The Dead Girls' Dance (The Morganville Vampires #2)

This installment starts right where Glass Houses ended, which is great because now we have no time lapse to try and play catch up with.

Shane lost his younger sister a few years ago and his mother was killed by vampires also. Shane and Frank have been planning for revenge ever since. Shane returned back to Morganville with the sole purpose of getting inside information for his father, but living with Michael, Eve and now Claire caused him to reconsider, but the mistake he made was already set into motion.

The four teenagers realize the problems Frank's causing will jeopardize their newly acquired protection. If they are proven to be involved in the killing of vampires, their protection will vanish and will be free range from any vampire. Shane is being held for the murder of a vampire and if Claire, Eve, and Michael can't prove his innocence in time, Shane will be burned alive.

There was also a nice plot twist with Michael getting turned into vampire that actually surprised me. It's going to be nice to see him join the action and leave the Glass House.

I really do like where this is going. Claire is going to become a huge part in this town, too bad she still thinks she will get to leave one day.

In the second book of the Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Caine, Shane's father is determined to kill as many vampires as possible. However, being under Amelie the vampire's Protection, this isn't exactly a good idea, because the inhabitants of the Glass House worry that they will be blamed for the actions of his anti-vampire biker gang.

Nothing is as it seems, and nobody can really be trusted.

This book was intense.

Rachel Caine really knows how to draw her readers in from the very beginning. The action started in the first chapter and continued non-stop throughout the whole book, with a good balance in terms of both physical action and mental plotting.

The Dead Girls' Dance was also very emotional. Because the author succeeded in making me care about the characters in book one, the misfortunes that fell upon them in book two were heart wrenching and shocking.

I also like how Rachel Caine blurs the lines between good and evil. Very few characters are one hundred percent good or one hundred percent evil. I find myself switching back and forth over whether I want them to lose and surrender, or to succeed in their endeavors.

I don't have any negative comments or criticism regarding this novel. Very entertaining and thought-provoking, I recommend this book/series to YA readers looking for a great vampire book with complex ideas and elements of mystery.

You can also find this review at http://fortheloveofbooksreviews.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-dead-girls-dance-by-rachel-caine.html

The Dead Girls’ Dance picks up exactly where Glass Houses ended, which is great since that was some cliffhanger! We immediately learn more about the hilariously, sweet, Shane, who isn’t so hilarious or sweet with his crazy, vampire-hunting, biker, father around. In fact, his father causes a whole lot of trouble in his arrival and it’s up to Claire to fix it.

“You know, I thought you were a mousy little thing when I first saw you, Claire, but you’re not, are you?” “Even a mouse bites.”

I think those above quotes perfectly describe Claire in this book. She’s in even more trouble than she was in the previous book, and so are her roommates. She’s scared, but she’s determined to not let the vampires control her life. She still goes to her classes despite the threats she’s sure to encounter the moment she steps out the front door. When her roommates aren’t able to go out and face the night to try to save themselves, Claire takes it upon herself. Thankfully, she uses her brains and has a cop escort her, but sometimes curiosity gets the best of her and she makes some incredibly rash and stupid decisions.

We get to see a lot more of the vampire world that has taken over Morganville, and it’s even more corrupt than at first site. It also becomes less clear who the bad guys are: humans or the vampires? There appears to be monsters on both sides and Claire must face them both. She must also decide who to trust and who can really protect her and her friends.

This was a fast paced addition to the series, and thankfully it didn’t end on too big of a cliffhanger. I’m still eager to know what comes next for Claire, Shane, Eve, and Michael though!

What amazes me the most about this series is that I love it even though the main characters aren't vampires, and in fact fight them. I'm usually team vampire when it comes to reading books, but the way this is written you can't help but fall in love with them all. The characters interact flawlessly and the story flows seemlessly.

The main characters are NOT vampires...and that's why I love it.

The Dead Girls' Dance picks up right where Glass Houses left off. And it did not disappoint. I'm mad at myself for not reading this series sooner.

The plot wasn't necessarily fantastic, but the characters will always make up for any lag within the book. Shane, Clare, Eve, and Michael feel so human, like I could hang out with them on Tuesday and Thursday, like they've been my friends my whole life. They're real. But yet they aren't. And I love them. Shane and Clare are my favorite YA couple, by far. Their relationship is not insta-love. It's organic and real, fostered by an ongoing friendship and growing chemistry.

The second book is a nice addition. It's no sophomore slump, and Rachel Caine always throws me off. When I think the story is going one way, it goes the other. The Morganville Vampires is an original take on the overdone vampire saga, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good paranormal tale and dynamic characters.

Reader reviewed by Jamie

This is the sequel to Glass houses. This is  an addictive  amazing sequel filled with more gossip , intense action and secrets.   So  claire life is something Like being a genius in a school that favors beauty over brains; getting attacked by popular  girls in the university , and finding out that her college town is overrun with the living dead .On the bright side she has a boyfriend which is Shane. There  are bigger problems than popular girls one of them is Shane's father  who's a dangerous vampire hunterand the fraternity aka frat boys are throwing a party known as the dead girl's dance  also vampires have a secret  scheme and the plot thickens. Friendship and trust is tested   in this book, readerswouldn't want to miss out on the drama  and adventure.

Reader reviewed by Alexa

The
whole story was just as entertaining and heart racing as the first one.
I don't know if it was better, but it was definitely not worse, though
either way it would still be excellent. There were so many surprising
events that happened in the story and it was really unpredictable, just
how a great book should be. This book had a lot of action-the vampire
vs. human kind- with just the right balance of dramatic moments, which
made this book the perfect blend of writing.

Reader reviewed by Lexie

The second book literally picks up right where the first book ended. So I'll say it now--spoilers for the first book.

The
difficulties that Claire and co face in this book are definitely more
personal then the first book. Not just that its Shane's dad making
trouble, but also Eve's younger brother comes back (causing her
emotional problems aplenty), Shane's dad in general (causing emotional
AND physical problems), Michael has to make a choice he knows will
alienate his friends and Claire has to save her arch-enemy's life
(after that same arch-enemy AGAIN tries to kill her). I won't even
mention the Dance the title refers too because that's just better left
read then said.

Whereas the first one took time to set the scene
and lay out the players, the second book tosses you in head first. You
can't read this as a standalone or out of order. Events from the first
book are glossed over because its generally acknowledged by the
characters that they were there so why repeat it? Relationship
connections are acknowledged, but the pre-development isn't mentioned.
Claire is with Shane, Michael is with Eve, Monica killed Shane's sister
out of spite and wants Claire dead, Brandon screwed up Eve's life (in
so many ways) and Michael is half-ghost because Oliver tried to turn
him.

Because of a few factors time is a little bit wonky to
think about in terms of the book. It obviously passes, but because so
much happens in five or six days that pass in the book I finished
feeling like I had just watched a season of 24 (you know where in the
span of 24 hours the white house is bombed, a nuclear explosion happens
in America, terrorists are captured, new terrorists appear, a president
is assassinated, his vice-president is put into a coma and CTU is taken
over at least once?). If I think about it I think less then three
months have passed total for the series.

If you take out the life or death factor I could only hope so much happens to me in a three month span as it does for Claire.

I'm
still something of a Claire/Michael person honestly. She tells him
things she doesn't tell Eve or Shane (or she tells him first), he
trusts her in a way that he doesn't trust Eve or Shane and the two of
them just seem to click. I feel bad though because Eve deserves
happiness and obviously Michael gives her that. Shane/Claire I'm sold
on only in that he's pretty much the first guy that she's been
romantically interested or involved with so emotions run high. I don't
doubt that she cares about him and wants to be with him, I just doubt
that its a long term thing.

((reprinted here with the author's permission))