Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
Series: Anita Blake #1
Publisher: Jove
Release Date: September 24th 2002
My Rating: 4 cups
Blurb (from Goodreads):
Anita Blake may be small and young, but vampires call her the Executioner. Anita is a necromancer and vampire hunter in a time when vampires are protected by law—as long as they don't get too nasty. Now someone's killing innocent vampires and Anita agrees—with a bit of vampiric arm-twisting—to help figure out who and why.
Trust is a luxury Anita can't afford when her allies aren't human. The city's most powerful vampire, Nikolaos, is 1,000 years old and looks like a 10-year-old girl. The second most powerful vampire, Jean-Claude, is interested in more than just Anita's professional talents, but the feisty necromancer isn't playing along—yet. This popular series has a wild energy and humor, and some very appealing characters—both dead and alive.
The first time I read Guilty Pleasures was about 5 years ago. I remember I was still a newbie to urban fantasy and paranormal and I wasn't quite sure what I should be expecting. A lot of the elements in this book were new to me at the time I first read it.
I liked Guilty Pleasures the first time I read it and I liked it more now. Anita Blake is a strong character and it was easy to like her. She's calculated, or so I saw her. I thought she was pretty judgmental towards anything concerning vampires, from the creatures themselves to the humans that liked, loved and/or served them. I'd like to know what makes her hate them so. I get the fact that they are evil creatures and that she's a vampire slayer and she's been through some violent moments because of vampires, but I'd like to know what the starting point was.
There was a thing that bugged me a little about her. The book starts with a scared Anita. I know that being a warrior or a vampire slayer or an assassin doesn't mean you're not allowed to be afraid. I also know that not being scared of them would've been stupid. But for some reason I was hoping she'd be more like Edward, the other vampire slayer. He's colder, he's able to detach himself more and he can control his emotions and his reactions a lot better than Anita. I would've wanted Anita to be more like that. She has the reputation of a fearless vampire slayer, why not act like one?
If you're waiting for some steamy sex scenes, let me tell you there are none. That was one of the things that left me a little disappointed the first time I read the book. Even now, I still wished to see Jean-Claude naked, but I must have a little more patience for that *sigh*
Anyway, the book was a very good read. Fast paced, with some mystery, drama, suspense and action. The only thing I'm hoping for is that Anita and Jean-Claude do get to the naked part soon in the upcoming books :)
