The Becoming
Ratings9
Average rating3.4
(3.5 actually, but goodreads won't let me do that) This was just what the doctor ordered, over the last couple of months, I'd tried out a handful of new (to me) urban fantasy series, and had to force myself to finish them. Not this one. A fun ride from start to finish. It's the kind of start to a series that reminded me of [b:Kitty and the Midnight Hour 14461 Kitty and the Midnight Hour (Kitty Norville, #1) Carrie Vaughn http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166606508s/14461.jpg 1232488] – and judging by the fact that of [a:Carrie Vaughn 8988 Carrie Vaughn http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1231952277p2/8988.jpg] books are now on my shelves at home, that's a good thing. It's very much a start to a series, a good ol' origin story. Butt-kickin', independent woman (with family issues), is out with her partner doing their bounty hunter thing, and unbeknownst to them, try to take a vampire into custody. Hilarity, er, blood-swapping ensues, and you've got yourself a butt-kickin', independent vampire (with family issues).Sure, our hero, Anna, has a heckuva learning curve in front of her–which Stein uses well to introduce the reader to her vampire rules, society, hunters, history, and whatnot. A good healthy mix of tradition and nouveau vamp lore.It is a setup novel, so it's hard to predict what form the future installments will take, once Anna's more settled into her fangs, things will be different. But it's a good start, with a likable cast, and a couple of good threads to follow in future books. Sign me up for more.
I can't remember reading any other book that focuses on a main character's transition from human to vampire. I suppose we'll see more of them, now that Stein has done so. The book is a fairly good read, but you should definitely ignore the text on the back, as it's misleading. I assume Becoming is the first of a series, as there was a major issue left unresolved at the end.
This is definitely not a book for romance fans. While there are some explicit sex scenes, there isn't much real romance. I rather liked the omission, but some folks might assume that it is a paranormal romance.