Glass Houses (Morganville Vampires, Book 1)
by Rachel Caine
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Book Summary Information
Author: Rachel CaineBrand: NAL Jam
Edition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-10-03
ISBN: 0451219945
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: NAL Jam
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780451219947
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Glass Houses (Morganville Vampires, Book 1)
Book Review: Impressive urban fantasy feel
Summary: 5 Stars
Claire Danvers is living on the crummiest floor of the crummiest dorm in the college town of Morganville, Texas, but she could handle the rundown facilities if it weren't for the hazing. Gorgeous it-girl Monica hates Claire and they have a full-out girl fight complete with slaps, punches, and a tumble down the stairs for Claire before she realizes that Monica isn't just mean--she's dangerous. To get away from the escalating violence, Claire leaves her dorm and becomes the fourth housemate at Michael Glass' frat-house-sized mansion in town. But though Michael, Shane, and Eve are good people who gradually start accepting Claire as a friend and almost a little sister, her troubles are just beginning. She learns that Morganville is run by powerful vampire masters, but since no one in the Glass House is under vampiric protection, they quickly run afoul of the establishment. There's also a magic book the vampires are looking for, a dark secret Michael is keeping, and the constant threat of death for all the main characters. What's not to like?
I'm thrilled to read a story with a college setting because I feel like YA doesn't want to deal with characters who have left high school, and adult paranormal novels don't usually introduce characters until they're in their mid-twenties. This means that there's a whole 4-6 years of human experience at college that keeps getting bypassed in fiction. When I was in undergrad, I had the option of reading about highschoolers or about independent adults because I couldn't find anyone who was writing about college students, so it's nice to have discovered Rachel Caine. Claire is a whiz kid sixteen-year-old at college, and her housemates are all eighteen, so they're still the right ages for YA, though the book itself has a slightly older vibe.
The overall tone seems more like an urban fantasy than a young adult novel, and I mean that as a compliment. Claire doesn't care about popularity, isn't only slightly concerned about her appearance, and doesn't fall truly, madly, deeply in love at first sight. The surface stuff doesn't matter as much because most of Claire's and everybody else's time is spent walking the fine line of survival in Morganville. There's a fair bit of violence and most of it is very realistic, thanks to Monica's love of watching people suffer, so younger teens might want to think twice before picking this one up, but adult readers will find much to appreciate.
The supporting characters are amazing. Eve is a pleasant, happy goth girl, but under the surface she's troubled about her past and seems to be hiding some severe emotional scars--then again, so is everyone else. Shane is big and friendly, but he's still grieving his little sister's death in a house fire, and he's hardcore in his defense of Michael, who he treats like a brother. When Claire first meets Michael, he's pretty harsh, but he has good reasons to be suspicious of strangers, and his big secret really caught me by surprise. Michael is a talented musician and he's the glue that holds the makeshift family at the Glass House together. The characters are all reasonably layered, and their interactions feel realistic and in keeping with their personalities.
The romantic side of the story worked well, too. Claire's attracted to both Shane and Michael, but it's not instant not true love for either guy, and there's no love triangle. As time passes, it becomes clearer that Claire and Shane are more of a natural fit, and though Shane started out seeming like an amiable slacker, he has hidden depths and makes himself more of a viable romantic option. But there's still no happy settled couples by the story's end, which is a perfect start for a long series. Claire and Shane just make sense for the present, but if Michael can find a way around his unusual problem, he might end up being Claire's longterm guy, because of his grown-up-ness and stability.
Some other things I liked: The Texas prairie setting is inventive, and not something you see often in supernatural fiction. Claire has been the victim of extreme bullying, and it's done a number on her self esteem, but she toughens up and stands up to Monica and does some other tremendously brave heroine stuff. Also, Claire's problems never just melt away--she has to actually think situations through and hunt down solutions. Glass Houses is a short, dynamic book with a nail-biting final showdown and a great ending that solves almost all of the immediate life-threatening problems but sets up a host of new problems and circumstances for future books.
Summary of Glass Houses (Morganville Vampires, Book 1)
College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation, where the popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks in the school's social scene: somewhere less than zero.
When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don't show many signs of life. But they'll have Claire's back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood.
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