Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton

2025 Reread Review - 99% spoiler free

The hilarity of those last two lines, though...

Anyway... I've read Guilty Pleasures at least 4 times, probably more. It's one of those fun vampire hunter books that focuses pretty solidly on the vampire hunting. There's little to no actual romance, which was something that really drew me to the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series in the first place... if only I knew. Heh. Anyway, in this, the 31st year of publication, I'm revisiting the entire series again. I will try very hard not to include spoilers past the book I'm currently reading, though spoilers for previous books are fair game.

When I originally read Guilty Pleasures I was absolutely terrified of Nikolaos. Little girl vampires are just creepy and Nikolaos takes it to another level. However, I think reading the graphic novel adaptation has cured me of my terror... though it might also just be that I'm much older now and have experienced more terrifying things than a little girl vampire. I will admit, though, Nikolaos is very much of that "I'm going to be stupidly impatient with the person I hire to do a job" kind of villain. I know there's technically plot reasons behind this, but she calls Anita back for some kind of update not even 24hrs after first "hiring" her and that bugs me. It also bugs me that we've gotta play terror games to get Anita to do what Nikolaos wants her to do, but I guess if Anita's able to just refuse her, there's no story.

It's also quite fun for me to see "Baby Anita" and "Baby Edward" before they know all the things. It's kind of like watching the beginning of Buffy or Supernatural and being like "Oh, my sweet, sweet children. You know so little..." followed by delighted maniacal laughter on my part. Even Anita and Edward's relationship at this point is cute, given how it goes in later books. Apparently Jean-Claude in this book is not the fully-formed Jean-Claude in my brain. His "voice" refused to show up as I was reading... if that makes sense to anyone besides me.

I did enjoy the progression of the story. Having been so long since my last reread, I'd forgotten who done it, so that was a nice rediscovery. I also like the gradual world-building and creature-building. A slow progression of info drops about how vampires, Animators, and then lycanthropes work. Nice, also, that the main lycanthropes are rats instead of wolves.

Anyway, I highly recommend Guilty Pleasures and the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series in general. They're fun and I'm looking forward to revisiting them.

 

Favorite Lines

"I remembered when eighteen was grown-up. I had thought I knew everything. I was about twenty-one when I figured out I knew dip-wad. I still knew nothing, but I tried real hard. Sometimes, that is the best you can do. Maybe the best anyone can do." - Anita Blake

"You could probably have eaten off the carpeting if you had wanted to, but you would have gotten fuzzies in your mouth. No amount of Lysol would get rid of carpet fuzzies." - Anita Blake

"Great, we're going to be eaten alive because neither one of us smokes." - Edward 

The Gate of Bones by Emily Drake

I'm really... kind of torn about this one. The Gate of Bones was definitely better than The Dragon Guard, but it had its own problems. It mostly felt like the endgame of this book should have been rescuing Eleanora and Fire Ann, but that ended up being fairly anti-climactic... and then the actual ending seemed to take forever in getting there. I was honestly bored by the time the book decided to close the Gate, both literally and figuratively.

The Gate of Bones was definitely much less choppy, though it still somewhat suffered from choppiness. Most of the story focused on how the Magickers were dealing with their new world and some of the ways in which that new world worked. Haven was semi-interesting, though there wasn't a whole lot of explanation as to how society functioned there. There's definitely a vague medieval-ish/Renaissance-y vibe, but it's also rather disparate so... just strange.

I did find it just as frustrating as Bailey and Ting that the girls were left behind for a lot of the "questing" stuff. There's an understanding as to why, but at the same time... not great. I thought for a hot second that Jonnard was going to develop a crush on Bailey and boy and I glad his quest for Power superseded all of that. The last thing this semi-convoluted stuff needed was Jonnard thirsting after Bailey. I'm not super happy that Bailey essentially got damseled a couple of times, too.

We finally get confirmation as to what Aunt Freya is guarding, though what's actually going to happen on that front is up in the air at the end. I won't spoil it, but it's kind of the only reason I'm about to go on to the fifth Magickers book (only available digitally, but at least there's an actual ending to this thing).

There's also some more philosophical discussion between Jason and The Dragon. Much dithering over whether or not Jason chose correctly, mostly because Jason doubts himself. Other than that, though, Jason's not actually the main focus of this one... his bits aren't really focused on any more than the others.

But yeah, The Gate of Bones was overall alright. I would honestly have been fine leaving the story here, but, as I've already got the fifth and final one... *much shrugging ensues* Guess we'll see how that goes.

The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana

So, the only thing keeping The Library of Fates from being a 5 star read is the fact that Sikander’s whole personality hinges on whether or not Thea ends up as his wife. I completely understand this is not the point of the book (I did read the foreword), but it seriously rankles me. I very sincerely dislike when the antagonists are antagonists because they didn’t “get the girl” whether they realize it or not. I don’t know if Sikander internalized Thea’s lack of influence in the first place, but I hate that their relationship was apparently the hinge.

Otherwise, The Library of Fates was very good. I enjoyed the characters. I enjoyed the twists. I enjoyed the world-building. I was honestly not expecting the story to go the ways it did. It was a rollicking adventure with expertly placed fantasy elements. Things combine in such a way as to make the world feel very real and grounded. 

The Dragon Guard by Emily Drake

2025 Reread

I honestly don't think I've read a more frustrating book in a while. I really pushed myself through this one, which I can only hope gets paid off in the next one... which was the entire reason I kept reading. the Dragon Guard is severely choppy, the characters make the most frustrating decisions, and it didn't really come together until the second half and even then it's still really choppy.

I honestly don't think the strategy of switching up POVs worked well. There were just too many characters to get away with doing so. There's one point, before Jason's big soccer game, where we check in with Ting... a nothing-burger of a check in. Made me want to throw the book across the bathroom I've been reading it in. It just felt severely unfocused.

The issue of the adult characters also rears its head again. I have a whole list on my phone haranguing Gavan's really bad planning in terms of teaching the 7 Magicker children... one of whom (Danno) is barely mentioned and apparently just fine off wherever he ended up. Tomaz just fucks off for most of the book on his own project, Eleanora is knocked out because of the whole Jennifer thing, and Aunt Freya is doing something secretive that makes her unhelpful. That's not even mentioning Khalil and Isabella... one of which has a very spoiler-ific reveal so I won't be talking about it, but it's still... ugh. So frustrating. Anyway, the main issue is Gavan wanting to do this Academy thing and not having the resources to even teach 7 kids or get the results he wants out of Jason in particular... just... what the hell, man.

Which then brings me to Jon and Brennard. Yeah... Brennard's supposed to be giving this "Dark Lord" energy and he's just not. Jon's largely usurping that, but also isn't at the same time. They really don't do a whole heck of a lot except loom in the background, being very, very vaguely menacing. I just... my head's smacking a wall with how much I, as a reader, do not care about the "villains" of the piece.

I do care a lot more about Jason. Jason is a good POV character. He's the main character we should be following the entire time, but, as I said to begin with, The Dragon Guard is just so choppy. It's like Drake was unsure as to whether or not Jason could hold the story on his own and so had to keep switching POVs because Jason couldn't be everywhere... which is fair, but also, as I'm typing this, I'm thinking about the "runtime" of the book. I think having Jason be the main POV character would have made the book shorter as well. I don't personally think that would have been a bad thing, but... yeah. It's just too much.

I am really, really hoping The Bone Gate is better. I truly don't remember, just like I only remembered, like, two details from The Dragon Guard. It's been a long while. 

 

Reasons I'm Annoyed At Gavan In Particular

1. Gavan really should have thought out his Academy project a lot better before even trying to start Ravenwyng. That whole thing was severely bungled.

2. Bailey's Dad discovered she's doing Magick because she got scared and of course she was gonna teleport out of the situation. She's got no backup or anyone helpful to talk to about the situation.

3. Basically the entirety of The Curse of Arkady... which we also actually learn about a damn book later.

4. Jason inadvertently pissing off his dragon friend, because, again with the scared kids who can teleport using that as a resource mainly due to not having anything else to lean on.

5. Basically everything Jason yells at Gavan about. Their training is crapola and basically non-existent in these books. 

6. Gavan's so-called allies are basically doing nothing to help... at all.

7. Shit that's happening to Henry because of Jonnard.

8. Jason got more training in, like, 2 days with Ting's grandmother than he did in any of his time with Gavan or the other Magickers. She's not even a "proper" Magicker! 

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

The Last Olympian had me in tears a good few times. I largely chalk this up to a waves of backup Percy and the Campers receive over the course of the New York Battle. I’ve said it before and I will say it probably a thousand more times: I am a sucker for the “Big Damn Heroes” Trope in which everyone and their mother shows up to help save the day. The Last Olympian had many such moments and therefore: tears. Couldn’t help it.

I am rather glad that Nico got more characterization. I originally found him mostly a non-entity, so I’m glad that’s changed. I'm not sure exactly how much of a spoiler it is to say that Thalia makes a reappearance... but she does. It was the first of the "Big Damn Heroes" moments that had me tearing up. She seems much more grounded here, though I'm not sure exactly what gave me that impression.

After the reveals about Luke's mother, I saw Rachel Dare's fate coming. I honestly thought it was rather obvious, though I like her as a character. 

I don’t think I have much else specific to say about The Last Olympian. I enjoyed it a lot more than the other books, that’s for sure. It felt much more focused, which, given the New York Battle took up a sizable chunk of the book, makes sense. Definitely an acceptable and satisfying end to Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

 On A Personal Note

I honestly would probably have enjoyed these more when I was younger. I've been told by and IRL coworker/friend that the next batch of books is better... however, I really have zero desire to continue beyond this point. Plus, well, I'm more excited to start The Wheel of Time. I might return to the Percy Jackson universe at some stage, but... not right now.

I'll do my customary pallette cleanser standalone novel before starting The Wheel of Time. Just so ya'll know where I'm at, reading-wise. 

The Curse of Arkady by Emily Drake

I have found The Curse of Arkady to be incredibly frustrating. The multiple POVs jump around abruptly, though I will admit, without a central location for the characters to be in, the multiple POVs are necessary. The storyline, though, is just… utterly frustrating and the end feels abrupt. Come see as I explain/rant about the nonsense.

I really, really dislike that the adult Magickers have basically just left the kids to fend for themselves. Gavan even specifically tells Jason that there might not always be someone to answer an alarm beacon. Then WTF is the point of it then??? I understand ya’ll don’t have the resources to take care of a whole school or even the amount of kids you originally had at Camp, but you’ve now got a whole 7 teenagers in need to training and you’re just… not doing anything aside from random check ins. How the fuck are they supposed to learn or defend themselves properly, exactly? One of the Council members talks about how they used to do apprenticeships, so it's not like teaching young Magickers individually is outside anyone's wheelhouse, it's just straight up not even being done.

I do think the book adequately shows just how much trouble the kids can get into on their own, as well. A member of the Dark Hand ambushes Jason, Stef goes bear at a horrible time, Jennifer’s losing her sense of self, and Bailey and Ting accidentally turn a supposedly harmless charm into a full-blown love-charm. All with no backup and really no one to call for help because the adult Magickers are all too busy to even check in on them regularly… apparently. This apparently all plays straight into the hands of Brennard, so that's just great.

Ah yes, and then the kids get scolded for being in “situations you shouldn’t have been in, in the first place.” As though they had enough training to keep themselves out of such situations. This is exactly what happens when magical kids don’t get enough/consistent training. Just… Tomaz’s entire thing after Jason finds Fizziwig makes me want to smack him. Ya’ll certainly aren’t acting as though these kids are at all important to you. But sure, “don’t disappoint us” is the way to go. WTF.

Fuck Statler Finch. Anyone who blames the victims of bullying for the bullying is THE WORST. Bullying is NEVER the victim’s fault. I am supremely happy Jason recognizes this pretty much right off the bat. I'm really trying to keep this spoiler-free, so I can't really say much more about Finch, but... he's an extreme annoyance.

I did like the little looks into each kid's life. They got just that much more fleshed out, plus some scoring on the diversity front. If there's one thing that really sets The Magickers apart as a series, it's the diversity of family dynamics and backgrounds. I'm really looking forward to seeing more about Ting's family, especially after the revelations there. I honestly remember maybe one thing from the next two books, so I can't speak to whether or not we get more of them.

I feel like, even though the ending was endlessly foreshadowed, it felt abrupt. Felt like Jason just fell into things for the last few chapters of the book. Even Brennard's goal was extremely fuzzy. Like yes, he apparently wanted Jason and his powers, but he did not feel like much of a threat. Trent actually shone more in the last chapter than almost anyone else. He reminded me a bit of Rachel Dare from the Percy Jackson series. I am also quite happy with Henry's fate, if not his role in the plot. Yes, he's back, tiny spoiler.

So, yeah, The Curse of Arkady was less strong of a sequel than I would have liked. Just a whole lot of nothing on top of a massive amount of frustration. I will hopefully be less frustrated with the next one.

In Other News

I have finished another OviPets Project! This one is really, truly a stretched from the inspiration... but I would like to introduce Monochromon!

Monochromon took me approximately 10 months to complete. These are part of my Adult Digimon Project. I really do love them, despite their lack of... uh... resemblance to the Digimon they're based off of.