Last Breath by Rachel Caine

Last Breath by Rachel Caine
Series: The Morganville Vampires #11
Source: Bought paperback
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Publication Date: Oct 28, 2011
Age Genre: Young Adult

Claire Danvers is concerned when three vampires vanish from Morganville without a trace. The last person seen with them is someone new to town - a mysterious individual named Magnus. Claire is convinced creepy Magnus isn't human... but is he a vampire, or something else entirely?
Claire's hunt for answers leads her to solving another mystery that's long been puzzling her: why do vampires live so far out in a sunny desert when they're sensitive to sunlight? The answer has nothing to do with sunlight, but with water - and an ancient enemy who has finally found a way to invade the vampires' landlocked community. Vampires aren't the top predotor on earth. There's something worse that preys on them... something much worse.
Which means if Claire, and Morganville, wants to live, they will have to fight on to the last breath...

Review contains book 10 spoilers

Okay, so let's get a few things straight, as this is the first time I've talked about TMV on The Book Babe's Reads. I love this series. Like, I really really do. It's super fun, and surprising, and I love the romance, and the action, and the plot.

So, imagine my surprise when, thanks to an edit I did on Leafmarks, I came to the stunning, horrifying realization that I've read the last installment in the series nine months ago.

Nine months! Where did the time go!? What exactly happened in those nine months? Regardless, the moment I realized this atrocity, I picked up my copy of Last Breath and pretty much the next day I was reading it.

I had forgotten how much I love the characters of this book. Their interactions made me smile and laugh so much, even though dire things happen. Like, there's never a moment of pure happiness. And if there is, it means someones going to die soon.

And still, the overall feel of the book is the opposite of the downer it should be.

Though, I've got to admit - how much I love everyone is not the only thing I forgot. Thanks to the huge gap in reading, I forgot details from the last books. Like Eve and Micheal getting engaged. That kind of blindsided me (and thank god Caine didn't drag out their issues, because they need some happy time!)

We also had a new couple brewing in this novel aside for our faves Claire and Shane (total OTP for this series!) and Michael and Eve. Personally, I think they are long overdo. I felt the sexual tension between them back in book one! Can't wait to see what happens there.

But romance is not really the main issue in this novel. Oh no, not at all. What Caine does here is pretty unique and unheard of - though I admit to have felt less of the impact of it thanks to... spoilers. I've been waiting for it to happen since I accidentally read of it. And yes, it was still exciting, but I knew how it would be solved, so there wasn't any anxiety involved, which is unfortunate.

But if you, dear reader, go into this book unawares, I guarantee the shock of your life and a twist to make you completely unable to even! And then there's that cliffy... *sigh*

On a few technical notes, this book introduces several new POVs, including Eve's, Micheal's and Amelie's. And they are in first person, which was a bit jarring at first because I've gotten used to Claire's third person pov style.

Surprisingly enough, I kind of hated Amelie's pov, even though I really do like her as a character. I especially loved Micheal's voice, and Shane's voice completely redeemed itself after the last book - in which his POV kind of made me... hate him? I hate hating characters I love (and yes, that is a logical sentence), so I'm happy to be back on track with him!

On a side-note; that is the worst synopsis ever.

   Nitzan★