The Dead Girls' Dance by Rachel Caine
Series: The Morganville Vampires
Published by Penguin
Published on: April 3, 2007
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 256
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
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Claire has her share of challenges. Like being a genius in a school that favors beauty over brains; homicidal girls in her dorm, and finding out that her college town is overrun with the living dead. On the up side, she has a new boyfriend with a vampire-hunting dad. But when a local fraternity throws the Dead Girls' Dance, hell is really going to break loose.
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Second in the Morganville Vampire books, The Dead Girls Dance continues the story of a brilliant sixteen year old girl that has found herself smack in the middle of a hotbed of vampires in her small college town.
Claire may be a nerd, but she’s feisty as they come. She gets involved in all the vampire drama, and does it willingly at times. Her reasoning usually had to do with protecting her friends/roommates. And with this book, you realize her loyalty knows no bounds, even to the detriment of her own self preservation.
After the horrible cliffhanger from the last book, I really wondered how the beginning of this book was going to be handled. I don’t want to give away the ending from last time, so I will just say that the author did just what I thought she would, and I was extremely happy with that. And while we are on the subject of cliffhangers, the ending to this one while a bit shocking, didn’t upset me near as bad as the first book did. It did however make me buy the third, and I am reading it now. These books are incredibly addicting!
Claire is just the best character. She’s smart to her core, but in the end she is really young. The events in the first two books have caused her to grow up more than a little and fast. She’s got her first real boyfriend now, Shane, and she actually lives in the same old house with him and Michael, the owner, and Eve, the pretty goth girl, with a thing for Michael. Michael, Shane,and Eve all grew up together in Morganville, so they have always been aware of the vampires that run the town. That doesn’t make them happy about it though. The villains from the last book are still causing havoc, and now Shane’s vampire killer father has come to town. Havoc is the word here for his dad-or crazy-take your pick. His presence causes all kinds of grief for not only Shane, but all of the rest of the main characters as well. Monica is the head of the mean girls in town. Her father is the mayor, and all kinds of horrible, so she comes by it honestly. It doesn’t help that she is psychotic, and has it in for Claire.
So we have a wonderful central character, Claire, surrounded by her three close friends. Their house off campus is surrounded at times with vampires, or police that are owned by vampires. And now with Shane’s father around, things are even worse than in the previous installment. They can’t seem to get a break-especially Claire. I loved seeing her find her strength and it’s all about her friends and keeping them safe. She stands up for what she knows is right to the point of possible death-or worse. The book was extremely well written, and the pace is fast when it needed to be-action, life or death moments-and a bit slower when it needs to be-the blooming romance of Shane and Claire, or the family dinners of the four-so I thought it was just perfect.
The Dead Girl’s Dance refers to a fraternity party held every year on campus. This is Claire first time going to a frat party, and can I just say that after reading this, if you are a college student and get invited to one, well I would really think long and hard before going! It’s not exactly fun in this version!
Highly recommended to urban fantasy fans, paranormal readers, and anyone that just likes a good and exciting YA story. Very entertaining to say the least!
FYI-It’s advertised for ages twelve and up, and I personally would change that to ages 15+.
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The Morganville Vampires
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I’m Lorna and I live in Maryland. Since retiring, I spend my time mostly reading and reviewing books. My favorite reads are Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, and Young Adult. I read a lot of indie books in addition to traditionally published books. Favorite paranormal creature? Vampires, but I am really liking werewolves more everyday.
I enjoyed the first few books in this series. There are some fun, snarky characters. Great review!
E.J. Stevens recently posted…Q+A with Julie Anne Lindsey (Goddess)
I love the characters-I think they are my favorite part. And thanks!
Lorna recently posted…Review: The Dead Girls’ Dance by Rachel Caine (@Mollykatie112, @rachelcaine, @penguinusa)
12 up, yeah maybe not for 12 year olds.
But then I found Kenyon in the YA side of the bookstore, and I am NOT talking about Nick’s book
blodeuedd recently posted…#FitReaders: Weekly Check-In Sept 11 2015 And DNFs
Yes it’s definitely not for 12 year olds-15 to even 16 would be closer 🙂
Lorna recently posted…Review: The Dead Girls’ Dance by Rachel Caine (@Mollykatie112, @rachelcaine, @penguinusa)
Yet another great series I won’t be reading anytime soon. *bangs head on desk*
I follow a blog that binge read the series, from her reviews the series sounds solid from book 1 to the last. I’m sure you’ll have a blast reading more about Claire & Co.
It really is a fun series-I am half way through book 7 and haven’t been bored once! I have had to put the book down for awhile to do others I had to read, but I know I will be pulled right back into the story-I hope anyway!
Lorna recently posted…Review: The Dead Girls’ Dance by Rachel Caine (@Mollykatie112, @rachelcaine, @penguinusa)
I’m glad you’re continuing to read this series. There’s just so many books to catch up to, so I may read them when I’m…retried, perhaps. Lol.
Joy // Joyousreads recently posted…Photo Vomit [23]: Lost and Found
I am retired so maybe that’s why I have the time! I never wanted to read the whole series until I heard how good it was and had to try one and I was immediately hooked 🙂
Lorna recently posted…Review: The Dead Girls’ Dance by Rachel Caine (@Mollykatie112, @rachelcaine, @penguinusa)
So glad you are enjoying this series! I hope you like them all. You are making me want to pick it back up and finish it.
kindlemom1 recently posted…Review: Fated by Sarah Fine
I am in the middle of book 7 and I am still enjoying the whole thing. I’ve had to quit reading it this week to read others I needed to, but really look forward to getting back into it 🙂
Lorna recently posted…Review: The Dead Girls’ Dance by Rachel Caine (@Mollykatie112, @rachelcaine, @penguinusa)
I’m so glad you’re enjoying this series so much, Lorna. You’re actually making me want to re-read and catch up on it. 😉 I love that you’re binge-reading the series. It’s kinda nice to start a series when it’s all been released (I think 😉 so you don’t have to wait. That’s how I end up behind. *ha*
Bookworm Brandee recently posted…Blogger Chick Chat ~ Knave of Broken Hearts ~ Tara Lain
The fifteen books kind of put me off, but they are just so good. I am in the middle of book 7 but had to put it down to read books I had to review. How far did you get reading them?
Lorna recently posted…Spotlight and Early Review: Under a Mating Moon by Celia Breslin (@Mollykatie112, @CeliaBreslin, @DecadentPub)
I got through book 7. *ha* Perhaps I’ll binge to the end soon. 🙂
Bookworm Brandee recently posted…Blogger Chick Chat ~ Knave of Broken Hearts ~ Tara Lain
I own so many books in this series and haven’t read them. Sounds like quite the frat party!
kimbacaffeinate recently posted…Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh
Oh it was definitely not your typical frat party! This series is just so addicting to me 🙂
Lorna recently posted…Review: The Dead Girls’ Dance by Rachel Caine (@Mollykatie112, @rachelcaine, @penguinusa)
Glad you are loving this series! Claire sounds like a strong lead character and you have me curious about what is going on in town. Glad to see the ending wasn’t as bad in this book, but you’re keen for more!
Naomi @ Naomi’s Reading Palace
Naomi recently posted…Waiting On Wednesday # 158 – Madame X / An Inheritance of Ashes
Wow. Now I am confused-I could have sworn you were the blogger that wrote a review that made me start this series. I even thanked you in the review of Glass Houses. Anyway, I am loving these books and Claire is just the best 🙂
Lorna recently posted…Spotlight and Early Review: Under a Mating Moon by Celia Breslin (@Mollykatie112, @CeliaBreslin, @DecadentPub)
Brandi Breathes Books read them a little while ago I think. I read the Chicagoland ones… maybe that was it.
Naomi recently posted…Falling for Danger by Chanel Cleeton ~ Review
I have no idea because obviously my mind has completely left me! Ha!
Lorna recently posted…Spotlight and Early Review: Under a Mating Moon by Celia Breslin (@Mollykatie112, @CeliaBreslin, @DecadentPub)