Book Stats:
Genre: Horror / Urban fantasy
Reading level: Adult
Paperback: 278 pages
Publisher: Self Published
Release date: September 4, 2012
Series: Pretty When She Dies #2
Source: E-copy sent by author
Reviewed by: Stéphanie
Purchase: Amazon
Amaliya Vezorak never believed in happy endings…
When Amaliya harnessed her necromancer powers to defeat her greatest enemy, she believed she had finally found a happy ending with Cian, her lover and the master of Austin. That happiness is short-lived when the vampire ruling over San Antonio attempts a takeover of Austin in order to capture Amaliya and use her power for his own devices.
To make matters worse, Samantha, Cian’s ex-fiancée, is seeing ghosts, the untested vampire hunters of Austin are running scared as a supernatural war looms, a mysterious man is hunting Amaliya with the help of her one time lover, Pete, and RachoÅ„, the Summoner’s favorite progeny, appears to be out for revenge.
When Amaliya’s grandmother, a powerful medium, experiences terrible visions that reveal there is another necromancer vampire and she is crying out for help, Amaliya realizes happy endings do not come easily…
Rhiannon Frater has done it again by writing this amazing novel. The sequel to Pretty When She Dies, PRETTY WHEN SHE KILLS is as interesting as the first book of the series. Amaliya was a great main character to read about in the previous book and I was overjoyed to read more about her in this installment. However, since I enjoyed the first book so much, the original novel still remains my favorite Rhiannon Frater book. PWSK is a close second and should be read by anyone who liked PWSD.
One thing I was disappointed with is the fact that, unlike book 1, PRETTY WHEN SHE KILLS doesn’t concentrate on mainly one point of view. Since I like the Amaliya character so much, I found it difficult to have to constantly jump from one POV to the other. Personally, I would have liked to read more from Amaliya’s view but I understand how difficult the story would have been to write if the author would have been limited to one POV. The Amaliya in PWSK is very similar to the character we meet in the first book, if not a little more mature. She has truly embraced her life as a vampire and is only starting to comprehend the extent of her necromancer powers. Her relationship with Cian is very fitting and and great to read about. Obviously, it’s not a perfect relationship but all it remains something solid since both characters care about each other very much.
I’m glad Rhiannon Frater took her story beyond the vampires and the necromancer myths. She added magic and witches to the mix, which in by opinion, adds so much more interesting bits to the story. New and old enemies make appearances throughout the book and even if I was confused in determining who the real antagonist was, the surprising dénouement kept me on my toes until the very end. Obviously, the story doesn’t finish with this novel. A third will follow this one to complete the Pretty When She Dies trilogy. For those of you who don’t like unfinished stories, I would recommend waiting for the third book to be published before reading PWSK. A couple of death will sadden many readers. Two important characters meet their end during the final battle and obviously these deaths affect Amaliya on a deep level, despite her being a strong character. I truly don’t know if the death were truly necessary but I’m sure they will be a huge incentive for Amaliya in the next novel.
I admire the author’s ability to combine sarcastic humor and pop culture to a horror and urban fantasy setting. Personally, I find Buffy references never get old, and the Clueless mention was simply awesome. Overall, Rhiannon Frater’s vampire are original enough, but what distinguishes her series from other is the lore and myths included in the stories. The authentic and original characters are also a huge advantage. Personally, I find characters are the backbone of any story and throughout all her novels, Rhiannon has never failed in creating some interesting ones. Vampire fans who haven’t read this series will absolutely adore it. If you haven’t added this series to you TBR piles, I don’t know what you’re waiting for!
Make sure to stop by Rhiannon Frater’s “When I’m Not Writing” post, which is part of her blog tour for PRETTY WHEN SHE KILLS. You still have the chance to win an awesome giveaway!
I loved this one too. I think that the added magic into this made it really fantastic. I really like where Rhiannon took this one and I can't wait to read Pretty When She Destroys. Great review Stephanie!
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