This is the second book of two, dealing with short stories. Much
like the last one I will only say what I liked and disliked about
each short story. Want to know why? Go read the first paragraph in my
review of Eternal (Six Short Stories). Warning this is going
to be a longer entry too because there are 13 short stories in it.
Okay here we go!
There was a one page introduction done by Trisha Telep. It wasn't
overly long, or too short I think. It makes the reader think about
"the eternal kiss" that one could receive from a vampire.
The only thing with the introduction being a page long is that all
anyone knows about the 13 short stories is that they are about
vampires. I would have loved to have had a little overview of what
the short stories were going to be about.
From the first book to the second there were a few authors that
were the same for both books but wrote a different story. Those
authors are: Lili St. Crow, Rachel Caine and Nancy Holder. Though
Nancy Holder co-writes with Debbie Viguié.
In this collection of vampire short stories there are (in order
that they are read in this book): Falling to Ash by Karen
Mahoney, Shelter Island by Melissa de la Cruz, Sword Point
by Maria V. Snyder, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly
Black, Undead is Very Hot Right Now by Sarah Rees Brennan, Kat
by Kelley Armstrong, The Thirteenth Step by Libba Bray, All
Hallows by Rachel Caine, Wet Teeth by Cecil Castellucci,
Other Boys by Cassandra Clare, Passing by Nancy Holder
and Debbie Viguié, Ambition by Lili St. Crow, and lastly, All
Wounds by Dina James.
Falling to Ash was a very nice read, though once it really
got going it ended. Which I did not like because I wanted to read a
little more, but now thinking back on what was read, it ended at a
decent spot. More could have been written, but over all it was okay
for the first short story.
Shelter Island I read this before in another book, though
where I am not sure. It is an anthology for Dylan in her Blue
Bloods series. It is not in his POV but a girls. I liked that the
reader got to see a different side of Dylan that you really can't see
in the other books. The ending was bittersweet because if anyone has
read the rest of the series, they know what goes on. It wasn't very
long also and I wanted it to be a little longer just to be able to
hold onto Dylan as a character.
Sword Point was a break from the norm when it comes to
vampires and I liked that. I would have loved for this to be longer,
maybe novel length. I loved the two main characters Ava and Jarett.
The ending was very good in my opinion, I just wanted more from
Snyder before she ended it.
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown if I could only have one of
these short stories be made into a full length novel it would be this
one right here. When I started this short story I did not put down
the book until I finished it. This is again, a different take on
vampires. Instead of being changed within a few seconds to a few days
after being bitten, the person has 88 days to either drink blood and
become a vampire or literally sweat it out. The ending leaves you
hanging and craving more. I loved this short story the most.
Undead is Very Hot Right Now, had me laughing a number of
times. It was the comic relief needed after reading the last short
story. Though it has a sad ending the reader can't help but hope that
a happier ending would have came if this were longer, of course. The
characters are all very different from each other and that is what
makes some things so funny, and being able to picture it happening.
Kat, it was back to being serious in this short story. The
reader gets to know a lot about the main character Kat, and why
things are happening in the story. The reader is not just dropped in
and left wandering and wondering what is going on. The ending is
good, I can handle this one being a short story it fits almost
perfectly.
The Thirteenth Step, get a little racy at one point in time
but doesn't go into hardly any detail. Once again this is a different
take on vampires and how they come to be, and again I could handle
this being a short story. It was a little drawn out at times and that
bugged me because something would happen and then calm for a while.
The ending didn't really surprise me too much, the reader almost
knows what is going to happen after a little bit.
All Hallows is a continuation almost of the last short
story by Caine. The characters are the same, there is just a new
adventure for them. This is something that would be great for a
younger teen though profanity is said and a few lewd comments are
made about a Halloween costume. Otherwise it is a pretty innocent
read.
Wet Teeth is sad. At first the reader thinks that it is
going to be another happy ending. Not really. I was saddened by the
ending and almost was glad that the next short story came along. But
not all stories have happy endings, and this is just proof of that.
Other Boys is another on the sad side story. But at the
same time the ending made me say "you go girl this is your life
and you have had secrets kept from you that shouldn't have and now
you are going to make your own path." Though I kept confusing
all of the characters till the end came. I had to reread a few spots
just to really understand who said what, or who was thinking what. I
didn't really like that but it wasn't the worst that I have read.
Passing is another short story that I could handle being a
short story. It was almost perfect, and a full length novel would
have been too wordy or just too much. A very imperfect alliance is
made in the end and it works, kinks and all. I liked the ending it
was a great way to end. The reader isn't really left hanging, they
sort of know what could come next and I liked that.
Ambition almost had me wondering if it was the same
characters from St. Crow's last short story. But they weren't, and it
does almost take the same rout as the last one did. I wasn't too
happy about that but St. Crow kept it interesting which helped out a
lot in keeping me reading. And it was very sweet in parts almost too
sweet but that line wasn't really crossed, just danced very close to.
All Wounds, I am not really sure what to say with this one
other than it was not what I expected. It isn't a love story at all
that I read, which was a good different. I looked up this particular
short story on Fictiondb.com and they do not put "(ss)"
next to the title meaning that it is a novel so I will have to check
that out and see if my library has it.
All in all this was a good compilation of short vampire stories.
Not all are from the POV of a vampire, some are from a human, a
vampire hunter, an vampire that does not know they are a vampire, and
more. Happy endings are not always a given which is again something
different. I would buy this book to own if I ever found it being sold
near me.
Rating: 4.9 out of 5.
Page Count: 416 (including Introduction, Acknowledgments, and
Author Biographies)
Price: $9.95
Next Book: Bled Dry by Erin McCarthy
Thanks for reading!
~Jade
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