Reviews

Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton

emslohner's review against another edition

1.0

I read this book to fulfill Popsugar prompt #13 "a book published in the year you were born" (1993). My expectations were very low, however, the story was light on the romance and I actually learned quite a bit about vampires. I can't say that I'd recommend it, but it was a festive read for the Halloween season and helped me check off a prompt.

tbaile34's review against another edition

4.0

1st of the Laurell K. Hamilton Anita Blake vampire hunter series. Love it!!

foundfiber's review against another edition

adventurous funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

kyra_alden's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

chaoticallyv's review against another edition

5.0

great book worth rereading

pibbit's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

brynz's review against another edition

1.0

I don't understand what people love about this book. I almost put it down out of frustration with the characters or the writing several times, but it was a quick read and I listened to the audio version on my way to work, which is probably the only reason I stuck through till the end. There wasn't much story to actually keep me interested. I didn't understand the motivation of any of the characters - Anita's a vampire hunter because... well, because she just is. That's all the explanation you get. It's just what she does, no reason, no explanation, nothing. Unless you count the fact that she hates vampires. But again, you don't really get any back story to explain WHY she hates vampires so much, except maybe her past run-ins with vampires who try to kill her - after she tries to kill them. I couldn't stand the way she talked either, which didn't help things... who actually says "bully for me!" anymore?? Annoying.

The other characters didn't do much for me either. The master vampire, Nikolaos (what kind of name for a female vampire is that, anyway??), wanted Anita's help badly enough that she was willing to torture her and put her friends' lives in danger to keep Anita on her leash, but every time Anita turned around Nikolaos was in the way, fucking up her efforts to actually solve the crimes she was "hired" to solve! And for seemingly no reason other than because Nikolaos just like fucking with her. Again, annoying. And as for the way Anita ultimately ended up killing Nikolaos, a super strong, super old, super badass vampire, was just laughable and not believable.

I've heard great things about the Anita Blake series, so I was really looking forward to reading this, but I was ultimately disappointed.

ladystrangemc's review against another edition

DNF at 40%, didn’t reel me in. 

thelostb00kmark's review against another edition

2.0

I like the idea. The writing wasn’t terrible. And I didn’t hate the main character.
However, the dialogue is kind of cheesy, And there are so many different creatures thrown into this series that it’s overwhelmingly unnecessary. It’s a good premise, but not very well executed.

gamz's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75