Monday 19 September 2011

Book Review- Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith


Title: Tantalize
 Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith
Series:  Tantalize #1
Published:  13th February 2007
Length: 336 pages
Warnings: kissing, gore, vampires, violence
Source: library
Other info: Book 2, Eternal, and book 3, Blessed, are both out.
Summary : CLASSIFIED ADS: RESTAURANTS SANGUINI'S: A VERY RARE RESTAURANT IS HIRING A CHEF DE CUISINE. DINNERS ONLY. APPLY IN PERSON BETWEEN 2:00 AND 4:00 PM.

Quincie Morris has never felt more alone. Her parents are dead, and her hybrid-werewolf first love is threatening to embark on a rite of passage that will separate them forever. Then, as she and her uncle are about to unveil their hot vampire-themed restaurant, a brutal murder leaves them scrambling for a chef. Can Quincie transform their new hire into a culinary Dark Lord before opening night? Can he wow the crowd in his fake fangs, cheap cape, and red contact lenses — or is there more to this earnest face than meets the eye? As human and preternatural forces clash, a deadly love triangle forms, and the line between predator and prey begins to blur. Who’s playing whom? And how long can Quincie play along before she loses everything?
Review: Quincie Morris and her uncle remodel their restaurant with a new vampire theme. Then their much beloved chef is killed horribly-ripped apart by what looks like a savage beast. They hire a new chef, Henry, and they need to style him into the vampire chef of Sanguini’s. And Quincie falls a little bit in love with him. On top of this, Quincie’s boyfriend Kieren is a werewolf.
The plot was original. I love the idea of a vampire themed restaurant. If it were real, I’d want to go there. I like the way it all fits together was interesting, and  and the pacing was great-action starting in the first twenty pages. And then action carried on throughout, staying interesting till the last page.
Quincie is a very strong heroine, with a strong personality, she tackles the millions of things that life throws at her in a mature and determined way, even if it is somewhat unrealistic.  I didn’t really like Henry. His personality slowly grew on me, but he wasn’t extremely interesting. Kieren the werewolf was your typical over-protective boyfriend, but I liked him anyway. However, I don’t understand the prologue or how it was relevant. Prologue aside, I quite liked him.
I had problems with the revalation about ¾ of the way through-that almost every character we had met was ((insert spoiler. You’ll know if you’ve read this)). It was just a little “really? You too?” and was a bit annoying.
The characters were all fleshed out very well, including the minor characters. We got even got a good idea of the chef, even if he does die within the first 20 pages.
It was well written from Quincey’s point of view. We got a good view into her thoughts, her personality and history, all of which were very interesting.
Overall:  strength 4 tea to a very good vampire novel with just a few little annoying things.

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Thanks for taking time to read this!
Comments are much loved.
Nina xxx

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