ARC Review: Dark Debt by Chloe Neill

By -
It's Chicagoland Vampires time once again, Saucy Readers. It will come as no surprise to regular followers that I adore the CLV series, and Chloe Neill, to the moon and back. And it is with baited breath that I wait for the next installment every six months or so. Well, it was no different with Dark Debt.

The ending of Blood Games left us stunned, wondering what that note meant, who sent it, and dying to find out what was up next for our favorite urban supernaturals. When Dark Debt finally landed on my doorstep, all of my weekend plans flew right out the door, and I devoured that thing in two days.

 Did I love Dark Debt as much as I expected to? Is Chicagoland Vampires still going strong, or is this long-running series starting to get stale? Come with me through the jump and I'll tell you whether you should snap up  this eleventh CLV book right away. Spoiler free!

 ***There will be no spoilers for Dark Debt, but I'm assuming you've read through Blood Games***

Two Thumbs Up for Dark Debt!
Let me start with the bottom line: Chloe Neill is at the top of her game, and the Chicagoland Vampires books keep getting better with each and every book. Dark Debt is an excellent installment with a human problem, a supernatural problem, and wonderful relationship developments, both friendship and romantic, all advanced and/or solved in creative and entertaining ways. We continue to see Merit thriving in her role as vampire, as Cadogan Sentinel, we get a wider glimpse of the amazing Cadogan family, and we get to see Merit learning how be part of the relationships she had before she became a vampire.
Could Not Put the Book Down!
In Dark Debt, we get some more information about Ethan's past, we see the depth Methan's commitment (which is stunning, BTW), we take care of one villain and another slides into the picture, and we stand witness to a major life event for our friends.  We also find out what has been happening at Navarre House, why Morgan has been avoiding Chicago's supernaturals and the shenanigans going on for the past year. There's a chance that Morgan will grow into the position he inherited, and we see that he may not be the douche we saw through Merit's eyes since their break up. I'm rooting for Morgan now. I also have to mention Joshua Merit, because his behavior in this one swung wildly between the awful human being we've seen and come to loathe, to contrition ad acknowledgement that he may have been wrong. Perhaps there's hope, maybe Joshua has a heart after all. Zee and I will have many detailed things to say about all of these events in a week or two when we discuss Dark Debt in very spoilery terms.

 The Chicagoland Vampires series is one of my favorite book series, and I believe one of the best out there. It is consistently entertaining and often surprising. We've come to love the characters like old friends, ones who we laugh with, adventure with, and sometimes grieve with. We feel protective of Merit and her compatriots, wanting them all to be happy and safe, and ready to battle with them whenever the bad guys threaten. The pacing is tight, plotlines creative and interesting, characters well developed, and dialogue snappy and quotable.
Thank you, Ms. Neill!
I always start a Chicagoland book with a smile and I finish it with a happy sigh. There are many things that I love about this series, but one of the best things is the joy that is weaved throughout. There has been some angst, but overall this series is happy and fun, with a heroine at the center who is surrounded, and driven, by love, and knows it. Moreover, our favorite characters know exactly who they are, and embrace their uniqueness and strength. They don't brood, they don't lament their lost humanity, they embrace their lives and use their gifts to help others whenever possible. There is a time and place for exploring the darkness of the world, but it just feels really good to read a series of books that makes me happy. So, thank you, Chloe Neill, for giving us a book series that truly brightens up the reader's day.

 Wench Rating:

Comments

Post a Comment

You Might Want to Read...

Black Dagger Brotherhood: Scenes That Left us Begging for More

By -
Image
Created by Olga Daniels What better way to prepare for the impending release of the next Black Dagger Brotherhood novel, Lover at Last by J. R. Ward, than to relive some of our favourite scenes in the previous books?! Some of these scenes were selected by multiple Wenches, others are just personal favourites. One is. Clearly. The. Wench. Favourite. It won't be hard to tell which one! After the jump, see which scenes made us ooh, ahh, and pant for more.
Keep reading »

A Tribute to The Fiery Cross

By -
Image
Or How I Learned to Stop, Smell the Pig Shite, and Fall in Love with the Fifth Book in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander Series A young White Sow dreams of all the food she’ll be eating to grow into her role in this book As the wait for the new Outlander book and television series drags on (and oooooonnnnnnnnaaaarrrggghhh), many fans have been rereading the first seven books in the series. Fascinating online discussions abound as to the motivations of the characters, the nuances of meaning within various scenes, and future possibilities and foreshadowing. Amongst enthusiastic effusions about all things even remotely associated with our beloved series, I’ve seen one recurring subject of complaint. People like to pick on The Fiery Cross . “It’s too slow.” “It doesn’t have enough action.” “Where’s the mystery?” So during my recent reread, I set out to take a few notes about memorable moments. But I gave that up early on. There were far too many. Because the book was like a beautifu...
Keep reading »

When The Music's Over

By -
Image
A SUPER Spoilery Discussion of Feversong by Karen Marie Moning by: Zee the Terrible and Barbara Bones By Olga. It's now been two weeks since we got our hot little hands on Feversong , the final book in the Mac & Barrons part of Karen Marie Moning's Fever series. It's almost all we can talk about in the Saucy Wenches hallways (which is really online, but you get the drift) and we have lots of thoughts and opinions so we aren't putting off our Super Spoilery Recap Extravaganza any longer!  Zee told you about how much she loved it in her Wench review, here , and it will surprise exactly no one that Barb did, too. Loved it to pieces. Thought it was pretty much perfect, exactly the kind of conclusion KMM has been promising us since she gave us Iced , leaving everyone precisely where they need to be. That said, we have lots and lots and LOTS of thoughts. So come with us through the jump where we're dishing all the dirt, in filthy, spoilery detail. We menti...
Keep reading »

Dani Mega O'Malley: Superstar

By -
Image
Giddy with anticipation for the release of Karen Marie Moning's Iced , a lot of the Wenches have been thinking about Dani "Mega" O'Malley, the young sidhe -seer we first met in Bloodfever , who is poised to step out of the shadows behind Mac and Rowena and take center stage. Though Moning has recently said the three books she is writing for Dani will continue the story we've been following in the Fever books, the POV will shift to reveal the next chapters through Dani's eyes. With our heads firmly buried in Shadowfever in a frenzied effort to finish our rereads before the new release, we Wenches have been wondering what's in store for Dani. But no one has wanted to stop reading long enough to write a proper tribute to our young heroine as she prepares to take the leap to leading lady. Though we all think she's pretty awesome and deserves a big ticker-tape parade to show our support. So a sneaky Wench tried the stealth approach and asked us...
Keep reading »

Review: Annihilation (Book and Movie)

By -
Image
When I read Annihilation last fall, I was intrigued, repulsed, mystified, enchanted, horrified, compelled, absorbed, and ultimately so unable to articulate what had happened that I didn’t attempt a review. But it has never stopped growing on me, new insights twining around in my brain. It’s insidious. Then the movie happened. I. Had. To. Go. I didn’t think anyone could film the book, and I was on Cloud 9 when I saw the abundance of rave critical reviews. It got compared to Apocalypse Now and 2001: A Space Odyssey ! It got called “stunning” and the “Best Sci-Fi Film in Years” that “ranks among great philosophical sci-fi”! And though there were many differences from the book, it sounded almost as batshitcrazybrilliant as the book!! Which means there are now two equally haunting versions of this story for me to wonder WTF happened. I might not have all the answers, but I’ve certainly enjoyed replaying scenes in my mind and pondering the possibilities. And I suspect that’s...
Keep reading »