PRETTY WHEN SHE KILLS
Pretty When She Dies Series #2
by Rhiannon Frater
Publisher: Self-Published (Sept. 2012)
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Horror, Adult
Format: eBook (246 pages)
Source: Free book from author for honest review
Find It: Goodreads | Amazon Print | Amazon Kindle | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 stars)
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 Rachoń, 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…
At A Glance
I was disappointed with Pretty When She Kills but I have high hopes for the series. Too many character POVs and unnecessary deaths but there was some redeeming qualities.
The Good
Pretty When She Kills starts off with a bang! I was drawn in right away. Amaliya and Cain are in a tough spot. It seems like everyone is after them, but friends and family are always there to help. But even with the support, some enemies are just too hard to kill…and keep dead.
One of the things I love about this series is the love and support Amaliya gets from her family and friends. They risk their lives for her and they wouldn’t have it any other way. Even Samantha and Amaliya get closer this book. They really become good friends and confidants. But the reason behind their change of feelings is questionable…and exciting
I was happy to see Amaliya really embrace her vampirism this time around. This is her new life and she loves it, even if there is death, blood, and zombies. She is happy with Cain and is excited for the future. They may have their problems, they argue and fight, but they are always there for each other.
Pretty When She Kills is a lot darker than the first book. It still has a little of the humor we have come to love from Frater, but be ready for some sadder, more depressing moments. The ending was surprising. I wasn’t expecting it at all. A lot was left unresolved so I can only imagine how exciting the third book will be.
The Bad
I feel like I am in the minority in not liking this book as much as the first. Pretty When She Dies was exciting, dark, funny, and intense. But Pretty When She Kills had plot problems, the characterization was poor, and I was pretty bored for a good portion of it.
The book starts out with one storyline, then that gets dumped, and we get a whole new storyline to focus on. I was so confused by that. And the plot was really lacking. The flow felt slow almost to the very end. I needed more action in the middle.
I HATED the multiple POVs. We got into the heads of WAY too many characters. I missed hearing from Cian and Amaliya. They barely got 1/5 of book time. I don’t care enough about the other characters to want to sit through their inner monologues so many times.
And last, the deaths. Spoiler: people we care about, main characters, die. I don’t mind when important characters die if it’s for a good reason or it is essential to the series. But these deaths felt completely unnecessary. They got killed for killing sack. For the shock factor only. And the other characters’ reactions to the deaths felt off, dispassionate
I almost gave this book 2.5 stars, but I do still have hope for the series.
The Snuggly
We barley get to hear from Amaliya and Cian so their relationship didn’t change too much. They got into some fights, they made up, that’s it. But I do like the direction of their relationship.
Samantha and Jeff get a lot closer in this book but I just don’t find them that interesting.
This one is not as sexy as the first book, but we do get some hot moments. Some sex. Suitable for new adult and adult audiences.
Final Thoughts
I really had a lot of problems with Pretty When She Kills, but I will for sure be continuing this series. I think this one suffered from Second Book Syndrome. But these characters are strong enough to make this series amazing. So don’t let this book stop you from trying out Frater’s work. Recommended.
“At times like these she was haunted by a life she would never have.”
“There were no souls inside the bodies, but there were memories. She could feel the whispers of who the zombies once were. The lost hopes and dreams brought tears to her eyes.”
“I’m so not going all Patricia Arquette. I refuse to! Because the next thing you know I’ll be all John Edwards-y and people will be banging on my door wanting the deets of their granny’s peach cobbler recipe.”
kimbacaffeinate
I enjoyed the darker tone in this one, but agree I wanted more time with Amaliya and Cian
Jennifer Bielman
I did enjoy the darker tone, but I did find myself kind of depressed walking away.
elisa
I have another of her serials I am going to read later this week and am looking forward to checking these stories out! Even if they do fluctuate, they seem more like horror with a love story which is a bit darker than a lot of the stuff out there. Great review
Jennifer Bielman
Which one? The zombie one?
Brandi Kosiner
Glad that you are hoping for the rest of the series, but the excessive POV is sad.
Jennifer Bielman
It really ruined a good chunk of the book.
Synchronized Reading
I hate when books have too many povs! I’ve read a few books like that lately and it takes away from the story. But this is my first time hearing of this series. Hopefully the next book is better for you 🙂 Great review!
Janina @ Synchronized Reading
Jennifer Bielman
I would still recommend the series to you for sure, but yeah, the POVs sucked.
Stacey Brutger
Great review! You have me curious about this series. I love dark.
Jennifer Bielman
Awesome, hope you read it.
Jaclyn Canada
Second book syndrome 🙁 At least that doesn’t really say anything about the rest of the series. As you said, you have high hopes for it. The multiple POV’s and senseless main character deaths would probably have bothered me as well. I hope the rest to follow are more to your liking! Jaclyn @ JC’s Book Haven.
Jennifer Bielman
I so hope the rest of the series is as awesome as book one, which I gave 5 stars!
Chene Sterckx
Sorry you didn’t enjoy this one that much 🙁 Maybe the next one will make up for it!
Jennifer Bielman
I sure hope so. 🙂