Undead and Unwary by MaryJanice Davidson

Queen Betsy, Book 13

Synopsis: First: kill Satan. Second: reorganize Hell. Sounded simple enough back then, but for Betsy Taylor, managing “down below” isn’t as easy as she’d hoped – even if she is doing it with her sister, Laura, a bona-fide Antichrist. So yes, Betsy has been shirking her hellish responsibilities, but she’s been just so darn busy these days. And she’s not just yanking Laura’s chain. There’s a brand new baby drama involving a pair of uncanny (ok, terrifying) toddler twins, an upcoming birthday party that has to be planned, and, are you ready for it? Betsy’s dad – once so very dead – has been spotted in downtown St. Paul.

Now, despite all the chaos, Betsy’s friends rally around, helping her to handle all this fire and brimstone jazz. As for Betsy’s sister and dad – they have their own surprises in store for the vampire queen. And jolt by jolt, Betsy will discover that there’s nothing as heartwarming as family. Yeah, like Hell.

Review: Queen Betsy has always been a series with which it is easy to spend a great time. Each novel always brings a touch of humor, light moments and is finally always a quick and enjoyable read. I was expecting the same with that volume. I admit that I made a small jump in time since the last book I did read was volume 8. In truth, it’s not really a problem because the author gave some explanations about what happened before, even if it is true that I did not understand all the references. So I started with pleasure the story by finding the characters we all know. Unfortunately, I think this volume is my least favorite of the series.

So we are following again our queen vampire who must now deal with her sister Laura, the world of the underworld. To say that this does not enchant her is subjective and that’s why Betsy tries at all costs to find other occupations to have a good excuse to shirk. On top of that, Jess seems to behave strangely and our heroine is determined to understand what is happening, Tina’s birthday is approaching and of course we have the Jessica’s bizarre children at the same time. Although I found that the story was going a little anyhow, I found it funny to see how the characters behaved with children, to understand what they could do and so observe their next actions.

As I said, I had a little trouble with this new story. Personally, I found that there was really no common thread, no real plot and it was a bit too confusing and mixed so that I could really adhere to what was happening. The events of the history were a little too wacky or unimaginable that I did not understand where all this was going on. I think you understand why I was a little disappointed this time but that does not change the fact that it was nice to be once again in the world of the author and to find the characters. I’m curious to see what will result now, this volume may be there only to link the stories, sometimes it happens in a series with a large number of volumes. To see.

2

mellianefini

31 thoughts on “Undead and Unwary by MaryJanice Davidson

  1. I think sometimes series can go on long after they really should have ended. At least that was my first thought when I saw your rating and what number the book was. It’s interesting though that you went from 8 to 13, and I have to wonder if the books you missed in between have also showed a downward trend. Guess we’ll see with number 14 🙂

  2. This one is new to me, but I don’t think I’ll give it a try. I mean I can live with confusing plots, but pointless is another story all together. Sorry that it wasn’t as good as you hoped. Great review 🙂

  3. I agree with several of the others who have commented here in that it sounds like this may be a series past its best.

    I know whilst I enjoyed the True Blood series I was glad when it ended as it really was getting stale.

  4. I just looked at the series number, yikes! No wonder there wasn’t really any plot and kind of pointless, 13th in a series, that is long, haha. Shame it didn’t really work for you. 🙁

  5. You’re right that this does happen more often than not in a series that has a large amount of books but it still sucks when it happens. 😉
    I do want to start this series, it just looks like so much fun.

  6. I started this series years ago and really enjoyed it, but I lost track of it somewhere around the middle. Book 5 or 6 maybe, and then I’ve just never gotten back to it. I miss Betsy and her crazy group! It’s a shame this wasn’t the strongest of installments, but hopefully the next one will remedy that:)

  7. Oh no, it’s so devastating when a beloved series disappoints you. Admittedly, going back to it after missing a few installments might have been a tiny bit weird, but all the problems you had weren’t caused by that at all. I’ve never read one of her books, but I might go for earlier books and just stop after a while.

  8. I am curious if you would have enjoyed this more if you had read the novels that you missed before reading this or if this is just a case of a series has gone on too long and it’s time for it to end.

  9. I’ve heard a lot of interesting things about this series. I like vamps, and the character seems like she might appeal to me as well, so I’ll probably try the first book over the summer. Sometimes, an unfocused plot can happen in a series when the author comes to rely too much on the familiarity of the characters. Great review.

  10. I’m a bit behind on this series but darn! I was hoping for better. I usually end up going into these books (every time I tell ya!) with low expectations and I’m usually pleasantly surprised. I guess that luck runs out on #13. Too bad. Still want to catch up to you at least. 🙂

  11. Sorry it wasn’t up to the standards of the others you’ve read. Hopefully the others in the series will be on the better side. 🙂 It happens from time to time in a series. 🙂

  12. I used to love this series. I stopped at book 9 though (the book and Sinclair one). I was so upset with that one I’ve not been able to read her books again :/ Maybe one day. Bummer this one wasn’t all the way pulled together.

    And och! I realized tonight you weren’t in my feed. I’d been wondering why things were so quiet. I’ve got you back in and am gonna go on a min-commenting spree real quick. Glad you’re okay!

Répondre à Melissa (Books and Things) Annuler la réponse

Votre adresse e-mail ne sera pas publiée. Les champs obligatoires sont indiqués avec *