Currently Reading…Bullet by Laurell K Hamilton

Bullet (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Book 19)
I’m only a quarter of the way through…maybe a bit more, so I’m gonna give it a chance, but…I dunno about this one. 😐

Anita feels a little different to me, or maybe I’ve changed? As I mentionned to my friend Lily in our book discussion today:

I’m reading Bullet right now…not sure how I feel about it yet. I’m starting to kinda not like Anita…and well all of them.

• Gorgeous almost irresistible Asher‘s being a baby (he feels unwanted and instead of talking it out with those he supposedly loves, starts in with some pretty serious threats)…now THAT’S gonna win some hearts 🙄
•  Richard‘s had a change of heart and is suddenly being really cooperative (which is a nice change) but why am I resentful of him anyway? Too little, too late? There was a time in the series when he could do NO wrong…then he just started becoming angrier and plain scary that he just seems broken to me.
• …and Jean Claude the absolute most amazing “real” vampire ever, and yet….he just doesn’t get any attention and doesn’t really say anything about it. While he is important (it seems) to this book, he is almost already backburner-ish – he’s there but not ever angry or emotional. Maybe he never really was, and I just projected emotion onto his character because I liked him so much (one of the first vampires I ever loved LOL!). No wait. I swear He USED to be emotional. He’d get jealous, act indifferent, become angry and threatening and scary but now… none of that. He’s just “perfect”. Never overreacts, always polite and completely accepting of Anita and her needs. Oh come on, man!
• Anita. What can I say? What I hate is I can no longer relate to her. From her extreme public affection with each lover, to their unrealistic overall acceptance of each other (‘cept for Asher – who really only wants JC and is becoming quite resentful of Anita). I mean, I sorta get the “ardeur” thing (well…not really) but whatever – I’ll accept it as an integral part of the series (a side effect of being bonded to the “vampire line” that dominates through their sexuality – something important is bound to happen because of it, right?). And the need to help control her beasts is just so sexually complicated too. But even with her internal musings, she never admits being really in love with any of them. Basically, she loves everyone (equally?) which is almost as bad as loving no one to me. How she acts with her lovers, no real tenderness…no real emotion…no real attachment. Just a bunch of convenient arrangements.

I don’t *feel* any of them anymore. Not even Jean Claude 🙁 Did I ever think this had an aspect of romance in it? I think I keep reading because I’m hoping to connect once again to the characters I’d grown so attached to.

New to the series? Do not mistake this series as being a vampire romance one – while it did have that touch once upon a time, it is quite clear that Anita’s kind of love is no longer conventional. Still interesting, I guess. Just not heart-warming or sigh-inducing anymore.

Wow…all of these impressions from  me and I’m not even halfway through the book. Maybe I’m just taking this all too seriously. It’s just that this was one of my first paranormal series that I got hooked on, and Jean Claude, to me, was just breathtaking, and now…nothing. He’s lost that loving feeling. Or maybe I have. 😥

Oh sheesh, now I’M being whiny! I’m hanging too much with Asher and Richard I think 😉

Okay, so for those of you who have read the book. Am I jumping the gun? What did you think (without any spoilers yet please).

Off I go to see if I can bond with any of them again.

2.5 stars

Check out the entire series reading order guide right here ——> Laurell K Hamilton – Anita Blake Series Reading Order