Monday, December 22, 2008

MaryJanice Davidson - Undead and Unworthy

It's been a few months since I've blogged about my reading! I kept up with the reading (although not as much as I would have liked) but with so many major events that have happened over the last few months, I just did not have the time to update my book blog. Well, as the saying goes, better late than never, so here are all my updates!

Let's start with the latest addition to MJD's Undead series, Undead and Unworthy. I borrowed this from the library (did I ever mention that I love my local library?!) and it was another quick read that I polished off in a day. That said, I don't think it's a great addition to the series, especially when I thought MJD had only just brought back a bit of sparkle to the Undead series in Book 6.

Firstly, I HATE the new cover (at least the UK version is still semi-decent). It looks absolutely horrid and I don't know what possessed the publisher to make the change and what came over MJD to give the tick of approval. Sure, I get the whole new start thing and looking for that something to rejuvenate the series, but this just doesn't work. The old covers were quirky and fun, capturing the quintessential essence of Betsy; the new cover just doesn't feel right and doesn't convey the 'Betsy-ness' of the Undead series. Of course, it clashes terribly with the rest of the collection that I don't even know if I will want to purchase Book 7 because it will stand out like a sore thumb! (I need matching covers in a set!)

MJD also attempts to breathe new life into the series by creating a new story arc for Betsy and her sidekicks. Well, I'm not sure if it's working all that well based on Book 7. I think it was rather drastic to kill off Antonia and Garrett, especially after giving them happy endings just in the previous book. MJD seems to be using that TV trick where major characters are killed off to 'shake things up' but I don't think it achieved the desired effect. I am still a fan of the Undead series and I will perservere with it and wait for the release of Book 8, but MJD has been producing more misses than hits - let's hope that she can recover some of the Betsy magic for the next book.

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