tuesday, November 25 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Colby Blanchard is a young woman (teenager?--one of those things that wasn't explained), a half-blood vampire (another thing that wasn't explained, though I surmised that it's someone who was turned into a vampire by a sire who's not powerful enough to make a full-blood vampire). Because she's won the right for half-bloods to exist (another question), she's been put in charge of training and protecting the other half-bloods, and keeping them under control. To that end, she's established a sorority house on the campus of a local university.
Not everyone is happy with her accomplishments, though, and her life (un-life) and those of the young women in her care, are in danger. Then one of them is murdered, and it seems as though there's a traitor in what she'd expected to be a happy little group of sisters (another thing I'm assuming was addressed in the first book--why all the half-bloods are female).
So Colby has to find the killer, with the help of her best friend Piper and her boyfriend, vampire investigator Thomas--when she allows him to help, that is.
The mystery aspect was pretty good, almost Christie-esque. The limited pool of suspects, all living together, all with opportunity, and all seemingly innocent, except the one suspect that no one likes, so you know they can't be the guilty party.
The world-building, on the other hand, was such that I'd say it's important to read the books in order. I could follow the story, but there was quite a bit that left me scratching my head.
Then there's the story of Colby herself, how she's growing into her role as protector, and the relationship between her and Thomas. And that, I think, was the book's biggest weakness. I realize that, as an ongoing series, you don't want the character to change too much, but Colby didn't change at all, and I was expecting her to. She's blundering ahead, thinking she knows everything, refusing to listen to advice, and angry when things go wrong. I'd have liked the book much better if she'd learned that sometimes you need to ask for help.
I was also a little confused by the tone of the relationship between Colby and Thomas. Throughout the book, she's pressuring him for sex, and reminds me of the girlfriend in 40 Days and 40 Nights with her either/or attitude. Either they have sex, or they break up. There's a brief, very erotic scene about drinking blood, and quite a lot of frank discussion about desire, but the actual sex scene is blurred over. Here's where knowing her age might have helped make some sense of it. And despite my liberal beliefs about sexuality, I was still a little squicked that this is a YA book--intended for readers the age of my younger son.
(postscript: in the previous book, Colby is 16, making her 16 or 17 in this one. Thomas's age isn't mentioned, but he's obviously much older. I'm squicked.)
The voice, also, didn't grab me. It's too much like too many other paranormal and chick lit voices--rude, bossy, and know-it-all, even, or maybe especially when she obviously doesn't. And it doesn't have the saving grace of humor, except at the expense of others. In short, I didn't like the main character. She sounds very much like Betsy from MaryJanice Davidson's Undead series, but without the warmth. Maybe it's her immaturity.
Still, it was an entertaining story. The characters of the other half-blood vampires were interesting and unusual, and the mystery was very well done. I'm not intrigued enough to search out the first book in the series, but other readers might. Bottom line: it seems like a good series for teens who aren't quite old enough for MaryJanice Davidson, and who'd presumably be more tolerant of Colby's voice.”
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