Leitich Vampire Stories: Blessed, "Haunted Love"
24. Cynthia Leitich Smith, Blessed.
I liked Eternal. I did. But I was still stuck on the cliffhanger ending of Tantalize, and getting a prequel with an independent cast for the second volume was... well, a prequel with an independent cast. I wanted Quincie and Kiernan back, damnit. And I needed to know if (rot13) Dhvapvr jnf qnzarq be abg. Yes, I wanted to trust Smith. But there's trust, and then there's trust. You know how it is.
So when I finally, finally, got my hands on a copy of Blessed, I inhaled it. I had a stupid-ass work schedule with exactly one full day off in a five week period, and I spent that whole day on the couch with Blessed. (Don't bug me, I'm reading.)
Blessed begins mere minutes after the end of Tantalize (yay!), which means that enjoying the one is fully dependent on having read and enjoyed the other. Some of the cast/events/society of Eternal shows up, but you could probably get by okay without having read Eternal, if you wanted to.
You could also probably get by okay without having read Stoker's Dracula, but there's a lot more to enjoy here if you have. As Smith says in her author's noteBlessed and my two novels that preceded it -- Tantalize and Eternal -- are a conversation of sorts between me and Stoker about several of his themes, including the "other," the "dark" foreigner, invasion, plague, the lore of religion, and gender-power dynamics.
The conversation-with-Stoker elements were not particularly prominent in the other two novels, but the plot of Blessed hinges on the plot of Dracula. Smith tells you what you need to know as she goes, but I'm guessing it goes a lot more smoothly if you've read the scenes the characters are discussing.
...and it's hard to find anything to say about it that doesn't reek of spoilers, but which I didn't already say about the first two books.
[Spoilers]
23. Cynthia Leitich Smith, "Haunted Love" (collected in Immortal: Love Stories with Bite).
(different count, because I'm keeping track of isolated short stories and essays separately from full books)
I was jonesing for more Smith, and even though I'm not a fan of the vampire genre in general, individual stories and novels can work for me, especially if it's by an author I otherwise like. (Oddly, the Tantalize/Eternal/Blessed series doesn't ping "vampire" for me, despite being about vampires. Go figure.)
"Haunted Love" is about a teenage boy in a small South Texas town who unwittingly became a vampire via a mail order pyramid scheme in a desperate bid to defend himself against his abusive uncle.
And right there, I'm sold. But that's all backstory.
Cody doesn't regret becoming a vampire, not much, but he's now trying to figure out how to make a go of it in a town small enough that everyone knows everyone else's business (awkward, when one is a vampire and a murderer), and small enough that there's not much of an economy anymore. He's got his hopes pinned on reopening the town's movie house: maybe, by the time people notice he doesn't age anymore, he'll have become such a fixture of the town's life that they don't mind. (Ah, classic cinemas. Again, I'm sold.)
By the time we're done, the story has gone off toward mystery and romance, as well as vampires, but y'know, I enjoyed it. I'd definitely check out more of her short stories, vampire fic or not.
(Additional tags: creek/muscogee author, vampires)
I liked Eternal. I did. But I was still stuck on the cliffhanger ending of Tantalize, and getting a prequel with an independent cast for the second volume was... well, a prequel with an independent cast. I wanted Quincie and Kiernan back, damnit. And I needed to know if (rot13) Dhvapvr jnf qnzarq be abg. Yes, I wanted to trust Smith. But there's trust, and then there's trust. You know how it is.
So when I finally, finally, got my hands on a copy of Blessed, I inhaled it. I had a stupid-ass work schedule with exactly one full day off in a five week period, and I spent that whole day on the couch with Blessed. (Don't bug me, I'm reading.)
Blessed begins mere minutes after the end of Tantalize (yay!), which means that enjoying the one is fully dependent on having read and enjoyed the other. Some of the cast/events/society of Eternal shows up, but you could probably get by okay without having read Eternal, if you wanted to.
You could also probably get by okay without having read Stoker's Dracula, but there's a lot more to enjoy here if you have. As Smith says in her author's noteBlessed and my two novels that preceded it -- Tantalize and Eternal -- are a conversation of sorts between me and Stoker about several of his themes, including the "other," the "dark" foreigner, invasion, plague, the lore of religion, and gender-power dynamics.
The conversation-with-Stoker elements were not particularly prominent in the other two novels, but the plot of Blessed hinges on the plot of Dracula. Smith tells you what you need to know as she goes, but I'm guessing it goes a lot more smoothly if you've read the scenes the characters are discussing.
...and it's hard to find anything to say about it that doesn't reek of spoilers, but which I didn't already say about the first two books.
[Spoilers]
- Quincie, still under-aged and having no family left to assume guardianship after the events of the first book, moves in with her boyfriend's parents, who assume legal guardianship over her. I adore Mrs. Morales throughout all this: she has responsibilities as a guardian, and she is quite aware that Quincie is trying to hide... something. But she is also quite aware that Quincie is getting on toward adult, is reasonably solid and responsible, and is going through a rough time (what with the events of the previous book). And so there is careful watching, and careful listening, and very judicious conversations, while Mrs. Morales tries to balance giving Quincie her privacy with providing adult guidance and support.
- And I similarly adore four year-old Megan. Megan almost got chomped by Quincie at the end of the previous book (newly-risen bloodlust, doncha know), and consequently, Megan will not now be persuaded into believing that Quincie is a safe or trustworthy person. Megan knows what she knows, even if she hasn't yet verbalized it to her parents. (And Quincie, to her credit, doesn't try to convince Megan that she is wrong about Quincie: Quincie isn't absolutely sure that she is trustworthy, either.)
- I would have liked more Kiernan-among-the-Pack, although I recognize that would be a different, parallel novel. Also, it'd be a hard novel to read, from what little we saw of Kiernan and the Pack. But still.
- I'm a bit chagrined that I never really put together who Quincie Morris must be (although I was never a real Dracula fangirl).
- And yay, Quincie is not damned!
23. Cynthia Leitich Smith, "Haunted Love" (collected in Immortal: Love Stories with Bite).
(different count, because I'm keeping track of isolated short stories and essays separately from full books)
I was jonesing for more Smith, and even though I'm not a fan of the vampire genre in general, individual stories and novels can work for me, especially if it's by an author I otherwise like. (Oddly, the Tantalize/Eternal/Blessed series doesn't ping "vampire" for me, despite being about vampires. Go figure.)
"Haunted Love" is about a teenage boy in a small South Texas town who unwittingly became a vampire via a mail order pyramid scheme in a desperate bid to defend himself against his abusive uncle.
And right there, I'm sold. But that's all backstory.
Cody doesn't regret becoming a vampire, not much, but he's now trying to figure out how to make a go of it in a town small enough that everyone knows everyone else's business (awkward, when one is a vampire and a murderer), and small enough that there's not much of an economy anymore. He's got his hopes pinned on reopening the town's movie house: maybe, by the time people notice he doesn't age anymore, he'll have become such a fixture of the town's life that they don't mind. (Ah, classic cinemas. Again, I'm sold.)
By the time we're done, the story has gone off toward mystery and romance, as well as vampires, but y'know, I enjoyed it. I'd definitely check out more of her short stories, vampire fic or not.
(Additional tags: creek/muscogee author, vampires)