Bite Club

Oh Man, this is definitely the most emotional installment in The Morganville Vampires series. It had me all sorts of stressed out, there were numerous times where Mr. Shane Collins needed a serious beat down, and I was more than ready to deliver. Then there were the moments when all I wanted to do was cry, then Eve would come to my rescue and make me smile. Claire was fantastic as always the girl just has so much spunk you have to love her. She has to make some seriously tough decisions this time around but she made the right ones on all counts.
One little complaint the story really revolved around only a few of the huge cast of characters. Usually everyone manages to get their part in the story but I found myself missing some of them a show more little. The storyline was great, Rachel Caine always amazes me how she can write her characters out of ANY dilemma. No matter how much crap the Glass House quad gets into she always finds a way to get them out even though it seems completely hopeless to the reader, she's pretty brilliant that way.
Bite Club was totally awesome I highly recommend it, and every other book in the series. 5 out of 5. Only 4 months and 15 days until the next one, Last Breath GAH!! show less

Back to Morganville once more...ten books in and I still never get tired of the ride.

Everything is ramped up in Bite Club, from the action to the emotions, and most of all the limits to which the author is willing to push her characters. But no one goes out of character...if anything each grows even more, reminding me once again why and how much I adore these characters, for their quirks, fun, realism, nuances, and toughness.

At first glance, the four Glass House residents can't see anything wrong with a new martial arts studio opening in town, even if it is run by a vampire. But nothing in Morganville is ever as innocent as it seems. And of course, it isn't long before Shane is spending an inordinate amount of time at the new dojo and show more growing angrier ever day, Claire's crazy boss Myrnin is delivering unsettling news, and several suspicious vampires are seen around town. And if she doesn't have enough to deal with, a huge offer is extended to Claire...one that may finally give her the reason she needs to leave Morganville forever. But with everything falling apart...can she?

I really liked seeing some Shane narration in this novel, not only because it developed his character but because a glimpse inside his head was needed to level with his behavior throughout. Claire is one of my favorite heroines ever, retaining her weaknesses and stubbornness while matching wits, words, and bravery with friend and foe alike in moments of pure awesome. I also rejoiced at the return of one of my favorite vampire characters ever, Myrnin, to a more prominent role. His interactions with pretty much everyone are guaranteed to be great (and he makes a heck of a trio with Claire and Eve, that's all I'm saying). The last three chapters just charge along, with scenes of emotion and breath-holding action on every page.

The author herself has mentioned that we'll be getting more POV's in the next book, including Michael and Eve's, which I can't wait for, especially as it concerns a very important plot twist in Bite Club. Wish Last Breath would get here faster! show less

This book does something brand new in the series -- Shane's point of view is alternated with Claire's point of view. It is a very good thing that Rachel Caine decides to do this, as I do not think that Claire could have gotten such a good understanding of the lure of the vampire-themed fight club that Shane gets involved with.
We not only get to see into Shane's head, but we also get a fuller understanding of his anger and hatred towards vampires, as well as his internal battle with accepting his sister's death, followed by his mother's death, and his father's abuse and fanaticism. Honestly, it is amazing that Shane has any sanity left at all, considering the life he has lived up to this point. Claire has been like a bright star in his show more life, and it would be a real tragedy if he were to ever lose her -- which does not look like it will be happening any time soon.
On the flip side, Shane's drastic change in behavior due to the fight club puts Claire's heart through the ringer several times throughout the book and has her considering and reconsidering just how much she really wants to stay in Morganville -- especially when M.I.T., her dream school, starts calling. Luckily, Claire has always been a force to be reckoned with in Morganville, and her instincts are always right on par. Only she can stand up to Amelie, the Founder of Morganville, and come away unscathed, even if barely.
If a vampire fight club is not bad enough to be worthy of a book, a certain "big bad" comes back from the figurative dead to wreak havoc and death. Of course, my favorite character, Myrnin makes the final battle interesting with a few new toys and unforgettable one-liners. His rivalry with the new brain behind the town security system, Frank Collins, provides some fresh entertainment, too. This series just keeps getting better, and I can't wait for the release of the next book, Last Breath. show less

THE FAERY'S VIEW

Bite Club, the newest installment to The Morganville Vampire Series by Rachel Caine was FANTASTIC! Whenever I open a Morganville book I know I’ll be reading an incredible story about my dear friends that I’ve missed so much since the last story! I love the Fictional Friendships I’ve developed over the years that I’ve been reading the series and have come to actually care about! Ms. Caine has enthralled and held me captivated by her stories in no less than TEN books and I’ve never lost interest, in fact, each book has left me jonesing for more!

Bite Club is written in two person point of view (POV): Clare and Shane’s, Ms. Caine really made it work beautifully! It intertwines with Claire’s POV at just the show more right time and it isn’t confusing nor does it take away from the story. It gave me a much better understanding of Shane and what his childhood and living with his father after his mother’s death was like for him. Without Shane’s POV I think the story wouldn’t have been as complete.

Claire has received an offer to go to MIT, the school of her dreams and she knows that it all depends on Amelie whether she can go or not. She’s ready to talk to Shane about this when he starts to behave oddly. There’s a new gym in town-a real gym and it’s taught by an actual vampire, Vassily. When Shane first found out about this gym, he was so stoked about it; anything to do in Morganville, especially the chance to learn to fight vamps by a vamp, has Shane off the couch and ready for action. On opening day, Claire watches Shane sparring with the Vampire Vassily, and the look on his face frightens her. It’s a savage animalistic look that shows so much rage. The more time Shane spends at the gym, the more he changes. He becomes hostile, insulting and dare I say, a Frank Clone. This is where things start to go seriously bad in the Glass house.

Meanwhile, we’re reading Shane’s input about a beautiful vampire named Gloriana who makes Shane feel special. All she has to do is look into his eyes and tell him whatever he needs to hear at that particular time and everything’s okay. His training is miraculous; suddenly he’s taking down vamps at the gym and barely feeling any pain, Vassily has this amazing ‘protein shake’ that really works in the most amazing ways-giving him almost vampire like abilities healing, strength and agility but Shane never questions why this ‘shake’ works so well. There are times when Shane realizes that he absolutely hates vampires but for some reason, Gloriana isn’t one of them, there are also times when his heart breaks for the things he’s done and said to Claire; how he’s hurt her, Eve and even Michael but then the haze comes down again. All he can think of is the next fight, what he doesn’t realize is that he’s being used and it just might be the death of him.

Bite Club is extremely complex, there are a lot of sub-plots that twist and turn in the most awesome way. At first I thought it would be about just one issue but there’s so many other things happening in the book, I really enjoyed following all the sub-plots, seeing where they led and wondering if there was a connection or not to the main plot. There’s the reintroduction of two really dangerous characters plus some new ones, all of my favorite characters are dependably present-some from previous books that we haven’t heard much about in the last 2-3 books. Everyone seems to play a part in Bite Club, no matter how big or how small-I love the fact that Ms. Caine was able to pull the complexity of the book all together the way she did. It was perfect and a One-Sit-Read, the highest honor this reviewer can give.

Bite Club is another extraordinary Morganville book! I can’t wait until the next installment and I prEy that Rachel continues this series for a long time. Morganville has become almost a real place in my literary world-where my friends, frenemies and enemies live. Without Ms. Caines brilliantly skillful world building and outstanding character descriptive along with her truly amazing storylines, Morganville would just be another sleepy Texas town. show less

After ten Morganville installments, I’ve yet to be disappointed with any of these books by Rachel Caine. Quite the opposite actually, I get more and more hooked with every book, and I end up kicking myself for burning through them so quickly because the wait is pretty painful, hence the intense fangurling that precedes each release.

There’s so much I adore about these books including the friendship between the Glass House residents Claire, Shane, Eve and Michael; the twists and turns each book takes; and the dialog between the main characters that has me laughing, sighing and gasping EVERY.SINGLE.TIME!

In Bite Club, Caine gives us a little bonus in the form of Shane’s POV and even though I was expecting a little different insight show more into his brain, it was still heartbreaking to witness him fighting the nightmares and his own hatred of Morganville. In this book, the big ole baddie Bishop rears his ugly mug and spear heads Immortal Battles which is an ultimate fighting sport that pits humans against vampires and broadcasts the fights, once again threatening Morganville's secret. Eventually, Shane gets lured into the ring to face off against his best friend Michael and the Glass House comes together to help Shane from self destruction and the town from exposure.

This book was intense, action packed and full of those moments that remind me how much I adore these characters. Overall, it was worth the wait and I want more NOW! Loved it!

Song Choice – Shane: Three Days Grace-Animal I Have Become show less

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

It’s always a blast visiting Morganville. After ten books, BITE CLUB is still as fresh and fun as the first, maybe even more so. The potential for new stories in this vampire run college town is apparently limitless. The cast of characters is quite large by now, but the story never feels cluttered. I think that’s largely due to Caine’s deft dialogue which is not only funny, but functionally moves the story along as well. The plot never comes close to dragging, and best of all, I can never predict what’s going to happen from chapter to chapter. The element of surprise is rare in paranormal YA books these days and yet that’s what this series consistently delivers.

All the Morganville show more residents are in fine form in BITE CLUB. Claire is the straight man surrounded by extreme personalities. Eve, once again full of snark, gets all the best lines. Lots of villains from the past reemerge with new sinister ways to torture Claire and Co. And Myrnin, always my personal favorite, is perhaps more sane than we’ve ever seen him—which is still mad as a hatter by anyone’s standards—and there’s a sweetness in him that I’ve never really seen before. Makes me very curious about what Caine has planned for him in the next book. I’m curious about Michael’s future as well since he was much more low key this time, but given what is revealed in this book, he’s going to be a HUGE part of the next one.

Which leaves Claire’s boyfriend. I never feel neutral about Shane. I either love him or hate him, and Rachel Caine’s gift is making us feel both emotions in a single book. Although I think I might have hated him a little more than usual in BITE CLUB, despite the fact that there are numerous passages written, for the first time, from his 1st person POV. Given the nature of this story, it was vital to know what was going on in Shane’s head, otherwise I think it was have been easy to hate him completely. Shane still has a lot of growing up to do. For now, Claire seems willing to let him, I just don’t know how many more second chances we can expect her to give him. I’m really hoping the next book keeps him from falling back into his hothead persona.

Overall, there is a reason this series has gone on this long: It’s fantastic. The characters, the romance, the world and especially the dialogue. I even love the villains. The next book in the Morganville Vampire series is called LAST BREATH and will be released on November 1, 2011. Rachel Caine has said that the series is currently contracted through book 12 (due April 2012), and hopefully many more after that. The TV show possibilities remain very real. Honestly, I can’t think of a better YA vampire series better suited to the small screen right now.

Sexual Content:
Kissing. References to sex. show less

*Spoiler Warning*

Basically the scenario in this book is pretty fierce, a fight club between vampires and humans–friends are put against friends. And who do you think gets recruited into this club?

After reading the tenth installment in this series, I feel this book is my least favorite. Not, just because Shane goes psycho and starts abusing everyone he cares for. It just doesn’t have that pizzazz the prior books have.

Before we would see glimpses of kick-ass Claire making her way in this weird town, but in this book she was strangely lack luster and a bit short-sighted in regards to her future. I mean what happened to the wicked awesome Claire from Kiss of Death? I felt like Caine tried to showcase more of Eve in this book with her show more sudden fencing skills, but I’m so used to people always rushing to her aid, that her sudden ability to protect herself seemed odd. I mean she has a mouth on her, but she really couldn’t do anything beside bedazzle her weapons. Now she’s fighting against the founders of Morganville. Yeah, okay…

Bite Club was definitely about Shane though, and we even get to see some chapters in his point-of-view. I guess this is so we can see how his thoughts and temper quickly transform into something that is not usually himself— so we don’t hate him as much and see he is under the influence of someone else. It worked, I mean I don’t hate him, but I don’t love him either.

Don’t get me wrong I still love this series, but this book was just blah. It just felt like a filler book. I assume if you’ve read this far into the series, you’re in it for the long haul. I am. I’m still going to read the next book, and apparently the one after that. It’s just that this one didn’t shine, but at least this one didn’t end on a cliff hanger either.

I’m really just in it for Myrnin. show less