~3.5/5
[Also available on my blog.]


I don’t seem to have too much to say whenever I read a volume of this series. It’s usually just pretty good, not amazing, not bad. I go through the volume rather quickly and then want to read the next one right away.

There was a lot of the same stuff in this book, much like all the others. I like Davidson’s writing, I like the characters, and I usually like the humor, but sometimes it’s a little too much. I wouldn’t mind some serious time, and sometimes the jokes seem to be trying too hard and fall flat. Sometimes, though, it doesn’t, and it’s nice when that happens.

In this book, some new vampires come to town to greet their queen, and some of them cause some trouble. We see Liam and Sophie again, who I very much like (who were in a previous book, as well as having their own story in an anthology). There’s some serious drama between the group, with a somewhat surprise conclusion that I liked. There was a scene where I thought Betsy might do something to take charge, to prove that she’s the queen, she’s in charge, and if they do something wrong she’s going to do something about it, but she didn’t get to. That makes me wonder if she’s going to do something in the future or not, because I really hope she does.

There was also a zombie in this book, which was a surprise and made me feel a bit bad for Betsy because of how rattled she was from it. I’m not quite sure what’s to come of it, but I’m looking forward to it.

There was also some drama for Jessica that was sad. Betsy's birthday happened, and that was nice, although didn't get much attention. There was some blood drinking issues between Betsy and Sinclair that were interesting and I liked the conclusion of, as well as Sinclair's continuous avoidance of wedding plans, which I hope changes in the next book, and I hope there's more attention for them in the next one as well.

I'm still enjoying this series, and hope to start the next book as soon as I get it.

Fun! Love Betsy. Love that their is a character that knits - in this series and that he is a vampire fiend that lives in the basement. I just love so many things about this series.

YAY!

Review on my blog. Link in my bio.

included in Betsy Bride of the Vampire
re-read 3/5/2010

This one confused me a bit by bringing in a character in the first few pages, making it seem as if we should have already known her. I went back to book 4 to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. Aside from that, another laugh out loud story.

MaryJanice Davidson is my go-to author for a good fun read (we all need that sometimes, especially during times likes these). Her Alaskan Royal Family series is one of my favorites and I really enjoy the humor and sass and ridiculousness in her books.
I had started the Undead series way back in 2013 but had stopped after book 3 for reasons that I can't remember anymore. Anyway, when I saw that my library had the audiobook for the whole series I decided this was the perfect time to get back into the series. And while I still enjoyed the earlier books in this series, reading book 4 and 5 was just a huge letdown. And my lack of enjoyment with book 4 and 5 boils down to one particular thing: the stupidity of our main character.
Okay, few distinctions. Having ridiculous situations in the story is very different from stupid characters. And while both Undead and Unreturnable, and Undead and Unpopular both have Davidson's trademark humor and comical scenarios, they also feature a drop down in IQ for our main character Betsy. She can really be too thick sometimes, not willing at all to listen to reason and common sense until it's too late. After a while, it just becomes a little too much to have to read about her doing stupid things even after being told repeatedly not to do so by people (or vampires) around her, Betsy doing it anyway and later realizing how royally she fucked up. Once or twice of this formula is fine and all but when it just keep happening again and again. And again. Well, that's when you've lost me.
Apparently, the sixth book in this series is where things actually pick up and take a new direction for a change. I might give it a listen since the narrator is pretty good. Let's see how it goes.

Somewhere between book #4 & book #5 - stuff I wasn't aware of happened. So, I've requested three anthology books that contain Queen Betsy stories. I think that will clue me in on werewolf Antonia and how Fiend George became Garth. Totally clueless on that one.

Other than that, it was a typical Queen Betsy story. Murder & Mayhem, etc. Things are starting to get a little darker for Betsy though. A reluctant groom-to-be & a very sick best friend . . . Book #6 is gonna be interesting.

Always a hootin' good time!

Another fun romp with Betsy, Vampire Queen. These books aren't great literature and they're light on plot but they make me laugh - and when I'm looking for a break from some of the darker urban fantasy books I read, these books serve me well. They are exceptionally quick reads. If other books in the UF genre are the equivalent of hour long, angsty dramas then the Queen Betsy books are the 30 minute sitcoms.