Tuesday, August 19, 2008

AUgust Reads : 43-36 Queen Betsy Series

I've been meaning to read teh Queen Betsy series ever since I feel in love with MaryJanice Davidson's way of writing in her Wyndam Werewolves Series. I prefer reading books that have a bunch out in the series so I don't have to wait so lon gin anticipation of the next one as well as not forget what happened in the previous books. The new Queen Betsy just came out last month actually and I was able to mooch some of the books in the series so I decided to start on that

43. Undead and Unwed (Queen Betsy 1) by Mary Janice Davidson

Turning 30 was one of the worst day of Betsy's life and it's not done yet. After losing her job, she gets killed in a car accident, only to wake up in the morgue and find out that she couldn't die. Turns out she's suppose to be this prophesied vampire queen, and there's a bunch of people trying to convince her to help them overthrow the evil and sadistic ruler of the vampires.

I liked this book and the promise of the series better than WW. Betsy is funny although a bit of an airhead but she didn't really want the job in the first place so at least she knows what she wants haha The beginning scenes where she was trying to make sure she stayed dead was so funny. And of course when she couldn't do that and went home to reassess everthing, gets to charge over to the evil stepmother Ant's house to demand for her shoes and scream at her for dressing her with her secondhand shoes hahaha  I think all the supporting characters, Eric, Tina, Marc and Jessica are such a great bunch of characters. I love the interaction.And when Eric tempted her to help their cost with shoes. Priceless. Rating: A

42. Undead and Unemployed (Queen Betsy 2) by Mary Janice Davidson

Betsy's back and just being undead doesn't really mean she doesn't have bills to pay. Never mind that she's queen of the vampires, she can't just depend on her too rich friend and her king (who tricked her into being queen and into gaining the kingship in Betsy's opinion) who accumalted riches on his long undead life. She lands her dream job, working at Macy's shoe department. But all is not well in Betsy land, there's a vampire killer on the loose and the reluctant queen has no choice but to track this killer down.

The second book welcomes us back to the continuing adventures of Betsy and pals. I found this book really funny and a good sequel to the first book. The confrontation with killers or the vigilantes was really funny. I did kind of have my suspicion of who the headmaster was that part wasn't really much of a surprise. The part of seeing ghosts and the little girl with the mother was a good party of the story in my opinion. Sweet and Funny Rating: B+

41. Undead and Unappreciated (Queen Betsy 3) by Mary Janice Davidson

Book three of the Queen Betsy Series opens with the devil inhabiting a body of a human, having a baby and leaving due to all the hassles of babies. Turns out that the body the devil inhabited was the Ant, the evil stepmother and Betsy's apathetic dad drops the bomb that Betsy has a half sister somewhere. Even more is that this sister was prophesied in the Book of the Dead as the daugther of the Devil who will control the world. O-K  So Betsy goes in search of her half-sister and guess who she was, a goody goody raised by a priest, teaches sunday Laurie. But don't get her mad though or you're dust. Add to that, the Ant's pregnant! Horrors! And let's no forget the fiend in the basement who knits!

Book three starts adding new characters with the appearance of the half-sister. Betsy is still in denial about loving Sinclair so is insanely jealous when Sinclair starts paying attention to Laura. She gets pissed off about all the secrets that concern her "Queenship" and so locks herself in her room to read the Book of the Dead. Problem is the more she read, the evil she got and thus ended up going on a rampage attacking friends and family. I did still the book but I didn't believe that it was as strong or as funny as the previous two books. Some parts, Betsy started annoying me, the fight scene with Laura's light saber hellfire sword was cool though and Betsy crying "you knew! how could you not tell me!" And in the end, she and SInclair finally admitted how they felt to each other so it was all good. Rating: B+

40. Undead and Unreturnable (Queen Betsy 4) by Mary Janice Davidson
There's a serial killer loose in the city who is attacking females fitting Betsy's profile. The good detective Nick, warns Betsy of course and in turn asks Jessica out on a date. Can we say a love life for Jessica. As for Betsy and Sinclair, Betsy unintentionally blurts out a secret whe's been figuring out how to tell Sinclair and causes Sinclair to withdraw from her. The ghost of the one of the serial killer's victim is haunting her now to hurry up and catch the killer.

This next book in the Queen Betsy series was ok for me, I like Baby Jon, Betsy's new halfbrother who only Betsy can calm. The whole serial killer angle ended pretty abruptly for me with Laura going all crazy, giving an glimpse of devil-daugther. Marjorie the vampire librarian and Jon of the Vampire Killer squad was pretty good supporting characters in the book. Rating: B

39. Undead novellas (Queen Betsy) by Mary Janice Davidson

Before I continue with the other books, I grouped the novellas into one listing so here they are:
First off is the story of Andrea and Garrett, Andrea was a vampire who while sleeping was unearth by who else but Daniel. the guy she had been pining over in college before she died. Learnign about the defeat of Nostro the big bad ex-ruler, she was prepared for whatever happens when she pays her respects to the new queen. Daniel who isn't about to let this girl he's got a shine on be killed queen or not, decided to join her and be her distraction. I think this is after book two since this happened when Betsy still hated Sinclair.

Second is the story of Antonia and George the fiend. Antonia, is the oracle of the Wyndam Werewolves who could not turn into a wolf.  Becuase of her situation even the clan are wary of her and she feels like an outcast even in her own family and in her causes her to be bitter and angry all the time. She gets one of her visions which tell her to go to Betsy's place to help the queen. Who would have guessed that she would find the love of her life in George. This novella is set after Queen Betsy 3.

Third in the novellas is BITING IN PLAIN SIGHT the story of Dr. Sophie Tourneau, who is happy with her life as the veterinarian of the a small town, until one day she hears about a vampire serial killer on the loose breaking girl's hearts causing the girls to kill themselves. She sets off to inform the queen about this situation and Liam, local farmboy who has been crushing on the good Doctor for the better part of his adulthood, tags along. Special mention to LIam lamenting about all his animals being of perfect health because he had no excuse to visit the vet was so cute. This should be around 4.5

Out of all three I liked Biting in Plain Sight the best. I do recommend reading the novellas because it could become confusing when these characters show up in the book without knowing how they got into the story, especially the George/Antonia story.

38. Undead and Unpopular (Queen Betsy 5) by Mary Janice Davidson
It's Betsy's 31 birthday and her 1 year anniversary as a vampire. So amidst planning her non-party and her wedding, she decided to give up blood. But not only does she have to deal with Eric not showing a least bit of interest in the wedding plans, but the European entourage of vampires have come to pay homage. These are old powerful vampires who does not believe that Betsy can be the Queen. Sophie and Liam returns to ask permission for Sophie to turn Liam into a vampire. And then Sophie discovers that one of the entourage was the vampire that kileld her and was gunning for his head. And to top it all off, Jessica tells Betsy that she has myeloma, or blood cancer. It's one thing after another. What's a vampire Queen to do.

The book is still very funny but my interest in the series is so so at the moment. The book had primise and it was shaping to be one but the ending kind of just fell a little flat for me. WIth the ending, I gather we won't be seeing much of Dr Sophie and Liam anytime soon. Also I kind of liked the character or Alonzo too so we'll never really know what kind of person he really is now. The whole not drinking thing was kind of stupid though. You would think that betsy has been a vampire for a bit now so she should stop being so ditzy. I didn't really get the zombie part though. What's the point? Rating B-

37. Undead and Uneasy (Queen Betsy 6) by Mary Janice Davidson
At long last, the wedding is almsot here but before that happens it seems the bride and groom are constantly fighting about the details and then the groom suddenly disappears. Not only that but Betsy's dad and the Ant suddenly dies leaving Betsy a new mommy to half brother baby jon. With worrying about Jessica in the hospital undergoing treatment for her cancer, and all the other residents of Casa Betsy MIA, what's a bride to do.

First off, I don't get how Sinclair can be so disdainful of the wedding. In one of the previous books he reiterates that they were getting married because it means something to Betsy, so why can't he at least tolerate it. He doesn't have to join in every planning but at least show some attention not just snarking about everydetail. The frist half of the book was a bit dragging for me but I liked this book. Never could really guess about the ring and Marjorie though. And super power Betsy, at least she's starting to see this Queen gig as something serious. And the Ant is gone " Ding dong the witch is dead!" I love how baby Jon had more appearance in the book too And the Wyndam Werewolves makes an appearance. Brawl for all can we say. Rating: A

36. Undead and Unworthy  (Queen Betsy 7) by Mary Janice Davidson
Newlywed Betsy is drifting in wedded bliss when all hell breaks loose. Guess who's haunting her! Seems the Ant has unfinished business and is now staying until its settled. And not only that but ex-fiend Garett formerly known as George started feeding the other fiends and kind of woke them up. Now they are all blaming Betsy and gunning for her.

MJD mentions in the book that this is part of a new 3 parter and she is taking the books to a whole new level. After reading the book, I haev to agree. This book is more serious in that there's a tragedy and it's darker unlike her previous fluffy books. The book didn't make me go wow but I still would read the next book though just to see where she will go with the plot. Detective Nick really really annoyed me though. He's become this whiney bigot. He hates vampires but is not above using them. Ugh And I liked him in the previous books too. I'm seeing a Richard pattern here. I wish baby Jon was part of the plot though, Didn't really see him in the novel.  Rating : B