Stein, Jeanne C.: The Becoming
The Becoming
Writer: Jeanne C. Stein
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Pages: 293
Series: Book One (ongoing)
This book has been on my radar for a while, despite the vampires. Actually, it's the vampires that kept me from reading it, but what made me snatch it off the shelves were two things: 1) the oh-so-gorgeous cover and 2) the fact it's written in first-person, present tense, which is--as you know--my favorite tense EVER.
So I had to read this, vampires aside. And yes, the voice hooked me pretty fast. It barely took a page to get used to the present tense, but once I did, it was smooth sailing.
The premise: Anna Strong is a bounty hunter. Nothing special, just the usual: catching crooks who skip out on their bail. But one night, what should be an easy case goes horribly wrong, and Anna's turned into a vampire. Her life's turned upside down as she struggles to hold on to her humanity, even though elements of her human life are getting ripped away from her. Someone's out to get her, and Anna's determined to make that someone pay.
Spoilers ahead.
I'm going to be very blunt here: had I known that Anna was transformed into a vampire via a rape scene, I probably would've left the book alone. ESPECIALLY since the rape scene pretty much embraces that horrible, horrible cliche of the woman actually LIKING what's happening, transforming her from a victim to a participant. That really, really pissed me off, but I'd already bought the book, so I kept reading.
I did like the book, but there's a certain level of sliminess involved to it, starting with that whole liking the rape scene. When Anna finally remembers what happened, she remembers fighting him, clawing and biting him but when he penetrates her, when he bites her neck, she's in ecstasy. There's another cliche played up: vampires = great sex. And that's where the whole sliminess comes from, as it's essentially a thread holding the whole book together.
Anna's told by Avery, the doctor who treated her who's ALSO a vampire and therefore brings her into the fold, that the best way to feed is through sex, because it can be a very pleasurable experience for the victim, and the sex is unbelievable. Anna fights against the idea of using her own lover in that way (Max is a DEA agent, working undercover, so she rarely sees him), but under Avery's manipulations, experiences what feeding and sex is REALLY like with a vampire. With him.
Now, I'm all about fun, kinky, fantastic vampire sex. Only by the end of the book, it's Avery that's the bad guy. Avery, who chose Anna because of her sexual appetites and her potential for power, sees Anna as a perfect mate, and does everything he can to manipulate her life into his own, all the while appearing to be the good guy. He burns down her home, a cottage where her grandmother raised her mother, and therefore, a place very special to Anna's heart. Then, he kidnaps her best friend, her partner in bounty-hunting, David, all the while leading Anna to believe that the man who turned her, Donaldson, is the culprit.
I can believe Avery as the jealous man. Once Anna confronted Donaldson and it became clear he REALLY wasn't the culprit (I figured out pretty quick that he'd been turned recently too), I knew it had to be Avery. Who ELSE wanted Anna all to himself? He couldn't stand being around David, and he kept harping on the need to forget the human/mortal life and embrace the vampire one (and him). But what irks me, what makes it slimy, is that Avery had no solid motivation. It's all lust and power, it's all the whole gothic literature of the man who abuses you is still your hero. No, Avery's no hero at the end, but through-out the entire book, he's the perfect gentleman, the amazing lover, etc., etc., all the while sabotaging everything that's important to Anna's life. Basically, her humanity.
I also found myself cringing that Avery would so quickly turn on her, and there's questions to be answered besides, dealing with Williams and all that talk of being the one. There's quite a few undercurrents to this book that BUG me, that Anna's somehow more powerful, that she's Chosen, even though she's a new vamp. That she's got quite the appetite for sex--in and of itself not a bad thing, but after hearing about the Anita Black series, I've got my worries. Hell, even the name Anna Strong reminds me of the name Anita Blake, and guess what, they're both hunters. Not that I've read Hamilton's books, but I've heard plenty.
All that said, I'm willing to read the other two. I want to see just where Stein takes her heroine, and I want to see what the rest of this urban fantasy world is really like. I like Anna, I really do, and since Avery got staked in this book, I at least don't have to worry about Anna going all gooey in the knees for this guy anymore.
However, if the same trends continue, or worsen, I won't be able to keep reading. Like I said, for all that I enjoyed about this book, I've got my worries and suspicions, and finishing the book left me slightly concerned, at least as a feminist, if nothing else.
My Rating
Worth the Cash: BUT I'm going to give you, outside the cut, the warning no one gave me, because it would've changed my curiosity of reading the book: Anna's turned during a rape scene, a rape scene that she ends up enjoying because it's a vampire, yo, and vampire sex is awesome. That gives the book a slightly worrisome and slimy tone, but Anna's voice is strong, and in the end, she takes care of herself and takes back what's hers. At least, the best she can. I'm going to read the rest of the books, but with caution. I hope what worries me about this book doesn't pop its ugly little head up again.
Next up: Ill Wind: Weather Warden: Book One by Rachel Caine