Warning: This is a book discussion, there will be some spoilers so if you haven't read the book yet, but intend to I'd advice staying clear of the conversation below.
Kat: Hi!
Kiwie: Hello!
Kat: What did you think about the book
then? I really enjoyed it and I think this has been one of the better
books we have read for the Cat's Tale
Kiwie: I absolutely adored it. This was
a proper vampire novel!
Kat: Yeah, I agree! The vampires were very good and I loved Tana, the main character. I would like to meet
her in real life.
Kiwie: Tana was pretty awesome, she
made a lot of irrational decisions, but they were all based on what
she thought was the best for her and the people she cared about. She
had a heart, a conscience but also a practical side.
Kat: Yes. Her decisions were sometimes
irrational, but most of us make bad choices sometimes, so I felt it was right for her character. She was well developed and seemed to
be a whole person, not two-dimensional.
Kiwie : Yes, her stupid choices made
sense a lot of the time, and it is mentioned several times that she
might have a bit of a death wish. The other characters were good too,
because they were a mix of good and bad, and most of them were
distinct from each other.
Kat: There were some really annoying
characters as well. Tana's boyfriend and the twins they meet outside
of the cold town for example. Midnight and Winter (the twins) was kind
of stereotypical, but it worked for the book.
Kiwie: Yeah, but people are annoying,
so it's good, and there are so many Midnights on the Internet, and
I'm sure most of the people who went into these coldtowns ended up
like Winter; dead and not in the right way! The vampires were pretty
good though, we did not get a lot lore, but we did get some (what
with Gavriel and Lucien's back stories) and that was nice. They were
complicated beings, not all bad, but certainly not very good either.
Lucien was a bit of a vampire stereotype, he's pretty
much like I picture vampires in my head a lot of the time.
Kat: True. The part about Lucien
especially, I also picture him like the stereotypical vampire I have
in my head. I read a lot of series and wish more of the books I
picked up were standalone novels, but with this particular book, I really
wouldn't mind a deeper dive into the world and get to know it and its
characters better.
Kiwie: Yeah, this was not a novel that
dug deep into anyone, except Tana and her family, even though it did
provide enough information about the other characters to understand a
lot of their behaviour as well (though not all of them). The
vampire's were good though, I really liked the whole "reality
show" aspect and the sex&blood connection that was made. Not
original, but was done in a way that quite matched the sticker on the
book saying "dark, decadent and seductive." It had those
aspects, as well as a more balanced "realism."
Kiwie: The vampires were "keeping
up appearances" and Gavriel came in with his crazy (that turned
out to be not so crazy) and shook it up.
Kat: Some crazy to stir things up a bit
is never wrong if you ask me. I also liked the sudden start of the
book, with Tana waking up in the bathtub and finding all of her
friends at the party has been murdered, except her ex-boyfriend and
Gavriel. I like that she wants to take her car and run away but that
she still saves them.
Kiwie: Yeah, really liked the start
too, shows Tana's strength and flaws, and she makes the kind of
decisions she'll keep making throughout.
Kat: Also, the book wasn't really heavy
with romance, which is a plus for me at least, and the love interests that do exists in the book are realistic and not just insta-love.
Kiwie: Yeah, I mean Tana kind of falls
for Gavriel, against her better judgement, in an "instant"
fashion, but I mean, I would too...
Kat: Me too, I think!
Kat: I do love Holly Black and the way
she writes. Her worlds are quite similar to our own, but darker,
grittier and deadlier. I like that.
Kiwie: Ditto! I also really loved the
ending on this one, closed and open at the same time. Great for those
of us who would have made a totally different choice...
Kat: Yes, I think there is quite a few
vampire fans out there that would have made a different choice than
Tana. It was an open ending that wasn't so open that it was annoying.
Open endings can sometimes be a bother, and it feels like the author
makes you do the job, but in this book it worked perfectly. I think
this book will end up high on my list of best books I have read in
2013
Kiwie: Yeah, Tana made a choice, we
just didn't get to stick around to see if it was actually possible. I
was really into this book, it was a really entertaining, fun story
with my favourite supernatural creatures being the way that I like
them best.
Kat: Indeed. Also, the cover of the
book is so pretty and simple. It looks really good on my shelf and I
like having it in a physical copy.
Kiwie: Yeah, beautiful cover!
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