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Cheese variety number one: The main character was called Meena, her brother was called Jon (or Jonathan); their surname was Harper. Meena and Jonathan Harper, MEENA and JONATHAN Harper. Now why does
I was in kitchen just now, and I attemped to cut a piece of cheese to put on a cracker, but (because I'm a bit of a disaster) I slammed the knife down too hard and had a cheese EXPLOSION on my hands. Why am I telling you this? Because the phrase 'an explosion of cheese' pretty much sums up this book.Cheese variety number one: The main character was called Meena, her brother was called Jon (or Jonathan); their surname was Harper. Meena and Jonathan Harper, MEENA and JONATHAN Harper. Now why does that sound familiar...oh yes because it is an complete rip off of Mina and Jonathan Harker, from Dracula. Now I understand that most vampire novels are probably going to contain some reference to Bram Stoker's classic novel; but the key word here is 'SOME', there is such a thing as taking it too far.
In fact, there is one scene where, even the heroine herself relises that she may be tempting fate and decides to have a quick skim read of Dracula (in case it contains any tips) After that she gets quite distressed because, and I quote, 'This (Mina) was a character who, Meena remebered right away, fell in love with Dracula and...' Hey, hold on a minute! Mina does NOT fall in love with Dracula! Why do so many people think that Dracula is a love story? Are they getting it confused with Twilight? Mina spends most of the book being oblivious/scared of Dracula, before she puts her efforts into trying to kill him! Authors, if you are going to refer to other books, please get the details right! And anyone who thinks Mina is in love with Dracula, find me a quote to prove it.
Cheese variety number two: Meena's first love interest is called The Prince of Darkness. Enough said.
Cheese variety number three: There is a vampire hunter called Alaric Wulf. Okay for arguments sake, I will forgive the fact that his name is Alaric, and Vampire Diaries got there first, Meg Cabot might have just liked the name. Do I suddenly find that his character is original and capitivating? No. It's like the author has plucked Pritkin, fresh from the Cassie Palmer series (by Karen Chance), and thought to herself, 'How can I make this character less likable, intresting and believable?' Well, considering the fact that he spends the first half of the book complaining that his sheets don't have a high enough thread count; then sees the heroine and starts acting like a toddller in love.
(To demostrate this I have constructed a imaginary conversation with Alaric:
Me-(cooing)'Do you love her?'
Alaric- (quietly) 'Yes.'
Me-(still acting creepy)'Whhhy?'
Alaric-(shyly)'Cos she's pretty.'
Yes, that was the extent of the relationship.) I would say Meg Cabot has done pretty well at reinventing Alaric as a character who is devoid of interesting features.
I could go on to list enough cheesyness to fill a large silver platter but I'll stop now, because I don't really want to put myself through it again. I restrained from giving it one star because the ridiculousness did serve a amusing purpose occasionally, although not amusing enough to convince me to read book number two (I'm serious, don't try and make me)
However what annoyed me the most was that, both the book and the heroine sold themsleves as something/one that went against trends ('Sick of hearing about vampires? So is Meena Harper' reads the blurb) and they were both a perfect example of a cliché.
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This book was so annoying. First of all – I loved Princess diaries, so I'm not a hater of Mrs. Cabot. (And I also like dogs, for the record)
But Insatiable was just too much for me to bear. Characters were flat, main heroine was a silly girl surrounded by even sillier people.
The Main hero – irresistible vampire Lucien is either trying to make a point how harmless and human-loving he is, or he's demonstrating his powers by threatening his half-brother.
Vampire hu
(Warning: contains heavy sarcasm!)This book was so annoying. First of all – I loved Princess diaries, so I'm not a hater of Mrs. Cabot. (And I also like dogs, for the record)
But Insatiable was just too much for me to bear. Characters were flat, main heroine was a silly girl surrounded by even sillier people.
The Main hero – irresistible vampire Lucien is either trying to make a point how harmless and human-loving he is, or he's demonstrating his powers by threatening his half-brother.
Vampire hunter from Vatican is bullying whoever gets near, he is swinging his sword (called Señor Sticky) around and he is working his butt of trying to save Meena's dog, because – I don't know, it's Meena's beloved pet and he has nothing to do other than fighting furious horde of vampires - his sworn enemies?
No one is paying attention, when Meena uses her gift and predicts their deaths – why on earth would they care about something like that? Let's just go and try, maybe she is wrong this time, no pressure.
And did I mention that Lucien is The prince of the darkness? Because it was mentioned in the book like ten million times. If I think about, you could easily start reading in the middle of the book because all the interesting (and also not so interesting) events were recapitulated regularly.
The story itself isn't very interesting, it's simple and isn't surprising at all. It's just wacky.
In this book nuns carry guns, vampires dressed in Gucci throw parties and everybody talks about main heroine's sex life. And Jack Bauer is very, very important! (Jack Bauer – the dog, of course)
In light of recent events (aka books) it's former 1.5 rating is leaning more against 2. But still not my cup of tea.
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Thi
I'm so out of step with the other reviews that there must have been something I didn't get about this novel, but come on, it's light vampire chick lit, not Foucault. I like Meg Cabot, her YA more than her adult fiction, but have read most of her work at one point or another (and absolutely loved the last Princess Diaries book). Point: I'm not a hater, and was really looking forward to this one, a semi-satire about vampire obsession set in NYC among celebs and soap operas. What's not to like?This book is TERRIBLE. The main character is a personality-free Mary Sue (who, like many of Cabot's adult heroines, seems curiously naive, which is why I think she writes teens better) who has a Stackhouse-esque ability to predict people's deaths. She falls in lurve with a hunky vampire, who is being hunted by a vampire hunter (obvs), who she also seems to have some sort of feelings for although he beats her up and terrorizes her. Various stupid subplots about vampire hunters, vampire brothers, and so forth continue, most of them boring. The clunky cardboard characters clunk through the book, at which point I skipped ahead just so I could say I had read it. Totally terrible, and I've read a lot of garbage this summer.
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I also really enjoyed Alaric. When his character was first introduced I thought he would be some sort of villain, being a vampire hunter and all. But he was a tentative ally. Like Lucas and Balthazar in Evernight. He was funny in his completely arrogant and self-centered way. He thinks so highly of himself and his money and his silk bath robe. But he was still entirely lovable. I wish Meena could just have them both. :P Yes, his name is Alaric, like the vampire hunter in The Vampire Diaries, which I dont think is ironic, but a bit annoying and way too obvious. Also, Meena was the name of the heroine in Dracula, for those who didnt already know that.
I actually didnt like Meena that much. She seemed like such a flake. Both Lucien and Alaric love how she is so different from anyone they have met before. She is always saying or doing things that surprise them. When Lucien first met her he actually thought she might be crazy, literally crazy. She might have just had ADD or something. Lucien could read minds and he still had no idea what she was talking about half the time. It made her come off as ditsy and stupid to me. Like she really didnt understand what was going on around her. But she writes for a TV show so she cant be stupid.
I heard that Overbite wasnt nearly as good as this one, but I am still excited to read it and find out what direction the story will take. Will Lucien come back and convince her he is worth the risk? Or will she end up with Alaric? Like I said, I like predictable PNRs, where Meena would end up with Lucien and live happily ever after. But as long as the ending isnt sad I dont mind different or unexpected sometimes. Thats why I enjoyed Eden and Wicked Lovely so much.
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This was a good read. Very solid, slightly predictable, plot that has your standard Vampire, Vampire Hunter and the girl who's stuck in the middle, with a variety of characters to chose amongst your favorites. The writing is obviously very skilled but it took a bit to get use to the multiple point of views from different characters. It didn't take away from the experience but ther I think I've only read a couple of Cabot's books before and they were okay books, so I wasn't sure I'd like this one.
This was a good read. Very solid, slightly predictable, plot that has your standard Vampire, Vampire Hunter and the girl who's stuck in the middle, with a variety of characters to chose amongst your favorites. The writing is obviously very skilled but it took a bit to get use to the multiple point of views from different characters. It didn't take away from the experience but there are only a handful of books that can pull that off for me, this one being one of them, but with some effort.
I wish I could say that I liked the main character, Meena, but for some reason I had a hard time connecting with her. She's gifted with sensing death and all in all an interesting character but had a very uninteresting job, well at least to me. She's a dialog writer for a soap opera called Insatiable and the corporation wants a bigger demographic so they want to copy-cat a rival soap, Lust, that's stars Vamps. Needless to say that Meena is sick of Vamps and goes on saying that she doesn't understand how women can find Vampires attractive and hot when really all he's doing is trying to resist killing you (Twi-haters will grin and nod at that) which is true, but intentionally ironic at the same time since this is indeed a Vampire story.
She was an interesting character but I found little spark for a main, and didn't really enjoy her role till the boys came in to play.
Lucien on the other hand is complicated, presumptuous, dark with a great tempter which I really enjoyed. He's very commanding, strong but also gentle, very sexy in a Vamp.
I really just loved Alaric Wulf, who was once a kid who lived on the street and found his calling as one of the Palatine Guards. Comic book lover-Goofy watch wearing-needs to work on his people skills-Demon Killers who totally gained a few extra points just because he has a sword (no lie) that he calls Señor Sticky, and yes, my head is totally in the gutter and obviously Cabot's head was too if she purposely used that name for a mans sword.
While this did hold my interest for the most part, there were still some spots that dragged on, but all in all, Insatiable had good humor, some action, mystery and romance to please my paranormal craving and thought this was a decent read, I wasn't blown away by it, but overall it's a good start to what I'm guessing is a series. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue, but any Cabot fan should get a kick out of this one.
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I totally agree with what people have said - that she is cashing in both on the vampire craze, AND the big backlash against the vampire craze. She manages to do so pretty successfully, offering a book that has enough action and romance to hook the usual vampire fan, and also enough humor and parody to get a few good
With Insatiable, Meg Cabot has thrown her hat into the ring of paranormal fiction. She's started a series that is both about vampires, and about hating vampires and the vampire craze.I totally agree with what people have said - that she is cashing in both on the vampire craze, AND the big backlash against the vampire craze. She manages to do so pretty successfully, offering a book that has enough action and romance to hook the usual vampire fan, and also enough humor and parody to get a few good chuckles out of people sick to death of Twilight and its like. There's at least one speech that is almost verbatim out of New Moon, which I found funny and sad at the same time. Insatiable also has some humor all its own (Senor Sticky?), which I expect from Meg Cabot.
What really struck me was this: in a lot of ways, this book is the anti-Twilight. It's like Meg Cabot read Twilight and decided to write a book that highlights everything she doesn't like about it. Meena is much more self-sufficient than Bella: she is older, has gone to college, has a job she likes, her own apartment, and close friends. She doesn't have a boyfriend, and this is a big gap in her life, but as we see by the end of the book, she is not so desperate to have a relationship that she will compromise her own morals or ideals. And the key is, for Bella, Edward doesn't really ask her for anything she isn't willing to give up (whether you agree with her decisions or not). Lucien represents something very different. He isn't a BAD guy; he's probably the safest and most moral of all the vampires, and so Meena couldn't really have picked a better vampire to date. But his ideas on their future relationship differ greatly from Edward's toward Bella. While Edward would pretty much do anything to keep Bella human (and therefore keep her from suffering, as he sees it), Lucien just ASSUMES Meena will change for him. It's even implied that he would sort of trick her into it if he could; having bit her twice already he's clearly already on the way there. Lucien's also been spying on Meena, and while Edward did this too, it never creeped me out like it did with Lucien, probably because of Meena's reaction.
Meena finds Lucien's behavior, intentions, and some of his Super Vampire Prince Powers (like the dragon thing) seriously intimidating and creepy, in a way Bella never felt about Edward. I suppose you could say that Meena's reactions to Lucien are more "normal" than Bella's toward Edward, but then again, Bella always said she wasn't normal. :D
Anyway, like I said, Meena makes a stand against Lucien's behavior and makes some tough decisions about her love life and career. It's admirable watching it, but I was sad to see where the book was going. I LOVED Twilight, and I loved its love story, and so I was hoping for something along those lines.... BUT, and here's the kicker: I agree with Meena's choices. I found Lucien very presumptuous and a little intimidating, too, so while I am Team Edward all the way, the way this story was presented - I was Team Jacob! (Er, Team Alaric... but you know what I mean.) Cabot successfully presented things in a way that I went for the non-vampire's side in this one. I was surprised and intrigued.
(In fact, the whole Edward/Lucien vs. Jacob/Alaric comparison is pretty easy to make based on their personalities. And yet, I still picked the other team this time.)
I will really be looking forward to the next book. HOWEVER. There is a big problem with repetition in this book. Seriously, there were MANY times where a phrase or idea was repeated within the same page or a few pages, and it really started to get annoying after a while. It seems like an editing fail to me - one I can't believe got as far as it did.
Here's where I'd normally say how much I recommended the book... but... as there are lots of spoilers in this review, I am hoping no one will read it that hasn't already finished the book.
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Don't even bother reading this, for a lack of a better word, novel. To borrow a very popular phrase and in the words of Stupid of Today. I can't even. Haha. Which, to be fair, is usually reserved for something good and maybe even positive. Something that's overwhelming. Which this certainly wasn't. Nope. Not at all.
You know, I had this whole elaborate take down prepared, this entire thing lined up where I'd disparage this blow by blow. Complete with witty Red Letter Media references, and everyt
Don't even bother reading this, for a lack of a better word, novel. To borrow a very popular phrase and in the words of Stupid of Today. I can't even. Haha. Which, to be fair, is usually reserved for something good and maybe even positive. Something that's overwhelming. Which this certainly wasn't. Nope. Not at all.
You know, I had this whole elaborate take down prepared, this entire thing lined up where I'd disparage this blow by blow. Complete with witty Red Letter Media references, and everything. But the thing is, yes I can let you drown, but I can't bring this ship into Tortuga all by me onesies, savvy? In other words, I am pressed for time and warmly pressed up against something else. Something supposedly silken.
I'll admit, I am guilty of gullibility here, I fell for this book for its cover. It's catchy, it definitely sucked me in. But in the end, it was what was within that totally sucked. And not in a fun way, relax it's a double entendre. But this offering, there's nothing good here. It's not funny. Scary. Or sardonic. It's not even amusing enough to be a self parody.
Simply put, this book is offensive. It's an insult to the readers, writers, dragons, it's insulting to Charlaine Harris, whom Cabot was ripping off here, and Harris is not that great to begin with, so it's shameful on so many levels. And it's insulting to Dracula.
Last words, here I can't even say; still a better love story than Twilight. It really wasn't. Trees didn't die for this. Paper is too sacred to be used this callously and casually. That's the true horror. It is this randomness they bludgeon us with and expect us not to care. But that's how we bear the blunt of humanity. I really really hope the dead trees haunt Cabot and her publishers.
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This is just such a different vampire story than anything I've read. There is so many references to popular 'vampire culture,' even my girl Sookie gets a shout out. Cabot i
Leave it to Meg Cabot to take something as dark, brooding and oh-so-serious as vampires and turn it into something fun, funny and frivolous! Just when you think you can't take another vampire book, she throws something a little different into the mix. (Although for the record, I am still riding the vampire wave and loving it.)This is just such a different vampire story than anything I've read. There is so many references to popular 'vampire culture,' even my girl Sookie gets a shout out. Cabot is poking fun at the 'vampire phenomenon' and yet she draws you into this vampire story! Sneaky, sneaky!
If you've read an liked any of Meg's other adult novels you will definitely be a fan of this one. It was a little slow to start, but soon after you won't be able to turn the pages fast enough. There is a light romance among the comical aspects.... signature Meg Cabot. I'd even go as far to say that this novel would appeal to older teens that are fans of Cabot's other books.
The characters where a lot of fun as well. And it was great to get to see the story from their eyes, through the alternating chapters. I don't think I could even pick a favorite! Even the secondary characters like Meena's crazy neighbor left a lasting impression.
It's summer time, if you're looking for something easy to read and entertaining, this would be the perfect beach read. I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel!
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The novel follows Meena Harper, a dialogue writer on a major soap opera called Insatiable. She desperately wants to be promoted to head writer, but loses the promotion. She shares an apartment in a nice old coop building with her unemployed brother. And she can tell you when and how you're going to die.
This last thing is a real problem in her life. She doesn't like to ride the subway, as there are simply too many people tha
This may be my favorite Meg Cabot novel to date. And that's saying a lot.The novel follows Meena Harper, a dialogue writer on a major soap opera called Insatiable. She desperately wants to be promoted to head writer, but loses the promotion. She shares an apartment in a nice old coop building with her unemployed brother. And she can tell you when and how you're going to die.
This last thing is a real problem in her life. She doesn't like to ride the subway, as there are simply too many people that she feels compelled to warn about their future demises. And, as the novel opens, she meets a young immigrant that's going to die within a week. Meena's action here will come to direct many of the events that follow.
The other complication in Meena's life? She's finally found an interesting man, one that she values as highly as she does her job. And he's a vampire.
This book is a departure for Meg Cabot. It has many of her familiar traits--the heroine with a layabout brother, close friends with complications of their own, and a snarky attitude. However, it feels like many of her romances were training for this book. While it does deal with vampires, it's also the most original vampire novel I've read in some time. It deals with consent in a far deeper fashion than most of the vampire novels I've read. In Cabot's book, a human must be bitten three times by a vampire and drink that vampire's blood in order to be turned.
Meena can't stand vampires, even after she learns that her boyfriend is one. But others don't share her feelings, and Cabot explores the many reasons they'd be willing to allow those bites.
Far from jumping on the vampire bandwagon, Cabot has done her best to not only write a steamy romance but also deconstruct the reasons why so many people are drawn to vampires. I recommend this book highly.
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this is the face of guilty pleasure reading. ridiculous plot, vampire/"wulf" overkill, soapy characters, multiple characters falling in love in about 20 minutes. i think the soap opera subplot was brilliant as this whole book read like one gigantic, over-the-top vampire soap opera. thrilled to find out it's a series. i laughed and laughed the whole time i was reading. eve
my favorite line- "lucien was furious...but even when furious, he was conscientious about litter." who wouldn't laugh at that?this is the face of guilty pleasure reading. ridiculous plot, vampire/"wulf" overkill, soapy characters, multiple characters falling in love in about 20 minutes. i think the soap opera subplot was brilliant as this whole book read like one gigantic, over-the-top vampire soap opera. thrilled to find out it's a series. i laughed and laughed the whole time i was reading. even though the cover was an embarassment, i simply covered it with something more high-brow when i was out in public.
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Pity it would be pretty much the only time I actua
This is the first Meg Cabot book I've ever read and I read it based on the strength of a very good review for it at a book review blog. So I reserved it immediately at my local library as although I quite like a lot of vampire novels, the craze is almost out of control and I thought a tongue-in-cheek look at the phenomenon would be funny. The blurb sounded good, the quote on the back (which I mentioned before, in my Library post) had me laughing.Pity it would be pretty much the only time I actually laughed.
This book was all shades of disappointing. For a start, it took forever for the main character Meena to even meet the love interest that turns out to be a vampire, the Prince of Darkness, Lucien Antonescu. In fact the only reason I think that I even finished this book is because my fiance's daughter was here on the weekend and subjected me to what felt like a 123hr marathon of The Hills and The City and this book was only marginally a better alternative. It's page 70 before Lucien and Meena actually cross paths but for some reason, it feels more like page 700. Maybe because absolutely nothing happens in the 69 pages leading up to that. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Meena Harper is a not-so-ordinary girl living in NYC working as a writer on a television show named Insatiable. They're getting killed in the ratings by fellow soapie Lust who have introduced a vampire character to their line up as you can't get enough of vampires these days. The powers that be at Insatiable have decided to do the same thing, much to Meena's chagrin. They've also promoted the intolerable Shoshanna, neice of the executive producer's and co-creators of the show. Meena has a huge disdain for the vampire trend and voices it to no avail. Insatiable are going vampire and there's nothing she can do about it.
Meena has an unusal talent of knowing when everyone she comes into contact with is going to die and how. This led to her being nicknamed the You're Gonna Die Girl in high school as she sought to warn people of their grisly endings and possibly, trying to avoid them. So of course when she meets Lucien she can't tell at all when he's doing to die, because, you know he's already dead. Except she doesn't know this yet.
The Prince of Darkness is in town to investigate the dead bodies of several young females that have been bitten and drained of all their blood. Lucien may be a vampire, but he's civilised! No killing while he's the Prince, or the vamps in question face his wrath. Drinking from blood banks and willing donors only! Someone has been killing so he's flown in to see who has been brave enough to disobey him.
Usually I love a dark and brooding hero (vampire or no vampire, I'm not picky) but to be honest, I couldn't care two hoots about Lucien, probably because I wasn't given the chance to. Oh, he's a tortured vampire, turned against his will and has had several tragedies in his lifetime. Yawn, haven't we all? Except for the whole being unwilling vampires bit. But I just didn't feel invested in him at all. Normally I'm not bothered when heroines jump into bed with the hero in like, 2.3 seconds but this time I was actually pretty skeeved out by it. Thankfully we're spared the details in a fade-to-black type manouvre.
Adding to the confusion/storyline is Alaric Wulf. He's a sort of vampire slayer. Without being as funny as Buffy or as scary as the lessers in the Black Dagger Brotherhood books. He's tortured too and has never been loved in his life. Of course when he meets Meena (trying to extort from her where the PoD is) he's immediately taken with her elfishness. Her resemblance to Joan of Arc, except cuter. And cue: Love Triangle.
Sooo we have Lucien, PoD hunting rogue killing vampires. We have Alaric (who works for the Pope, btw and they know all about vampires and stuff existing) hunting the PoD and every other vamp he finds along the way. We have Meena trying to stop Alaric hunting the PoD coz it'll get several persons killed, which she has seen with her visions. And also, she loves Lucien and she doesn't want him dead. Well, even more dead than he is, anyway. Even though she's only known him about 3 minutes, and he bit her without her even knowing about it. That's just rude! Bad vampire etiquette Lucien, you should know better especially as you're the Prince. You had permission to bite her (during the sexing it up as it occurred before she knew that Lucien was of the undead lover variety) but not to drink her blood. I think a distinction needs to be made here. Being a willing recipient of a love bite does not mean here, feed on me!
Also, when Meena finds out that Lucien is a vampire, she takes it extremely well. Well she gets a bit dizzy and queasy but it's nothing a soda doesn't fix. Coke ya'all, it's the cure for finding out that your soul mate is a creature you thought only existed in books and on tv. And also, the lovely upstairs neighbours that pretty much introduced her to Lucien? They're vamps too, and she's also cool about this. I don't know about anyone else but I'm pretty sure I'd be freaking my shit out if that ever happened to me and I'd probably revert to a catatonic mess. Hence, I am clearly no good to be a Gamine Heroine in a vampire novel. Meena it seems, is very qualified as she comes good and decides What She Must Do.
Fast forward a bit, there's a vampire war and some stuff happens and some vampires die and then some more vampires die and then random people turn out to be vampires and it's kind of like what the? and there's a few fires and a dragon and then it's kinda the end of the book. Meena chooses now to freak out and take to the convent in a windowless room to avoid seeing Lucien, except then she goes back to her apartment and there he is anyway. So that was a waste of time. He asks her to be his vampire bride (I'm sorry, I cannot type that phrase without thinking of Franklin in True Blood S3. I do not care much for AB's interpretation a lot of the time, but the guy who plays Franklin with such abandoned insanity is made of win) and go live in like, Thailand or somewhere. Although I think a nation so near the equator would be a bad choice, but that's just me.
Without giving away the ending, there kind of isn't one, which I do not like. I don't know if this is supposed to be a series, if we're supposed to see Alaric, Lucien and Meena do this all again sometime in the future (and if it starts to go by way of the Anita Blake books, I'm backing the heck away right now) but I don't care enough to google it.
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I mean... It was so close to being bad that it was comical. But then, it was meant to be this way, wasn't it?
Meena, a dialogue writer for a soap opera called Insatiable, is an ordinary girl with not so ordinary gift. She can predict how people she meets will die. Not a very useful gift, but there you have it. Other than that her life is pretty normal, with normal problems. Like an unemployed brother, who has a crush on one of the stars of Meena's show. Or a bitchy co-worker, Unexpected delight!
I mean... It was so close to being bad that it was comical. But then, it was meant to be this way, wasn't it?
Meena, a dialogue writer for a soap opera called Insatiable, is an ordinary girl with not so ordinary gift. She can predict how people she meets will die. Not a very useful gift, but there you have it. Other than that her life is pretty normal, with normal problems. Like an unemployed brother, who has a crush on one of the stars of Meena's show. Or a bitchy co-worker, who takes credit without doing any work. Or a nosy neighbor, trying out her matchmaking skills on Meena. And to top it all off, the rival show is killing their ratings with a vampire storyline. Ugh, vampires! The misogynists of supernatural world.
Now bosses want a vampire story for Insatiable too and suddenly - there's vampires everywhere. And that hot European guy who saved Meena and her dog from killer bats attacking them, yup, he's a vampire too. Not just any vampire either, but a freaking prince of darkness himself. The anointer of all things evil. But, like, with a conscience and a moral code and stuff.
Enter the vampire hunter and his Vatican sponsored band of merry nuns and priests. I kid you not. They were the goofiest monster hunters since Scooby gang.
Suddenly, everyone wants a piece of poor Meena. Some of them literally. Because I guess knowing how people die is a cool trick and it could be attained with Meena's blood. Can't they all just let her have a happy ever after with her vampire boyfriend? Jeez!
Oh lord! Meg Cabot for sure knows how to make a satirical event out of a book. I certainly enjoyed it.
Over and out
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"It's simple, really," Alaric Wulf said. " Lucien Antonescu is the prince of darkness."Jon nodded. "Yeah," he said. "We know. He's got a castle and stuff."
Meg Cabot's writing style was so entertaining. Funny scenes included.
As I mentioned in one of my reading updates I found this book at home and picked it up. I had not high expectations because; why would this book just lie there? So I started to read the first pages and I was about to just drop it because you can t
"It's simple, really," Alaric Wulf said. " Lucien Antonescu is the prince of darkness."Jon nodded. "Yeah," he said. "We know. He's got a castle and stuff."
Meg Cabot's writing style was so entertaining. Funny scenes included.
As I mentioned in one of my reading updates I found this book at home and picked it up. I had not high expectations because; why would this book just lie there? So I started to read the first pages and I was about to just drop it because you can tell that it is not ya but I don't know why I finally did not. And I am happy that I did not because this book was a modern vampire story and absolutely NOT like Twilight. But yes... it had a love triangle! 💔
The main characters:
Meena HarperMeena is the female main character in this story. (Bonus info: In the German edition of Insatiable the soap opera Meena works for is called Eternity as well as the book's title.) She is confident and ambitious, not like that typical weak female main chara. who has to be rescued by somebody. She can defend herself and she is obsessed with her job which is writing dialogues for a popular tv show.
That's the bonus: short hair + owner of a dog named Jack Bauer + the ability to anticipate the death of other people! She is able to see the death of other far before the story begins and I think that's something uncommon. You always follow the story of people who experience their abilities first but Meena already knows what she can. Great, isn't it? Lucien Antonescu
"it's only by studying the mistakes of the past," Lucien
said mildly, "that we can even have a future"
Of course Lucien is that handsome, rich and strong 💪 vampire-guy! What did I even expect? At the beginning of the story he even teaches history! 👨💼 HISTORY! Well... of course he also has an annoying brother (Dimitri) who wants to be the vampire of vampires. What a pity that Lucien has everything under control. Sorry not sorry Dimitri. Things I did not like about him 1) his obstinacy + 2) (view spoiler)[he can transform into a dragon! Why...?🐉 (hide spoiler)]
Alaric Wulf (alias "The Third Wheel")He is the vampire hunter in the story and owns a sword which he calls "Senor Sticky" or "Senor Stinky". I don't remember. He loves Meena although he had a bad first impression of her. Unfortunately Meena is in love with the ruler of vampires. But.. is that really the truth?
things I did not like1) Jon Harper; Meena's annoying brother who does not go to work and spends time at his sister's appartment. He thinks he knows everything and his actions are so pointless.
2) These complicated names like Shoshona.
⭐️ A entertaining, especially funny book. This could have been a good standalone! I don't have motivation to read the whole series but I am probably gonna add some of Meg Cabot's books into my tbr list. ⭐️
PS: I was so suprised when Meg Cabot mentioned the movie "Astro-Boy". I really appreciate that. 🤖👦
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.+:｡(ﾉ･ω･)ﾉﾞVisit my blog for more reviews and recommendations or take a look at my bookstagram. Thank you for reading this review!
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adj.
Impossible to satiate or satisfy: an insatiable appetite; an insatiable hunger for knowledge.
Meena Harper is having a bad week. Instead of having the type of precognition that could actually be useful, say like picking winning lottery numbers, Meena's gift is more like a curse. How would you like to meet someone and instantly know how they are going to die? Not exactly a great way to make new friends either. To make matter's worse, her recently unemployed brother
Definition: in·sa·tia·bleadj.
Impossible to satiate or satisfy: an insatiable appetite; an insatiable hunger for knowledge.
Meena Harper is having a bad week. Instead of having the type of precognition that could actually be useful, say like picking winning lottery numbers, Meena's gift is more like a curse. How would you like to meet someone and instantly know how they are going to die? Not exactly a great way to make new friends either. To make matter's worse, her recently unemployed brother is squatting in her apartment and her annoying neighbor Mary Lou seems to be stalking her at the elevators. But it gets worse. Meena was passed over for her dream job at the soap opera she currently writes for. Now, thanks to new boss and archenemy Shoshana, Meena's got to write about the one subject she can't stand- vampires.
"Get over it, Harper, Shoshona had said. They're everywhere. You can't escape them.
It wasn't fair. Why couldn't she escape stupid vampires?"- page 284
Things just couldn't get any worse, right? Wrong. No, better yet- Dead Wrong. Meena's whole world comes crashing down the night she meets Lucien. He's a man that seems to have it all- he's a prince, gorgeous and did I mention filthy rich? At first she thinks she hit the jackpot. Then Meena soon learns all that glitters is not gold. In fact in Meena's case, you could say, all that lives, doesn't always have a pulse. Getting involved with Lucien puts Meena in a world of danger she never imagined possible. If she survives long enough to avoid the Palantine vampire hunting guard hammering at her door, not to the mention hordes of killer bats on the loose, will she lose her own soul in the process?
"When she got through all this- and she would, indeed, get through all this. She was going to have to.
What other choice did she have?- she was going to write a book. She had to get the word out there. It was the only way she was going to save other women from what she was going through now.
Women are From Venus. Vampires Are From Hell." – page 328
Meg Cabot couldn't have chosen a better title for this book. I devoured all 563 pages in twenty-four hours and was still not satisfied. Just like it's namesake, I felt INSATIABLE, wanting more and more!
Meg Cabot took a subject completely over-saturated in the media right now and wove her own original twist into a fresh story line. I loved how the narrative unfolded between the alternating viewpoints of the different characters. There were so many well-defined, quirky personalities that it constantly kept the plot buzzing with excitement and humor. Alaric was by far my favorite one. I loved everything about his character; his rock-hard abs, his penchant for Betty & Veronica comics, his fondness for Senor Sticky, and his no-nonsense outlook on vampires. But more importantly, I loved the way Alaric's scenes sizzled with Meena; so much that I could practically hear them crackle and pop. The way they constantly fired zinger after zinger back at one another reminded me of a well written slap-stick comedy from an era gone by. Supporting characters such as Meena's well-meaning, bumbling brother Jonathan, best friend Leisha and socialite Mary Lou added even more oomph to the book for me. Meena's precognition was also really interesting; I loved how she used her gift to try and help people in a way that was realistic and at times, often poignant.
Instead of jumping on the vampire bandwagon, I believe Cabot sought to gently poke fun at our collective obsession with them. Cabot did a great job deconstructing our society and how/why so many people are enamored with vampires. Consent is a prevalent theme in this book. It takes three bites to become a vampire; people have a choice if they want to keep going back for more. Meena may have hated vampires but not everyone shared the same opinion. I liked that even as she struggled with her own attraction to Lucien, she still didn't want to be indoctrinated into their world. Sure guys like Lucien may be attractive and want to whisk you away on romantic getaways to Thailand, but it's important to remember that under all that glitz and glamor, they're still just a bunch of soulless demons who want to suck your blood.
I've read numerous vampire novels, both within the YA and adult genres. This book was by far one of the most entertaining and downright addictive vampire books I have read in a long time and I highly recommend it.
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So as I said above, once I started reading this novel, I had difficulty staying focused on it. I found it irritating, and slow. I promised myself that I would give it a chance, at least until page 100,
First of all, let me explain my star rating. The first part of the book was extremely slow to the point where I was asking myself why I bothered to keep on reading, so 1 star. The second half of the book was entertaining, funny and exciting – 3 stars. Put them together and you get a 2 star rating.So as I said above, once I started reading this novel, I had difficulty staying focused on it. I found it irritating, and slow. I promised myself that I would give it a chance, at least until page 100, just because I hate giving up on books and because I have heard such great things about Meg Cabot's books.
I am glad I stuck it out. I really did enjoy the second half of the novel and apparently what the author was trying to do – poke fun at the vampire craze – came across much better in the second half. By then, I was looking for all the vampire references and giggling when I did find them.
Someone is killing girls in New York City and leaving their drained bodies out in the open. This is against the vampire rules, so Lucien, the Prince of Darkness comes out to New York to investigate. He bumps into Meena, our heroine, late one night and rescues her from a swarm of bats. Meena finds that Lucien is different from other men. She cannot sense his death. This intrigues her.
Meena (wasn't there a Mina in Dracula?) is a writer for a soap opera called Insatiable. Meena has a special gift – she can tell when a person is about to die. Meena lives in a very nice apartment building in New York City with her unemployed brother Jon and her dog Jack Bauer. Yes, the dog is named Jack Bauer. And get this – Jack Bauer (the dog) can sense vampires (apparently Pomerians are good at this).
Meena's character is rather dull at first. She worries about her job. She worries about her friends. She covets a rather expensive tote bag that her boss Shoshana has purchased. Meena worries about strangers because she can sense their death. As the book progresses, Meena's character changes into a spunky, kick ass heroine.
There are many memorable characters in the book. Lucien made an excellent Prince of Darkness. Alaric was an absolutely crazed Palatine Guard who wanted to kill all vampires. Dimitri, Lucien's half-brother, played the evil, power-hungry card very well.
An enjoyable aspect of this book was the way that the vampires had infiltrated New York society, down to product placement in a soap opera. The vampire powers were interesting. Lucien could turn into a dragon when challenged.
Once I got into the book, it was fun to catch all the references to other vampire stories and lore and to guess which book or series the author was poking fun at. The pacing of the second half of the book was very good. It was action packed, exhilarating, and at times, hilarious. I understand that this is the first of a series of books for these characters. I am not sure that I would run to buy the sequel.
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I enjoyed it. I was really into it until the end when Meena started accusing Lucien of all these terrible things he had no control over. Im not a huge fan of love triangles because they stress me out. This one wasnt that stressful, more irritating because of Meena's bull crap indecisiveness. I guess Im on team Lucien and not team Alaric. Plus, the connection between Meena and Alaric is not believable at all. And... Senor Sticky? Really?? Que sarcastic eye roll...
No sex, stops at bed
I enjoyed it. I was really into it until the end when Meena started accusing Lucien of all these terrible things he had no control over. Im not a huge fan of love triangles because they stress me out. This one wasnt that stressful, more irritating because of Meena's bull crap indecisiveness. I guess Im on team Lucien and not team Alaric. Plus, the connection between Meena and Alaric is not believable at all. And... Senor Sticky? Really?? Que sarcastic eye roll...
No sex, stops at bedroom door. Which is fine because the story was pretty good.
Overall, I liked it and Im glad to have read it and I will continue with the series. Only because I want Meena to end up with Luien. Oh... and I labeled this with a cliffy because (view spoiler)[Meena doesnt end up with either Lucien or Alaric. (hide spoiler)]
BUY THE BOOK
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Very short review.
Cabot has a very special place in my heart bc I grew up reading and re-reading The Princess Diaries and All American Girl. At first this book seemed a little dated and shallow and I was worried that maybe Cabot's books were better in memory than actuality. But I'm so glad I stuck it out!
⭐️- creative
⭐️- engaging
⭐️- educational/informative (Joan of Arc, Vlad Tepes, vampire folklore, art history)
⭐️- challenges or manipulates literary norms/tropes/valu
Very short review.
Cabot has a very special place in my heart bc I grew up reading and re-reading The Princess Diaries and All American Girl. At first this book seemed a little dated and shallow and I was worried that maybe Cabot's books were better in memory than actuality. But I'm so glad I stuck it out!
⭐️- creative
⭐️- engaging
⭐️- educational/informative (Joan of Arc, Vlad Tepes, vampire folklore, art history)
⭐️- challenges or manipulates literary norms/tropes/values (Self-aware play on Bram Stoker's Dracula; meta structure (soap within a soap))
🚫 - offers underrepresented perspective
Romance manages to be steamy even with all of the sex scenes cut to black.
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Okay, normally I dont hate on books. I see them as entertainment - a view into another person's mind and/or fantasies. They're fun. I learn something new, its a bonus. I only need a strong main character, a decent plot and an ending that doesnt make me puke or scream.
I did lots of these during Cabot's vampire novel. About the only thing I found interesting was when she punts a bat off the top of the building - but not enough amusement to redeem a book that either
*headdesk* *headdesk* *headdesk*Okay, normally I dont hate on books. I see them as entertainment - a view into another person's mind and/or fantasies. They're fun. I learn something new, its a bonus. I only need a strong main character, a decent plot and an ending that doesnt make me puke or scream.
I did lots of these during Cabot's vampire novel. About the only thing I found interesting was when she punts a bat off the top of the building - but not enough amusement to redeem a book that either is an attempt at cashing in on the vampire hype OR Cabot's way of making fun of the literature.
First off, it starts way too slow. It took 1/3rd of the book for whats-her-face and whats-his-face to meet. Oh right, Lucien and uh..whatever. I cant even remember their names. The characters were meh, the plot was..more meh and the ending? Love triangle? Really? I get it, a sequel, well played madam. Yet..
Lucien is clearly insane. One moment hes thinking "redemption, salvation" and the next hes thinking "con her into letting me bite her" and the next "i want to make my meal into a vampire so we can be together forever!" *headdesk* Do they have mood stabilizing drugs for Vampires? If not, I have a fantastic guinea pig right here! He starts off as decently cultured, intelligent and hoping for redemption and makes a speedy de-evolution into..Im not sure. Creepy stalker? He sounds EXACTLY like Dimitri Belikov from the Vampire Academy series. "One day, my pretty, my stalking will come to fruition and I will eat you!" Oi.
And the weird Palatine guard? Oh lord. At least his character isnt too insane, over the top or stalkerish. We learn most about him, and his character is most fleshed out. He isnt realistic, though. He was treated so badly when a child and now he wants to save everyone from vampires? Sure its possible, but his reasoning in the book? Do we get it? I dont remember, honestly.
The heroine is flaky, has a useless ability that Im nto even sure WHY vampires would need it. Who care how my food is going to die? Damn. She whines about some totebag, and when she finally gets it? Doesnt want it. Kinda like how she wanted Lucien then didnt want him - but wants the guard guy instead once she has the prince(not a theme here? I cant even begin to take this book seriously enough to remember names..cept the one named after the vampire in Underworld.)
Mrs Cabot, is this a spoof novel? If so..it made me hate vampires like you wanted, but unfortunately just yours. I will not be reading book two. Anyone want to light a bonfire of Insatiable?
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I will admit I did judge it before reading it thinking it was going to be another book copying Twilight. This book however had more unexpected turns and twists than I was expecting. I will definite
Having read a lot of Meg Cabot books I find them abit hit and miss, but I thought I would give this series a shot and the first book was not a disappointment too me. I have read previous books along these lines before and you think oh it is going to be a typical vampire novel....but it actually wasn't.I will admit I did judge it before reading it thinking it was going to be another book copying Twilight. This book however had more unexpected turns and twists than I was expecting. I will definitely be buying the next one in the series
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Right off the bat I need to warn you, that if you are the kind of rea I wanted to like this book. Really. I had read some reviews that referred to it as the anti-Twilight, and while I liked Twilight, I thought it would be nice to see the flip-side. Turns out, ehhhhh...not so much. To be fair, Insatiable isn't the flip side of Twilight. It's just a ripoff of other books in this genre. Except that it doesn't have a happy ending. So maybe that's what the other reviewers were talking about? Not sure.
Right off the bat I need to warn you, that if you are the kind of reader who gets annoyed with pop culture references, stay away from this one. The entire story is littered with things that will date this book. Sure, it's cute right now, but in a few years you look back and go, "Shoulder pads and Aquanet? What was I thinking?!". You know I'm right.
Anyway, none of that really upset me. What upset me was that the ending made no sense. None. When Meena gives Lucien the heave-ho and tells him that they can never be together, she also gives him (and us) some valid reasons why not. No. Wait. She doesn't. Her official reason is that she has friends and family that she wants to be able to visit during the day...and a dog who hates vampires. Huh? Her dog? Yes, her dog. Well, you say, what about her family? That's a darn good reason! Except her parents think she's a freak, and her brother is a beyond annoying mooch, who currently lives on her couch. Oh yes, I'd give up true love and hot sex for that pack of winners. Alright, her one friend is sweet, but she has a husband and a new baby. It's not like she's counting on Meena to be her only source of entertainment. So why did she tell him no? Well, maybe she wants to eventually have kids...except the author was kind enough to let us know early on in the story that Meena definitely does not want to have children. She feels her 'gift' (being able to tell when and how people will die) would make her a terrible mother. She might be right about that one.
So why not go run away with the smokin' hot vampire? I guess to prove that she's not Bella. And let's face it, Bella had some pretty pathetically co-dependant moments. It wouldn't have killed her to grow a spine and say, "Screw you, Eddie! Quit bossing me around!". Then she could punctuate that statement by sucking face with that shirtless wet dream of a werewolf... (excuse me for a minute)
Ahem. I'm back.
And while the Anti-Bella would be a great character, her decisions would still need to make sense in the context of the story. Meena's don't. In fact, at the end she joins up with the vampire hunters. Of course, she promises Lucien that she will do everything she can to protect him. From the vampire hunters. That she joined up with. Even though she will 'always love' him. Ooooook.
Speaking of vampire hunters, enter the third wheel in this little romance. Alaric. The creepy vampire hunter who falls for Meena. I thought maybe the author was going to pull the old switcheroo, and make us go from being kinda skeeved out by this weirdo, to rooting for him to be the one Meena ends up with. Evidently not. By the end of the book, he was slightly less creepy, but he was still the emotional equivalent of Forest Gump when it came to being boyfriend material. Although, it's kind of left up in the air at the end as to whether or not she likes him.
Maybe there's a sequel? I don't know. I don't care. I doubt I'll ever read anything by this author again. ...more
The second half, I was able to connect with Meena, who ended up being funny and charming. I was able to read and enjoy the story and all the connecting characters on a level that wasn't there previously. It ended up being a really fun spoof of a modern day Dracula tale. There were a lot of really funny quirks that made fun of other vampire books. Little subtle jokes about Edward, Sookie, even a quick mention of Strigio (from the Vampire Academy series).
My favorite character of all had to be Alaric Wulf, the vampire hunter. He was absolutely hilarious from the time he entered the book until his last scene. He definitely worked a little of that "Alaric Wulf magic" on me! I was rooting for him the whole way.
If I was could only rate the 2nd half of this book, it would be a 5 star for me. I read as many pages last night, in a span of only a few hours, as i had for 5 days trying to get through the earlier sections. But, never-the-less, I must rate the book as a whole. To be honest, if this hadn't have been a read for a tour site, I probably would have quit it before it ever had a chance to get good. I'm very thankful that I didn't.
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Just the name alone is enough to intrigue one to look beyond the beautifully designed cover, but once you do; you'll be glad you did. Vampires. Doesn't it seem we have enough books for them, with them and about them? I may have thought so, scared that I might find the same old conflict of good and evil; not expecting to find th
WOW. I have to admit I didn't recognize the author's name at first when I received this book. Meg is well know for her series, the princess diaries, and not my usual read.Just the name alone is enough to intrigue one to look beyond the beautifully designed cover, but once you do; you'll be glad you did. Vampires. Doesn't it seem we have enough books for them, with them and about them? I may have thought so, scared that I might find the same old conflict of good and evil; not expecting to find the absolutely unexpected.
Meg brings us laughter. Her seemless writing and delightfully seductive storyline entices the reader to gallop through the pages with unabashed and unbridled abandon.
Enter our heroine, Meena Harper; writer for a daytime soap opera and the woman who knows how you will eventually meet your demise. Not exactly a good skill to have and certainly a damper on her dating life.
She's always had a hard time seeing a future with any of the men in her life, until him. The night she meets Lucien Antonescu everything changes when she sees nothing at all, which only makes her want to see him more and more.
This educated, handsome and refined man seems to be perfect, too perfect. What might seem to be her dream man, might just turn out to be her biggest nightmare.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and all of it's exciting twists and turns. The soap opera spin on things was fresh and funny. It made me rememeber soaps like ALL MY CHILDREN and GENERAL HOSPITAL, leading ladies like Susan Lucci, and scenes both bold and ridiculous all at the same time.
Don't get me wrong, this was not a slapstick comedy. It was sultry and steamy when need be and a breath of fresh air. The concept and writing was original and ultimately left me wanting for more.
A must read.
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Still...I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth or whatever. Besides, I do love me some YA fiction. So, I picked it up and started reading. The next thing
This book arrived on my doorstep, without solicitation (sort of: it's a HarperCollins book, which I regularly receive, but I didn't request it). When I opened the package and read the blurb, I rolled my eyes. Enough with the vampires, already! I have too many vampires in my life between the vampires of Forks and the vampires of Bon Temps!Still...I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth or whatever. Besides, I do love me some YA fiction. So, I picked it up and started reading. The next thing I knew, I had finished the book and my butt was numb from lying in one position for so long.
I may be exaggerating slightly (I did not actually read this in one sitting), but my point here is that this is a pretty enjoyable, albeit extremely fluffy, little book. Cabot acknowledges the ridiculous popularity of vampire books and manages to make her own little niche in an already overdone genre. (Can "vampire" be considered a genre? I doubt it, but y'all know what I mean, right?) Is the book ridiculous? Yep. Is it incredibly plot driven with very little character development? Heck, yeah. Is it fun, though? Indeedy, it is.
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I do think this book would be a fun read for those that like their paranormal elements on the very light side of the story.
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The lady in the red dress with the dagger and the cool armband with the dragon, she's intriguing, right? Maybe, I wouldn't know – she's not in this book. And please don't get too excited about the title – it's the name of the overly hacked soap opera the modern day heroine (really? Is that really the right term for someone who cries this much) works for.
The description of this book says that Meena Harper is sick of vampires. As a matter of fact the entire book go Never judge a book by its cover.
The lady in the red dress with the dagger and the cool armband with the dragon, she's intriguing, right? Maybe, I wouldn't know – she's not in this book. And please don't get too excited about the title – it's the name of the overly hacked soap opera the modern day heroine (really? Is that really the right term for someone who cries this much) works for.
The description of this book says that Meena Harper is sick of vampires. As a matter of fact the entire book goes on and on about how the vampire trend is totally over done, how vampires are now just corporate ploys used to boost ratings and sell product. The author seems to agree with this, but does not appear to be above using the sub genre to turn a quick buck. Insatiable complains about weak plot lines and insta-love and sparkles, and yet there's a great big heaping pile of insta-love in this book. Furthermore the vampires, though they apparently don't sparkle, are not in any way shape or form scary. Even after Lucien's grand transformation there's no real horror filled moments in the book. It's all so G rated (ok maybe PG), which makes sense when you realize this is all coming from the same person that wrote the Princess Diaries. I bet Disney could do wonders with this plot. It also explains why there are pages of detail explaining just how wonderful and desirable this one Marc Jacobs tote is. Yeah.
Furthermore Meg Cabot goes on to explain how the vampires in all of these love story plots are very much like abusive boyfriends. It explains how they're really just mindless Bloodsucking Fiends(which is the title of a fantastic book by Christopher Moore) with one thing on their mind and it's not even sex it's dinner. How boring is that? The story complains (from multiple points of view) that vampires are soulless creatures of pure evil with no humanity at all. There is no difference between them – they are all evil beasts; and any woman who believes that any single one of them has any shot at redemption is an utter fool. Then of course one of the main characters, the prince of the vampires is or was born of an allegedly angelic mother (Hello, redemption?). He's the one who years ago ordered all the vampires to not kill humans. Mr. Lucien Goody-Two-Shoes has been in a battle with his evil (of course) little brother for eons over the fate of humanity. (Little brother apparently wants to recreate the world so that all of us lowly humans are treated as cattle.) Lucien, this prince of darkness, this evil soulless vampire is more caring and considerate than that, and so has to stop it. So caring and kind and apparently eco-friendly is this guy, that in the midst of a fight with said evil brother he must then pick up some piece of trash that had fallen on the ground to properly dispose of it. "Lucien was furious…but even when furious, he was still conscientious about litter." – That's a real quote from the book. I don't know how I'll sleep at nights with a vampire like that on the loose. So, in a weird way it kind of makes sense that the most benign and sweet person in the book is Meena Harper's next door neighbor, a matchmaker of sorts, a socialite, and a vampire.
I admit I like vampires. I find the mythology captivating. I enjoy the idea of a veritable monster that can pass as human. I like the idea of a vampire with a haunted past. Anne Rice did this wonderfully with Interview With the Vampire and more recently B.E. Scully eloquently captured this idea in Verland: The Transformation. In neither of those books did the vampire in question ever claim to be less than a monster. Furthermore I'm all right with a less personable, more terrifying type of monster. The monsters in this book were neither brooding and mysterious nor terrifying nor anything. They were completely unrealistic card board cutouts of what the author finds wrong with the vampire mythos.
Also lastly but not least, the human male lead / love interest was a dick. The caring compassionate vampire is unredeemable and has no chance for salvation but the idiot without any people skills what so ever, who is so full of himself that he is appalled with inferior sheets and dining (but who grew up poor and was an orphan) he's going to make it. Ugghh.
Characters in this novel were very much hit and miss. The main characters that chapters alternate between include Lucien (The delectable Prince of Darkness), Meena (the lovely girl with a special gift), and Alaric (Palatine Assasssin). While Meena is the main character that the story surrounds and the most entertaining; Cabot still has the alternating chapters where you discover the depth to which this story was written. There are many more characters throughout the story that are key players, but the story does not follow them directly. This is where I found the story to be a bit overwhelming.
After a slow start, I was surprised to find the story pick up and grab my attention so drastically. Although, after completing I found myself distraught with the ending. This ending was not at all what I had hoped for. It is like Whitney Houston in The Body Guard. When you are yelling at the television for her turn around and run back to Kevin Cosner. I can not believe this story was not the picture perfect happy ending. After a life of struggling for Meena, yes, she might find herself a job where she can help others and never had to join the undead. Though, this was all at the cost of her lover and soul mate. I can't say this was a bad ending just not anticipated, and it will be a ending that holds your thoughts long after the last page.
As always, for my note on the cover I love this one; mystery and all. This is a very beautiful cover alone, but to break it apart it is like a hide and seek picture. The tattoo on the Model's upper arm has to be my favorite, but the stake was also not lost on me. I also had to appreciate the dress; I would have to guess this would be the dress that had been borrowed from Mary Lou for the night out with Lucien that was unable to happen.
In wrapping up I can't wait for a sequel that is tentatively scheduled for Summer of 2011. Although, this story was left at a point that it could be a solo book, and that leaves me with a heart wrenching ending that will never end, so here is to hoping that I am blessed with a sequel that will change and heart wrenching ending. Meg Cabot is such a wonderful author, and I always look forward to another book. Seeing as though paranormal books are by far my favorite this is not a luxury that I find very often with this author, but she always creates stories that are not easily forgotten.
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I never fully connected with Meena being the anti-vampire-obsessed modern woman. She is introduced to us as an independent and responsible woman who disdains the romanticization of vampir
From the moment I first heard of INSATIABLE's plot, I was tempted. Curiously enough, I do not have vampire burnout like most avid readers apparently do. Unfortunately, INSATIABLE was a plotting and characterization disappointment, an ambitious novel that failed to entirely put the "chick lit" into the "bit lit."I never fully connected with Meena being the anti-vampire-obsessed modern woman. She is introduced to us as an independent and responsible woman who disdains the romanticization of vampires. However, it is not long before Meena herself perfectly fits the stereotypical role of smart-ass damsel-in-distress. Inexplicably two men who are enemies of one another find themselves attracted to her, and mostly because of her soft, exposed skin. Say what? Is this vampire lit or a more feminist Twilight for the adult audience? Obviously I felt little attraction within the love triangle, which felt forced.
In fact, most of the story feels extremely…well, structurally fictional. Obviously I know this is fiction, but I'm referring here to the way some stories, whether realistic or fantasy, draw us in so completely that we do not stop and question the veracity of the situations but rather find ourselves right there alongside the characters. This was not the case with INSATIABLE. The typical "Meg Cabot narration" in this story—characters constantly trying to rationalize scenarios in their heads, going off on tangents, bringing themselves back on track, going off on a rationalizing tangent again—didn't work with the world she tried to set up here. I never felt connected with lives being at stake, and more often than not was not aware that major conflicts were going on, so roundabout and unfortunately petty were the characters' inner monologues and plodding dialogue. I put down the book with less than 100 pages to go, feeling no need to know how the story ends.
INSATIABLE, sadly, has the same problem that many of Meg Cabot's books seem to have: there is a uncomfortable lack of heart and commitment to the stories. I realize I can't make any assumptions about what these stories mean to the author. But 30- or 40-something books later, I find myself wondering whether or not Meg Cabot is putting as much into her books as she did with her earlier books.
...more Here, Cabot turns her pen to the vampire craze that's sweeping the nation, courtesy of Edward Cullen and friends. The catch? That the main cha
If I were to give an opinion on Meg Cabot, I'd say I like her writing. Fun, flirty, frothy, frivolous - most of her books exemplify one or more of the aforementioned adjectives. Most of the world probably knows her best for her Princess Diaries series, which, given the eventual repetitiveness of the series AND the number of books she's written, is a shame.Here, Cabot turns her pen to the vampire craze that's sweeping the nation, courtesy of Edward Cullen and friends. The catch? That the main character, Meena Harper, is downright sick of vampires. Oh - and she has the morbid ability to predict others' deaths. The summary (above) pretty much captures it all. Meena falls for the perfect guy, finds out he's a vamp, and then there is much fighting and confusion.
The strength of this work is its pitch perfect Meg Cabot-ness in the midst of the oh-so-serious vampire stuff - the soap opera trying to capitalize on the vampire craze, the hilarious Mrs. Antonescu (the Gucci-wearing, matchmaking vamp-next-door), the too-stupid-to-live brother Jon, and of course, Jack Bauer (the dog). Oh, oh! And Alaric! Alaric! My goodness! (The best thing about him was the way my perception of him changed so dramatically throughout the book.)
I've heard complaints about Meena acting stupidly - I choose to attribute her actions to Cabot's nod to Stoker's Dracula (what with the whole vampire hypnosis thing), as she's so clearly doing that with a lot of the rest of the book. Otherwise, I'd probably be really annoyed at Meena.
Overall, I thought it the best Meg Cabot book I've read, most likely because it's something different than the rest of her work. It was fun, frivolous, frothy - all those things I mentioned earlier, but with vampires. Maybe the whole serious vampire thing is dead (I really, really hope so), but Meg Cabot may have started a new trend by poking fun at it in this sly book. I've heard there's a second book coming up... For that one, I'd love to see more of Alaric and Jack Bauer, less of stupid Jon, and maybe Meena kicking Lucien in the nuts. I guess we'll just have to wait and see...
...more
*Review*
The first chapter opens with Meena meeting Yalena on the subway and experiencing a terr
*Review*
The first chapter opens with Meena meeting Yalena on the subway and experiencing a terrible vision about Yalena. Though she never tells her about it, she does give Yalena her card and tells her to call no matter what. When I read this, I thought the book was going to be fluff. And while there are some silly parts(whoever heard of a vampire saving a woman from tons of bats or turning into a dragon?)the book is well written and a perfect blend of suspense, humor, and history. However, I did not like the ending.Meena and Lucien don't end up together and she has made a decision to join the Palatine, a group of vampire slayers, but you can tell her lust(and love) for Lucien is ever present. But, I hear there will be a sequel to it. YAY!!! Who doesn't love a good vampire series:) That being said, if you like vampires, then you'll adore Meg Cabot's foray into the genre.
"Yeah," Leisha said, sounding a little bored. "What is it you're always saying again? In the cult of monster misogyny, vampires are kings?"
"Well," Meena said, "they do always seem to choose to prey on pretty female victims. And yet for some reason, women find this sexy."
"I don't," Leisha said. "I want to be killed by Frankenstein. I like 'em big. And stupid. Don't tell my husband."
"Even though these guys admit over and over to wanting to kill us," Meena went
"You know how I feel about vampires.""Yeah," Leisha said, sounding a little bored. "What is it you're always saying again? In the cult of monster misogyny, vampires are kings?"
"Well," Meena said, "they do always seem to choose to prey on pretty female victims. And yet for some reason, women find this sexy."
"I don't," Leisha said. "I want to be killed by Frankenstein. I like 'em big. And stupid. Don't tell my husband."
"Even though these guys admit over and over to wanting to kill us," Meena went on, "the idea that they're nobly restraining themselves from doing so is supposed to be attractive? Excuse me, but how is knowing a guy wants to kill you hot?"
(Insatiable, Cabot, pg. 33)
Insatiable is hilarious! Meg Cabot somehow manages to throw stones while writing in a glass house and the result is too funny. Insatiable pokes fun at the supernatural trends that are sweeping through pop culture while being part of that sweeping movement. Cabot spares no one and Sookie, the gang from Twilight, and many others are teased throughout this story. She even manages to work in a love triangle with a vampire, clairvoyant, and a Wulf; the result is a laugh out loud story that just can't be taken seriously.
...moreMeg Cabot was born on February 1, 1967, during the Chinese astrological year of the Fire Horse, a notoriously unlucky sign. Fortunately she grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, where few people were aware of the stigma of being a fire horse -- at least until Meg became a teenager, when she flun
Librarian note: AKA Jenny Carroll (1-800-Where-R-You series), AKA Patricia Cabot (historical romance novels).Meg Cabot was born on February 1, 1967, during the Chinese astrological year of the Fire Horse, a notoriously unlucky sign. Fortunately she grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, where few people were aware of the stigma of being a fire horse -- at least until Meg became a teenager, when she flunked freshman Algebra twice, then decided to cut her own bangs. After six years as an undergrad at Indiana University, Meg moved to New York City (in the middle of a sanitation worker strike) to pursue a career as an illustrator, at which she failed miserably, forcing her to turn to her favorite hobby--writing novels--for emotional succor. She worked various jobs to pay the rent, including a decade-long stint as the assistant manager of a 700 bed freshmen dormitory at NYU, a position she still occasionally misses.
She is now the author of nearly fifty books for both adults and teens, selling fifteen million copies worldwide, many of which have been #1 New York Times bestsellers, most notably The Princess Diaries series, which is currently being published in over 38 countries, and was made into two hit movies by Disney. In addition, Meg wrote the Mediator and 1-800-Where-R-You? series (on which the television series, Missing, was based), two All-American Girl books, Teen Idol, Avalon High, How to Be Popular, Pants on Fire, Jinx, a series of novels written entirely in email format (Boy Next Door, Boy Meets Girl, and Every Boy's Got One), a mystery series (Size 12 Is Not Fat/ Size 14 Is Not Fat Either/Big Boned), and a chick-lit series called Queen of Babble.
Meg is now writing a new children's series called Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls. Her new paranormal series, Abandon, debuts in Summer of 2011.
Meg currently divides her time between Key West, Indiana, and New York City with a primary cat (one-eyed Henrietta), various back-up cats, and her husband, who doesn't know he married a fire horse. Please don't tell him.
Series:
* Airhead
* The Princess Diaries
* Mediator
Other books in the series
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