Putting the Y in YA. ( )

The first time I read Glass Houses was as an e-book a friend had sent me along with Book 2, Dead Girls' Dance. I had only read Rachel Caine once previously, one of her Weather Warden books, but hadn't been fully engaged by that book to warrent looking for others she had written. My friend was convinced however that I would love this series (it was just after I had lent her Twilight and began my young adult paranormal craze...that's still going on).

Love is perhaps too strong a word for how I feel about the Morganville Vampires series, but I definitely enjoy the books immensely. They're just the shade of different from other YA vampire series that make them pure entertaining fun.

Let's face it Claire has the rough end of the stick in just about every single way possible. She's (probably) the youngest student at TPU, hundreds of miles from anybody who knows her, too smart for the general student body's tastes and somehow managed to land in the one town that should have had neon signs on it warning folks away. Worse her social awkwardness makes her easy prey for vicious animals like Monica, thereby sealing her fate in Morganville. For the first fifty pages or so I was ready to take up arms against Monica on Claire's behalf--she was just...EVIL. I mean truly. Not a single redeeming feature at all. I wouldn't put it past her to kick little old ladies in the middle of the street if it struck her fancy or punt babies for a laugh.

Michael, Shane and Eve are the sort of friends every outsider desperately wants. They're almost too perfect in that regard. Shane and Michael are hotties--the fact that they are outsider hotties doesn't diminish a single speck of their hotness. Well maybe Michael's condition might, but he's a musician so it kind of makes up for it. Almost at least. Eve--despite her goth look--is a bubbly, loyal best friend ever sort of girl. Always got your back, always knows what to say to make things seem better. The three of them would more then likely be the popular crowds kings and queen in any other town in America.

I admit to leaning towards Michael/Claire in the beginning. Shane had to grow on me and with all that Michael/Claire share together I thought it was a shoo-in. Except that well Claire is still technically 16 years old and while Michael/Eve/Shane are only 18 years old, and in most states (that I know of) its completely legal for an 18 year old to date a 16 year old, Morganville is a special special place with lots of nasty rules and expectations and laws.

Also ending a book on a cliffhanger, an unavoidable cliffhanger no less, great way to hook readers. As long as the next book is forthcoming in a timely manner (which thankfully the books seem to come out at a regular clip). ( )

Didn't like it.
Read.eight chapters and didn't catch the hook.
You know that feeling, the one that drags you into the book and makes you want to finish it?
Eight chapters and no hook..
Sigh. My first DNF of 2023.... OCD be damned.

I picked this one up after a short story set in this universe was featured in another anthology I read this year and wanting to learn more about Morganville. Unfortunately, I was so irritated by this one that I won't be reading any more, so my questions will just have to remain unanswered. My main issue with this book was that the main character was a whiny, spoiled child. I don't mind unlikable protagonists necessarily but she was just.so.offputting (example: she describes herself as being a "freak of nature" for the totally weird trait of having ready a lot of classic novels). Combine this with cartoonish villains (seriously, the main antagonist appears to have issues with Claire because she corrected her about WWII being the Japanese not Chinese. Except the character as written wouldn't appear to have cared about this?). And then after all of that, the author ends the book on a cliffhanger, presumably to get me to read the next book. Except, jokes on her, I don't actually care what happens to any of these people. ( )

This series (so far) is a perfect example of how some YA books are OBVIOUSLY YA books. That's not always a bad thing, but there were many times while reading this one and the next that I had to suppress an eyeroll at how unrealistic things could be. Even in a book about vampires! I had a hard time imagining this genius 16yo, whose parents wouldn't let her go to a big school b/c they're over protective, also seem to play little part in her life at the small school. ( )