Review: Biting Bad – Chloe Neill

Posted 11 March, 2015 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 6 Comments

Review: Biting Bad – Chloe NeillBiting Bad by Chloe Neill
Series: Chicagoland Vampires #8
Published by NAL, Penguin on 6 August 2013
Genres: Adult, Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 350
Source: Kindle Purchase
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3 Stars

Merit has been a vampire for only a short while, but she's already seen a lifetime's worth of trouble. She and her Master, centuries-old Ethan Sullivan, have risked their lives time and again to save the city they love. But not all of Chicago is loving them back.

Anti-vampire riots are erupting all over town, striking vampires where it hurts the most. A splinter group armed with Molotov cocktails and deep-seated hate is intent on clearing the fanged from the Windy City come hell or high water.

Merit and her allies rush to figure out who's behind the attacks, who will be targeted next, and whether there's any way to stop the wanton destruction. The battle for Chicago is just beginning, and Merit is running out of time.

Biting Bad is not lacking in humor, nor excitement or even romance, however, I’m still having a little trouble with trust when it comes to Chicagoland…

My Biting Bad review:

One of the things I really enjoyed in Biting Bad is that Merit and Ethan’s relationship finally seemed a little more balanced, and Ethan was less heavy-handed than usual. I also had fun with the riots investigations, even if the culprit didn’t surprise me in the least. Full of feelings of both love and fear, the story moved along at a nice pace, and the overall plot was well done.

I really hope my enjoyment for the Chicagoland series will build back up, but it’s really difficult for me to be completely immersed in the story, the intricacies of the various relationships and the funny banter when I can never be sure if the happy rug will be pulled out from under me. This series was one of my first UF / PNR series, and I fell instantly in love with Merit from the beginning. In Biting Bad, it is clear that she has evolved a lot as a character over the span of these eight books, and seeing her be a little more pragmatic about her vampire status was refreshing.

One of the main things that also stood out in Biting Bad was the Grey and Cadogan houses were better at cooperation, but in a way, they really didn’t have a choice. The way Ethan showed Merit how much he trusted her was well done, too, because he had no qualms about letting her go on missions alone, or even with Jonah. The secondary characters had quite important roles in this instalment, too. The usual ones, like Merit’s grand-pa, Mallory and Catcher were present, but so was Merit’s whole family, even if only for a few short scenes.

The writing is good, even if a few dialogues were a little repetitive, and there were some minor typos, the first person point of view from Merit’s perspective is always entertaining, and the past tense works best for this kind of stories, so all in all, Biting Bad is a satisfying story, it’s really my own hang-ups that made it less than it could have been.

 Some of my favorite Biting Bad quotes:

Ethan arched an eyebrow, a move he used frequently to portray many of the emotions in his arsenal – doubt, imperiousness, wickedness, among them.

“What do you even do with a chimera?”
“What wouldn’t you do with a chimera?” Jeff asked. “They’re like the Swiss Army knife of animals.”
“Party in the front, business in the back,” Catcher agreed.

But perhaps that was the point? That plans, however well-intentioned, were ultimately irrelevant? That we had to learn to adapt, and the best-case scenario was finding a partner who was willing to adapt alongside us?

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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6 responses to “Review: Biting Bad – Chloe Neill

  1. Phew! At least this is a series I’m not behind on…of course, that’s only because I haven’t started it yet. 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed it overall, Lexxie, and I also hope Neill can win you over again. I know you did love this series and I understand where you trust issues are coming from. (we talked about it) Kudos for giving it another shot.

    **BIG HUGS**

    Bookworm Brandee recently posted: Teaser Tuesday ~ #59
    • I loved the first three books, and then things kind of fell apart a little. I have always enjoyed Merit as a heroine though, so I keep going as well…

  2. I love that series but frankly, I could use some respite sometimes – those people never, ever rest, lol ! At the beginning, each time Ethan raised an eyebrow, I figured I could hear it squeak (you know, like Roger Moore’s puppet in Spitting images) but now I’ve grown used to it. I enjoy Merit’s character immensely, she’s a kick-ass heroin with great retorts – and a healthy appetite 😉

    • LOL Ethan’s squeaky eyebrow? I really loved the beginning of this series, and I agree, Merit is awesome. There have just been some things happening that made me lose faith quite a bit…

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