"Guilty Pleasures" by Laurell K. Hamilton

[katikat]

I've finished reading the "Guilty Pleasures" book by Laurell K. Hamilton. It's the first book in her Anita Blake series.

What started like an excellent book with a spunky heroine soon turned into something I didn't like much if at all. Yes, the action side of this book would receive straight five stars, but its characters... three stars at the most. And why?

So, lets take a look at Anita Blake. At first, I thought she was being sarcastic in this very funny way. But then, her sarcasm became malice, spitefulness. Every vampire is a bitch in her eyes, even though they didn't do anything wrong. When a vampire murders a human, it's a murder. When she poisoned a vampire she didn't even know just because he was in the company of the one she wanted to kill, it was justified. Such a hypocrisy. She goes to church but doesn't believe in God's help or maybe even his existence - the church is only good to help her fight vampires. But God forbid the vampires build their own church that doesn't worship God either - then they are monsters in her eyes. She is looking down at every supernatural being out there. She is bad-mouthing them, calling them names but she is always ready to press them for informations, to exploit them only to discard them when they are not needed anymore. The supernatural beings are accepted by the society and the law so with her attitude, she is actually a modern racist and it becomes more and more pronounced as the book continues.

Another thing completely is her unwillingness to accept help - she is not self-sufficient, she is simply stupid. Sorry, but when a world-class assassin offers help in the battle against the mighty lord of the vampires she sends him where the sun doesn't shine and hangs up on him. And in the end, she does have to accept this help - only an innocent had to die for her to see it.

And now to the characters: they are simply flat. Anita? Sorry, but that's not a character you could call deep or even likable. All she does is complain and bitch. About everything. Edward? Yeah, Mr. Death... and that's it. No background, not explained or even hinted at from where these two know each other. Ronnie? Was there even a purpose for this one to be there? I didn't feel any connection. Nothing.

The only thing, the only character I truly enjoyed was Phillip. He tried, he really did. He risked everything for Anita and she preached down at him every time she opened her mouth even knowing his background. She never forgot to put him in his place. But he got up every time and tried to do his best.

So, all in all, I liked the action. Very much disliked the characters. And wished this book was about Phillip. Three stars and I'm being generous here.

Comments

[koyote19.livejournal.com]

That right there, sums up why I finished the book, threw it across the room and have never picked up another Laurell K Hamilton book. Ever.

I liked one character, and one character only, and once he was dead... I was done. There just wasn't enough there to keep me reading.

[katikat.livejournal.com]

You've liked Phillip too? Or was there another likable character and I haven't noticed it? XD

[koyote19.livejournal.com]

Is Phillip the stripper she was kinda dating/sleeping with in this book? If so, yes, that's the one character I liked. I wasn't 100% sure of the character's name anymore, since it's been years since I read Guilty Pleasures, and I'm not sure I ever picked up the book again except to put it in the give-away box to get rid of. But Phillip sounds right.

[katikat.livejournal.com]

Yup, it was Phillip. I think he was a really underused character. I mean, the author didn't explain why he craved the vampire-bites so much except for one line where it was told that he had been attacked by a vampire when he was a kid. And his death was totally unnecessary :(

[bishsticks.livejournal.com]

It does get better. (Before it gets worse.)

Anita learns. She starts trying to save vampires under the influence of the big bad evil vampires. It'd been so long since I'd read the first book that I forgot she originally saw things in black and white, before her worldview became shades of gray.

Edward gets more story in "Obsidian Butterfly." (But I hated that one.) Ronnie never gets better. I hope she gets her throat torn out at some point.

[katikat.livejournal.com]

Maybe I will read the next one but I will only borrow it from a friend, not buy it. It didn't grab me like for example Elrod's Vampire Files or Butcher's Harry Dresden. And it wasn't just because the hero here was a woman. I just don't like Anita :(

[bishsticks.livejournal.com]

*nods*

I read the first Harry Dresden book a while back. He didn't grab me. I have books 2-4, but I don't have any desire to read them at the moment.

Ever try Rachel Caine's Warden series? Or Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse books? They're better.

[katikat.livejournal.com]

I like Harry Dresden. It's not Ukiah Oregon but it's good. I've read Caine's "Ill Wind". It was good. And I'm thinking about the Sookie book... Have you read Kim Harrison's books? I'm just curious if they are any good.

[bishsticks.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. I'm reading the fourth one right now. They're good. But you have to get past the first one. The first one is a little slow. But after that, it gets a lot better. Two and three are especially good. I'm not done with four yet, so I'm reserving judgment. But I like what I've read so far.

[katikat.livejournal.com]

Yes, "Ill Wind" by Rachel Caine was at first rather slow too. In the Harrison's books, is there a male counterpart to the female heroine?

[bishsticks.livejournal.com]

There is, but the main focus is on Rachel, the witch. In the first two, she has a mortal boyfriend. In the third, she has a vampire boyfriend who's still around for the fourth, but he's barely in it. But the mortal (ex)boyfriend is back. So there is a male character, but he's not the focus. Rachel is the main character.

Oh, well, there's Rachel's partner Jenks. He's male, but he's a pixy and therefore small. I love him. Muchly. *makes up words*

[seraphim-grace.livejournal.com]

as brain cheese they're all right up to book seven (my fave vampire was in seven) but after that they dissolve into really bad porn, when i saw you reading guilty pleasures i nearly dived in to save you and thought, no the first ones are okay. Some of them are quite good, Bloody Bones for one
for vampire books i recommend
Elizabeth Kostova's the Historian and
Roderick Anscombe's Secret history of Laszlo, Count Dracula.
they're both very good intelligent books with proper characters and great action.

[katikat.livejournal.com]

I was very much disappointed by Anita Blake because everybody and their uncle seem to like it. Action and all that humbuck is great, but when I don't like the characters... :(

And I love books about werewolves - any tips there? ;)