I haven’t been reading a lot these days, most probably because I’m impatient and I’d rather be able to read a book with as few interruptions as possible. So normal paperbacks are out, and slim volumes are in. Which is why I love Mary Janice Davidson’s ‘Undead’ series, they’re slimmer than the normal romance paperbacks, with colourful and fun covers.
That’s not the only reason why I love her books though. Davidson’s writing style is youthful, contemporary, fun and quirky. Her heroines are beautiful, brave, but scatterbrained, and they swear! (Gasp!) Which is not your typical romance maiden all swoony and frail, expecting the man on a white charger (or sometimes in a white rolls) to come and save her.
Did I mention that she writes paranormal romances? I don’t know, but I really have a soft spot for books with modern day supernatural stories do to with werewolves, witches, vampires.. so Davidson’s ‘Undead’ series is perfect, as it’s about the Queen of Vampires who lives in Minnesota, loves shoes (yeah, me too!), and has issues with her day to day life, which mostly has to do with the fact that she’s a vampire. Awesome. If you’re expecting complicated plotlines and sweep off your feet stuff.. I suggest you go find something else, if anything, ‘Undead’ are fluffy, cute and funny reads.. definitely for the day off or when you need a bit of a cheering up, with some dark side thrown in.
‘Undead and Unpopular’ is the 5th book in Davidson’s vampire series, and like Queen Betsy herself, is still going strong. Betsy’s birthday is coming up, and in between juggling unexpected vampire visits, with a baby stepbrother, a sick roommate, trying to solve the problems in her kingdom, and a resolve not to feed on blood anymore, she certainly has her hands full with her consort Eric Sinclair, who seems to be sulking more than consorting.
The plot was a little thin in this one, and perhaps a little scatterbrained too, like Betsy herself, but probably just as endearing. Davidson could have fleshed out the zombie (haha!) in this one, as it was probably the most ‘what the?’ part of the book, and did leave me wondering as to the whys and hows.. The introduction of the mysterious European Vamps was interesting, but I would have loved to see a little more shades of darkness to them. A couple of characters just disappeared midway which kind of annoyed me, because I wanted to read more about them..
I was sorry to see my favourite character du jour murdered, I could imagine him being a love rival for Betsy’s affections in future books, but he met his unfortunate end in this one. I was damn annoyed that the confession of the murderer just came all too easily.. I wanted this to be a ‘Scooby mystery’ like the ones before it.
Final Judgement : All in all, a fun read. Perfect for bedtime, as you didn’t have complicated plotlines or bits of speech clogging your brain up when you want to drift off. Three out of six claws, a one time fun fluff read, but I’ll be wary of the next book before I buy it.
Since I've found Serenity.. 