Book Review: The Coveted by Laura Thalassa

Goodreads Summary:  “In places that know more about heaven and hell than we do, you have a reputation, Gabrielle. To them you are known as the devil’s consort.”
When a body shows up near Peel Academy, all signs indicate the killer is a vampire. Ravaged throat, body drained of blood. At least that’s all it appears to be when the Politia, the supernatural police force, assigns Gabrielle to the case. Now it’s Gabrielle’s job to figure out who did it.

But after a second body turns up with the same lethal wounds, it’s clear that a serial killer is stalking the island. The murders have compromised the truce between the Politia and vampires, and as long as the killer roams free, it is in danger of dissolving. If that happens, no vampire is safe from persecution, not even Gabrielle.

Now Gabrielle must team up with Andre, her soulmate and the one person she’s tried to stay away from, to investigate the murders before the truce dissolves. And keeping her distance is proving to be impossible.

But Gabrielle has a bigger problem. The world of the dead know about her, and their whispers hint that something is coming for her. And it’s coming soon.
Goodreads Rating: 4.03 Stars with over 1500 ratings
Genre Listing: Fantasy, Paranormal, Vampires, Romance, Young Adult, Demons, Witches, Shapeshifters
Get the Book: Amazon, Book Depository
Previous Reviews on the series: The Unearthly

Review:

Edited 12/1/2016

I'm going to be addicted to this series. I can already feel it happening. The first book in the series I kind of hated myself for liking it so much. It was cheesy, and the main love interest was totally controlling. The Coveted still had a lot of those aspects, but I feel like there was a lot more character depth in it. There is still a lot of "Omg, Andre's so sexy" taking up space, but I didn't feel like it was as frequent as it was in The Unearthly.  I felt like Andre was less of a controlling jackass in this book. He was still controlling, but it wasn't as frequent, and he showed  a lot of concern for Gabrielle.

Oliver was way less annoying this book than he was in Unearthly, which was nice. I was glad to see that Leeanne ends up playing a huge part in this book. It just doesn't seem like it until the end of it. There's quite a bit of mystery in this book, which I enjoyed. Some of it was easy to predict, some of it wasn't. It kept me interested, and I didn't want to put it down. There's also some new supernatural beings that are introduced in this one. I felt that Gabrielle stood up for herself in this one. I think she could end up being a really strong character throughout the series. I got the feeling that Gabrielle was growing and coming to terms with her powers.  I enjoyed that in a lot of ways she saved herself and her friends, but her friends also saved her. It wasn't one way or the other.

I will say, this series is getting dark. A lot of the situations in this one were creepy, which surprised me, given that I felt the first book was somewhat cheesy. I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of the series has in store. I'm hoping it goes the route that she stays with the Politia. I think that Gabrielle makes a good cop, and the supernatural murder mystery aspect is fascinating.

Book Review of Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Goodreads Summary: Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She's quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn't get out much. Not because she's not pretty. She is. It's just that, well, Sookie has this sort of "disability." She can read minds. And that doesn't make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill. He's tall, dark, handsome--and Sookie can't hear a word he's thinking. He's exactly the type of guy she's been waiting for all her life....
But Bill has a disability of his own: He's a vampire with a bad reputation. He hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, all suspected of--big surprise--murder. And when one of Sookie's coworkers is killed, she fears she's next....

Goodreads Rating: 3.95 stars with over 409,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Adult Fiction, Vampires, Paranormal, Supernatural, Shapeshifters, Mystery, Romance, Horror

Get the Book:  Amazon, Book Depository
Book challenge: Modern Mrs Darcy's Book challenge, A Book you've already read at least once. 1/12

Review:

Edited 12/1/2016

I've wanted to reread the Southern Vampire Series/ Sookie Stackhouse again for a while now. No, I will not call it Trueblood. You can't make me. I have a ton of books that I've yet to read, but this was all that was on my mind.

It amazes me how much I've forgotten about Dead Until Dark. I had it in my mind that it was a slower paced read when I read it the firs time. There was so much that happened this first book, that I had completely forgotten or thought it happened later in the series. I don't even know where to start without giving spoilers.

I don't remember Sookie being as feisty as she is in the book. I don't know why, but I had it in my head that she was somewhat demure. But I'm obviously wrong as she does tend to go head first into the action. I also forgot how she could be vain, and it drove me nuts this time around.

Her relationship with Bill bothers me. It bothered me the first time reading as well. It seems unnatural to me, and not because he's a vampire. Knowing what I know about the other books in the series, I'm going to chock it up to that mostly. I was always rooting for Sam. I still prefer him to Bill.

I forgot about how much happened in the first book. Gran, Jason's legal trouble, The stuff with the uncle. There's a lot in this first book, which is amazing since it's under 300 pages. Normally this is where I'd say something along the lines of seeing what happens in the next book, but I know what happens. Or at least, I think I do? I'll probably go through and reread the whole series now that I've got my bearings straight on the first book again.

For someone who hasn't read it, I recommend it. It's by no means a serious book for the ages, so if that's what you're looking for It's probably not for you. Charlaine Harris is a great mystery writer and does an excellent job of keeping the mystery alive in this book. It's entertaining and an easy read. There is a lot of adventure and interesting characters. It will keep you guessing.

 If you have read this series and haven't checked out Charlaine's other books, I highly recommend checking out her other mystery series following Aurora Teagarden and the other following Lilly Bard. They are not supernatural books, but they are great mystery novels.