Review: A Quick Bite

A Quick Bite by Lynsay Sands

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Lissiana Argeneau is celebrating her 202nd birthday with a party at her mother's house. When she enters her room to get a new pair of stockings, she assumes that the man tied to her bed his her gift from her mother... a little bite to eat after the party.

Well, she has it half right. Her mother has "convinced" (through mental coercion) Dr Gregory Hewitt to come to the house as Lissie's birthday gift. But rather than being her midnight snack, he is there to help cure her of her phobia. And it's a bad one for a vampire - Lissie faints at the site of blood.

There's instant attraction between the two, but before either of them can admit it, they have to work through Greg learning about her family, crazy relatives (on both sides) and someone that wants to put a stake through Lissie's heart for being an evil, blood-sucking fiend. No one ever said the course of true love runs smoothly.

I really enjoy this series and was glad to have finally listened to the one that started it all. I'd seen Lissie and Greg in one of the other books I'd read, but I didn't really know their story. And I, for one, thought it was an intriguing one.

One of the best parts of this series is the inventive take on vampires that Sands has taken. Rather than the mystical/magical search for immortality that vampirism is usually portrayed as, the Argeneau series takes a scientific bent in the form of nanites that keep their bodies in peak condition. While she uses fiction getting it wrong to explain away some of the usual vampire "facts", she has perfectly plausible explanations for the ones that she's kept in. Since the nanites are fueled by blood, anyone with the nanites in their system (naturally born or "made") need to regularly replenish the blood in their system. And since sunlight is always damaging the skin cells, the nanites need to work harder to keep the host healthy, which uses more blood and weakens them until they can replenish.

I also like the fact that, in today's world when blood can be stored a la the Red Cross, the Argeneau clan has switched from "feeding off the hoof" (taking blood directly from an unwitting donor) to using bagged blood. And I like how Lissie being unable to use bagged blood (since she can see it through the bag) is the impetus from bringing a human into this world, which gives the reader a chance to learn about the world that Sands has crafted.

The story wasn't perfect. I don't remember a good explanation for the mental powers that the Argeneaus have (though that could just be my forgetting). And there were some parts of the story that I saw coming from the first. But she still managed to throw me a couple times by crafting the store differently than I had expected. For the most part, though, I knew what was coming. (eg. I knew who was behind the staking). But that doesn't always bother me. Because most of the time, it feels like the logical progression.

The writing was ok - not the best I've ever read but far, far from the worst. It was, however, good enough to keep me engaged in the story. And that, for me, is more important than any of the technical parts of the writing.

A word about the audio book edition - readers can make or break a book for me. I've listened to some books that, if I were to read them, I would thoroughly enjoy. But hearing them read by a particular reader destroys my good feelings about the book. I've also listed to some books in which the reader has made the book come even more alive for me. Victoria McGee is the reader for this book and she falls somewhere in the middle. She kept the story moving, didn't break me from the reality of the world and used a few distinctive voices for different characters. But she didn't make me believe that she was each of these characters, as some of the best do. I was very much aware that I was being read to rather than feeling like I was watching the story unfold before me.

I am looking forward to reading or listening to more books in this series. I love finding an unusual take on something that most people "know". And the Argeneau series does just that for the vampire genre.



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2012 A to Z Challenge

Lindsey over at Babies, Books and Signs (another great Mommy Reading Blogger that I love to read) is doing a challenge for 2012 called the A to Z Challenge

Here are the technical details from her blog:

This challenge will run from January 1st, 2012 until December 31st, 2012.
You can join anytime.
If you are blogger, leave the link to your actual post about this challenge.
If you are not a blogger, leave a link to where you will be keeping track of this challenge.


So there are two different ways you can set up your own A-Z challenge.

A - Make a list now of 26 books, picking one for each letter of the alphabet. For example: A - Atonement B- Black Beauty C - The Count of Monte Cristo D - Dances with Dragons etc.

OR

B - The lazy way (how I do it) : Make a list on your blog from A-Z. Throughout the year, as you go along, add the books you are reading to the list. Hope that by the end of the year you have read one book for each letter. Towards the end of the year, you can check and see which letters you are missing and find books to fit.

Each month, I will add another challenge to this main challenge. It might to read a book with both A and Z in the title or to read a book with 3 words that all start with the same letter. I might host a few random giveaways too for good measure.

So to join along....
1. Write a blog post about this challenge and whether you are going go with A or B.
2. Add the button to your blog.
3. Attach yourself to the linky.
4. Follow my blog so that you can see when I post the monthly challenge!

I, of course, will be going with option B.  In the long run, it seems the better way to go, since I have "Ooh shiny!" syndrome (too many books that catch my attention too quickly).  I'll start up a page with my list for the A to Z books.  Keep an eye out for a page later today (it will be at the top of the blog) that will link to my individual challenge pages.

2012 A to Z Reading Challenge Log

(Note: I am backdating this post so it doesn't show up as a new pot when I write it. This will be linked to from a separate page that will list my logs for all my challenges.)

These are the books I'm reading for the 2012 A to Z Reading Challenge.

A.
B. 
C. 
D. 
E. 
F.
G. 
H. 
I. 
J. 
K.
L.
M.
N.
O.
P.
Q. A Quick Bite by Lynsay Sands (completed 1/5/12)
R.
S.
T.
U.
V.
W.
X.
Y.
Z.