Feast of Fools: The Morganville Vampires, Book 4 [Mass Market Paperback]

Read from February 03 to 14, 2013

This is the 4th book of the ongoing Morganville Vampire series.

It starts exactly where Midnight Alley left. Claire is helping Myrnin with the cure for the vampire disease. And something unexpected: Claire's parents just moved to Morgaville. Obviously, trouble is on its way.

This book had lots of ups and downs. I'm still unhappy with Claire's character. She dissapoints me. A lot. One example that comes to mind is the way blood donation is portrayed (which by the way sucks, because donating blood should be encouraged outside of the fantasy world. It saves lives). First, we have been repeatedly told that Claire is this smart girl who is almost a genius, who knows how to perform scientific research, experiments and is getting as much training as possible with Myrnin with his lab. However, when she is donating blood, in a medically run Donation Centre, all her objectivity towards science turns to rubbish.

Are you seriously telling me she is not familiar with this procedure? Not even reading about it? It is the most basic form of lab examination! You sit/lay down, a nurse finds your vein, pinches it with a needle that draws your blood to a container. Easy. But noooo, Claire is scared, and makes donations sound horrible. I understand the effect this scene was trying to portray, but it makes me sad. I might even venture saying it will discourage readers for donating blood.

This series is one of my YA guilty pleasures. Why? I feel that each book makes me lose some 'vampire street cred'. I'm serious. They are slowly killing my intellect. Basically, these books could be compared to (unintentionally) reading gossip magazines.

Imagine this: you're in the checkout line paying for your groceries. There is this flashy magazine that *gasp* informs you: (Surprise) Angelina is expecting a new baby! You open it up complaining all the way about media and exploitation and all the nasty paparazzi yada-yada... But in the end, very, very deeply, you're just dying to see if there is a sexy Brad Pitt picture next to Angie.

You see? This is exactly how The Morganville vampires series make me feel. I am very interested in vampires, I love reading, but deep inside my hardcore Buffy fan heart, I know Caine's books are just not good or worth my reading time. The story is meh, light and in various parts contradictory. But I'm following this series in the hopes I get more about Claire & Shane smooch + kissy time. There, I said it.

It would seem that Claire Danvers's life couldn't get any worse, what with living in a college town that is also inhabited by vampires who wouldn't think twice about killing her, and having her parents pressuring her to move back in with them when she already lives with her three best friends.

But when Mr. Bishop arrives, things turn positively deadly.

No one's really sure what Mr. Bishop wants -- all they know is that he's more powerful than anyone, possibly even Amelie, and he lacks any good intentions. Everyone is on their guard.

Soon, everyone is buzzing about the upcoming formal ball, and all the humans are clamoring for invites, even Claire and Eve. But this is one party that the breathing might want to pass up.

FEAST OF FOOLS is an exciting, fast-paced, and chilling thriller. Ms. Caine has a real knack for combining a headstrong heroine, nicely creepy happenings, and a dash of romance and intrigue to bring about a knockout novel that'll stun, spellbind, and utterly captivate readers. There's a twist around every corner, and a cliffhanger that will leave readers
desperate for more in this wonderful series that's reminiscent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

A word of caution: Once you start into THE MORGANVILLE VAMPIRES series, it's impossible to let go.

Reviewed by: The Compulsive Reader

"In the college town of Morganville, vampires and humans have learned to live in relative peace. Still, students like Claire Danvers know that after dark, studying can take a backseat to staying alive. But the tenuous good-neighbor policy is really turned on its head with the arrival of Mr. Bishop.

Bad to the bone, the ancient old-school vampire cares nothing about harmony. Staying at the top of the food chain is enough. What he wants from the town's living and dead is unthinkably sinister. It's only at a formal ball attended by vampires and their human dates that Claire realizes Bishop's plan -- and the elaborately evil trap he's set for the warm-blooded souls of Morganville...." -Book Cover

The fourth installment in the Morganville Vampires series was really strong on mind games. In this series you never know who are friends and foes and this novel is no exception.

A new very powerful vampire is in town, and there are no question about his loyalties. He is so full of himself, it's plain scary. He wants to take over the town and is ready to put down any fool standing in his way. Will Morganville surrender? Will Amelie strike back?

While Amelie is cold and calculative I really like her, she's smart and fearsome. While playing with the locals lives like they are chess pieces isn't very nice, to say the least, she's got a goal and we can't quite put our finger on it just yet, can't wait to see the bigger picture!

I was a bit disappointed that Claire's parents didn't take a more important role in that book. With the big bomb at the end of book 3, I thought they would have a bigger impact in the story but they were only tools to Claire's misery.

The end of this book sets an awesome plate for the next episode and I'll be diving in as soon as tomorrow =)