jessysbookends

The first thing I like about this young adult (more new adult to me) book is that it keeps continuity. The Dead Girls' Dance begins where Glass Houses ends, in the same circumstances for the characters. The second thing is that it begins in frail calm and ends in frail calm as well. At the beginning they are at the house, their safe haven, without certainty about their safety. At the end, they are at the house again but this time they are certain things won't get easier.

The Dead Girls' Dance has more action and puts the characters in more danger than the first book. The story doesn't provide a moments rest for them. They are fighting and trying to work solutions for what's threatening them on this chapter of the Morganville series. Claire has to survive a town in Texas swarmed with vamps, while trying to keep good grades at college and keeping her parents at bay for their own good.

The characters are shown in a different light. Shane is passive for the majority of the book. He is the one in trouble this time and Clare, Eve and Michael are looking for a way to help him. Clare shows more security on herself, taking risks and making decisions by herself. I like Clare more in this book. Michael was more relevant to me in Glass Houses, now it seems like he diluted into the background. Only at the end he is relevant. Eve shows the same strong personality from the first book, but I have to confess, sometimes her goth self drives me into a boredom abyss.

What wasn't I happy about in this book? Emily, this ancient vampire, seems like an ornament. Wasn't she suppose to protect them to some extent? In Morganville, if you have a vampire protector nobody can mess with you. So, that doesn't seem to apply for Claire and associates. Those poor kids had the worst moment and she was poor help. At least they could help themselves... if what they chose to do can be called helping oneself. Probably, calling their actions improvisation is more accurate. Nevertheless, Clare and her friends decision making skills is what makes Morganville series a rollercoaster surviving journey that can keep you in a no stop reading frenzy.

Overall, I can't wait to read the next one. With great setting, interesting set of circumstances and cleverly invented characters to play on her world, Rachel Caine has done a great job in this series. Let's see what awaits on Midnight Alley.