Review: The Morganville Vampires #1: Glass Houses

Title: The Morganville Vampires #1: Glass Houses

Author: Rachel Caine

Date of Publication: October 3, 2006

Formats Available: Paperback, E-Book

Buy This Book: Amazon

Synopsis: It’s a small college town filled with quirky characters. But when the sun goes down, the bad comes out. Because in Morganville, there is an evil that lurks in the darkest shadows—one that will spill out into the bright light of day.
Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation. The popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks on the school’s social scene: somewhere less than zero. And Claire really doesn’t have the right connections—to the undead who run the town.
When Claire heads off campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Hew new roommates don’t show many signs of life. But they’ll have Claire’s back when the town’s deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood...

My Review:

I read Glass Houses for the first time almost five years ago and I was instantly hooked. From that moment on I went into a huge Morganville Vampires obsession; I bought each new book the second it came out, I read and re-read all of the books several times, my love for these books was uncontrollable. Until eventually I got tired of waiting for the next one to come out and in the end I kind of forgot about the series. Until I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to re-read them and see if they were as good as I remembered. They were.

If anything I loved Glass Houses this time around (4th time, 5th?) more than I ever remember liking this novel before. Even though I remembered most of the twists and turns and knew exactly how everything would turn out I still found myself riveted to every page and ended up reading this novel in one day, unable to put it down. Something about Claire and Shane (one of my favorite fictional boyfriends) as well as Eve and Michael makes me want to keep reading, just because I love each of them and their unique personalities so much.

Now that my rant about how much I love this book is over I'll get into the reasons behind my love for this novel. The number one reason being the characters. Bullied and a little bit of a outcast Claire is someone I can instantly to relate to, I love her personality and her quiet determination. Shane, her opposite in pretty much every way, is the perfect love interest for her and they are right up at the top of my list of favorite fictional couples. Michael and Eve play a bit of a smaller role but nonetheless I love Michael's protectiveness of his friends and Eve's adorable goth outfits and bubbly personality.

The plot is okay but it's truly the characters that make the story. With mean girls and college classes this novel falls somewhere between YA (since Claire is only 16) and New Adult (because it takes place on a college campus) but the blend works perfectly for the novel. Even though the idea of vampires running a town and singling out Claire isn't exactly a new one Caine truly makes her characters shine in the roles they've been given and thus makes the plot shine as well. With a cast of backstabbing and terrifying vampires as well as the great personalities of Claire and her friends this novel just comes together in a way few novels ever manage to do.

If there is one novel/series I will ALWAYS recommend it is The Morganville Vampires series and my re-read of this series after all these years only confirms my high opinion of the series. With fabulous characters, an exciting plot, and a hint of romance Glass Houses is the first in a series of truly wonderful YA vampire novels.

5/5