*** Review*** Fade Out (Morganville Vampires #7) by Rachel Caine

On the Back of the Book

Without the evil vampire Bishop ruling over the town of Morganville,the resident vampires have made major concessions to the human population. With their newfound freedoms, Claire Danvers and her friends are almost starting to feel comfortable again...

Now Claire can actually concentrate on her studies, and her friend Eve joins the local theatre company. But when one of Eve's castmates goes missing after starting work on a short documentary, Eve suspects the worst. Claire and Eve soon realize that this film project, whose subject is the vampires themselves, is a whole lot bigger-and way more dangerous-than anyone suspected...

Pre Read Thoughts

I’m choosing this because:

I originally started this as a way to conquer my mountainous TBR pile. (Seriously, I think it lives, come meet it. I’m going to call it... Hmmm... Spencer. Spencer the TBR pile.) Now though, I find myself really enjoying the series and not minding too much the things that cause me to normally tear my hair out. Actually reading these books feels a bit weird, I’ve been staring at them for so long. My main reason for my excitement towards these book is the crush I’m developing on Myrnin. I mean he’s so... well there are no words for him and if a crush isn’t a reason to get stuck in then I don’t know what is.

Judging a book by its cover:

I have to say that in my opinion the UK covers are so much prettier than the US ones. The font is so beautiful and the flowery doodles are gorgeous. The gold colour really stands out against the black background. The girl on the cover is pretty but I have a question: What on Earth is she doing with her hand? Is she trying to hide from the camera? Essentially the cover is pretty and has shiny bits. I like pretty things that have shiny bits. That pretty much explains how Morganville ended up as a part of Spencer the TBR pile.

Pricing the (possible) awesomeness:

Well, because I’m Queen Bargain Hunter the one millionth. I found these for £1.99 or 3 for £5 in my local The Works store. So while I wave my “I heart discount book shops” banner you can buy this on Amazon for £5.19 in paperback or the Kindle edition is £4.31. Not too shabby if I do say so myself... but my deal was better.

Post Read Thoughts

Wow – this book had me from chapter one and it’s the first Morganville book in a while to do that. There was just something about this that made me sit up and take notice. It might have been the story... but it was probably just the Myrnin-ness. There seemed to be less romance and more “let’s go kick some bad guy/gal butt!” I approve of that sort of thing. I’m tempted to make a bold statement about this being my favourite of the series but I’m going to hold back until I’ve read them all. I don’t want to have to go “I know I said this about Fade Out but actually...”

We’re still reading this with Claire as our main girl and as the series goes along I’m getting to like her more. She’s growing a pair and I like to see that in a leading lady. However, I thought we’d focus on some other characters because I like to switch things up sometimes.

Eve – Goth girl extraordinaire and someone I need in my life. I imagine her as a younger Abby from NCIS... and I LOVE Abby. This means Eve is one of my favourite characters in the series. Sometimes she can be a tad dramatic but I think it works for her and she’s been getting braver as the series goes on. If I ever needed a friend I’d want Eve and do you want to know a secret? I prefer her to Claire.

Michael – My second favourite vampire. He’s got a guitar and he knows how to use it. How can he be anything but awesome? Sometimes his need to protect everyone else can go too far and I wish he’d accept that Claire, Shane and Eve won’t just sit down and take being sidelined. Out of Michael and Shane I actually prefer Michael. There’s something about him that appeals to me more. He’s feeling less obvious and predictable and that makes me excited to see him develop even more.

Ada – My final character review choice of this book is Ada. Now this may come across as a weird choice if you haven’t read this. So go read it. Then it’ll make sense. She was introduced in the last book which I feel was a lead up to this one because her role is so much bigger. She’s one of the most important things about Morganville and actually manages to make Myrnin seem normal. I probably shouldn’t like her but I can’t help myself. I love characters with motives and who  are secretive and don’t have the major reveal of their intentions. I think she’s misunderstood. Poor thing!

Overall this is another fantastic installment and I’m excited to get to book eight. I love how the quality’s consistently there with this series and I feel like we’re only just getting started. I really enjoy Rachel Caine’s writing and the fact that it’s not in 1^st person is a bit of a refreshing change. The plot for this was awesome and actually raised an interesting point about life in Morganville (well for me anyway) and the ending hints at things to come in future books. There’s one thing I know about these books: Rachel isn’t ready for us, her readers, to be leaving Morganville just yet and I, for one, am happy to stay.

My Rating

My notes say 4-4.5 stars but I’m going to choose 4.5 – (It was midnight when I wrote out my draft okay?) This is the book I’ve loved the most so far. It has one of my favourite plots because some of the longer running storylines have concluded or are winding down and it’s opened doors for new ones. I definitely recommend this to YA PNR fans, especially ones with a vampire weakness. This series has the best vampires.