The Dead Girls' Dance by Rachel Caine

 Title: The Dead Girls' Dance
Author: Rachel Caine
Publisher: Allison & Busby
ISBN: 978-0-7490-7986-4
Pages: 380
Series: The Morganville Vampires #2
Type: Young Adult Paranormal
Source: Purchased
Goodreads

Claire Danvers has overcome a lot of challenges - like being singled out by the on-campus bully Monica, finding out her college town is run by vampires and then upsetting some of the most powerful bloodsuckers in town. But when her boyfriend's vampire hunting father shows up things become even messier. Claire and her friends have protection from Amelie, the most powerful vampire in town, but when the stakes come out that protection could simply vanish.

I loved the first book in the Morganville Vampires series (Glass Houses) and picked this up straight after finishing that. There was a big cliffhanger at the end of the previous book and this installment picks up exactly where the last one left off. The previous book took a while to really get going whereas this plunges straight into the action and holds to a fast pace throughout.

A large part of the plot of this book revolves not around the vampires but around the humans of Morganville. The world building is deepened and more is revealed about how vampires and humans interact and what the rules of living in a place like Morganville are. It is very clever how the human perspective is shown alongside demonstrations of both human and vampire cruelty, showing that fangs aren't a prerequisite for being a bad person.

Claire really grew as a character during the first book and it was great to see her continue to develop her confidence here. She really stands up to the psychotic bully Monica and her lackies and continues to hold her own throughout without becoming cocky or arrogant. More is revealed about Claire's roommates Eve, Michael and Shane. We get to see some revealing interactions between Shane and his father, and some creepy skeletons come tumbling out of Eve's closet.

I was really pleased to see the extract from Eve's diary included at the end of the book again. I love Eve and reading about the events of the book from her perspective is brilliant. We also get to see some things that Claire wouldn't have experienced which really has me desperate for the next book.

All in all this was another great read and I can't wait for Midnight Alley.

Plot: 10/10
Characters: 9/10
Ending: 9/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Cover: 10/10

Overall: 48/50

The Sequels Challenge 2012

Mist over at Bookaholics Book Club has just come up with an awesome challenge that sounds perfect for me! It is based all around reading sequels which is ideal as I have a ton of series that I've started and then fallen behind on (some of which have now finished and have spin-off series of their own. Vampire Academy I'm looking at you!)

It isn't that I didn't enjoy the books that I've read, it's just I tend to get distracted by shiny new books and series and then before I know it I've got 4 or 5 books to catch up on in a series that I loved (like the Otherworld books by Kelley Armstrong). The other factor is series I start and then realise there are loads of books for me to read (*cough* Discworld *cough*).

The rules of the challenge are really simple: read at least 24 sequels next year! There will be a giveaway at the end of the year which for me is just an awesome bonus plus motivation to keep reading those sequels!

If you'd like to join, Mist's post can be found here.