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lottiesmomma's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Animal death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
mutantfoodie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
SPOILERS AHEAD AND SYNOPSIS
Anita is an animator and works for Bert. Her friend, Catherine, is having a bachelorette party put on by her friend, Monica. Monica takes them to the vampire strip club, Guilty Pleasures. There we meet Jean Claude, 3rd most powerful vampire, Phillip, a human stripper addicted to vampires but trying to quit, and Robert, a bouncer that is supposed to protect everyone.
Anita gets told by the Master of the City, Nikolaos, that she must find who is murdering vampires. It's Nikolaos own animator, Zachary. He has been killed and is using vampire blood to animate himself. In the end Anita, with the help of bounty hunter Edward, kills Nikolaos, Theresa, Zachary, Valentine (who fought Anita before and almost killed her), Aubrey (who killed Phillip), and Winter. She made sure Phillip was laid to rest. She now has two marks from Jean Claude and he can visit her dreams. He is now the master of the city.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death and Fatphobia
Minor: Homophobia
leviathanknight's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Religious bigotry and Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal death, Torture, and Stalking
rmperezpadilla's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Vomit
zoeelora's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
tomas_lw's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Murder
Minor: Animal death and Alcohol
kerttuli's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, and Fatphobia
Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Fire/Fire injury
noellelovesbooks's review
3.0
Mention of: child abuse, pedophilia, death, death of a parent, and death of a child.
I first started reading the Anita Blake series the summer I turned 14 *whispers* in 2001. Not realizing it was part of a series I picked up Narcissus in Chains, which is book 10, and read it. Now if you’ve read the series…you know that that was a lot for my 14-year-old brain to take it but I was instantly intrigued and needed to know more…so realizing it was a series I went back and devoured the first 9 books.
I’ve read, and re-read, most of the books in this series a few times. I made it to the book Serpentine before I kind of forgot about the series so I decided it was time for a re-read.
Having not read this book in years it was interesting diving back in, to a world I know so well, and looking at it as an adult and through a different lens than I had years ago. With that said…in some ways I found this book to be better than I remember and in others, I was left feeling somewhat disappointed.
The story itself was just as great as I remember, our introduction to Anita and quite a few key players [though you don’t realize that until the series progresses] is really interesting. We get to learn some of the lore, and different categories of city residents through Anita…that being said we’re forced to look through the eyes of someone young and deeply prejudiced.
Having not fully read this book in years I forgot how narrow-minded and prejudiced Anita is in the beginning. From fat shaming [literally describing another woman’s thighs as two beached whales…like WTF] to sex shaming, and even the feeling that, though never stated out loud, it’s like Anita subconsciously feels better than pretty much everyone she knows. Maybe other people don’t get that feeling…but for me the way she describes others I just felt like there were a lot of comparisons where Anita always lands on top.
Granted having read a majority of the series I know that her thoughts and ideas change as she grows in age, maturity, and experience. I just worry for people who’ve never read the series and try to jump in at the beginning…that they might get put off by Anita’s close-minded 24-year-old self. So if you’re new to the series just know that she does evolve and mature. I actually plan to re-read the entire series so I can see when her perceptions start to shift and evolve.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Child death, Pedophilia, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
yogomagpie's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Every character felt flat and boring, and I think it may be because there are so many of them and not enough time/pages to really develop them beyond the most basic personalities. I didn’t care about any of them.
The whole Nikolaos thing was infuriating. She hired (well, forced) a vampire slayer to find out who is slaying vampires. Why? Did I miss something? And then she meddles and interferes with Anita’s efforts to solve the case. After a long slog through this book, and Anita going on and on about the terror she felt towards Nikolaos, the final fight scene was pathetic. Two humans against a 1000 y.o. mega-powerful vampire, over as quickly as it started. Okay.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol
pos1t1vel1fe's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent