Review: The Dead Girls' Dance by Rachel Caine

Morganville Vampires #2
Genre: Paranormal
Format: Audiobook
Published July 6, 2009 by Tantor Media
Originally published April 3, 2007 by NAL Jam
More about the author: Website // Bio
Goodreads // Amazon UK // Audible

Claire Danvers has her share of challenges---like being a genius in a school that favors beauty over brains, dealing with the homicidal girls in her dorm, and above all, finding out that her college town is overrun with vampires. On the up side, she has a great roommate (who tends to disappear at sunup) and a new boyfriend named Shane, whose vampire-hunting dad has called in backup: cycle punks who like the idea of killing just about anything.
Now a fraternity is throwing its annual Dead Girls' Dance and---surprise!---Claire and her equally outcast best friend, Eve, have been invited. When they find out why, all hell is going to break loose. Because this time both the living and the dead are coming out---and everybody's hungry for blood.

This book picks up soon after the end of the first book. Shane's dad and his friends have returned to Morganville with vampire killing on their mind. This isn't good for the residents of the Glass House who want to keep a low profile. Turmoil has finally come to Morganville and Claire has to do her best to protect her friends. This book is far more exciting than the first in the series Glass Houses. It's filled with more action and a heroine who has discovered her gutsy side.

As compared with the shaky Claire from the first book, this Claire has really come into her own. She's gotten herself wrapped up with the town's vampires and has some serious motivation to keep her friends safe. I really enjoyed Claire in this book, along with the other supporting characters of Michael, Eve, and Shane who seem to really provide something for the storyline now other than entertaining scenes. They become much more complex, as does Claire's romantic connection with Shane.

The book has so much more action than Glass Houses. The characters were right there in the thick of it all. I'm glad I didn't give up on this series after the first one! This book is action packed, hilarious, and teeming with some really awesome characters I could easily get attached to. I would pick up this quick read if you like creepy vampires and goths with a snarky sense of humour! Highly recommended!

*Audio Review*: The narration on this book was just so-so. I prefer the edition I listened to for Glass Houses. It doesn't add much to the experience and I'm thinking about skipping the audiobook for Midnight Alley, the third book, and just reading it instead.