Wednesday, July 20, 2011

UNDEAD AND UNDERMINED: REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDEDUNDEAD AND UNDERMINED
BY MARYJANICE DAVIDSON

ABOUT THE BOOK:
All-new in the New York Times bestselling drop-dead funny series.

Vampire Queen Betsy Taylor thought she couldn't die. So what's she doing in the morgue? It could have something to do with a time- traveling trip she made, and a foe with a wicked agenda that could finally be the real death of Betsy-if she's not careful.
EXCERPT FROM UNDEAD AND UNDERMINED: 
When the awful racket started up, when the coroner got ready to open my skull with what I later found out was a Stryker autopsy saw, I was fine with it.
No, more than that . . . it seemed like a really, really good idea. Not just a good idea for me. It would be great for everyone involved. And if you took the long view, it would be good for humanity. Because I’d had enough. Case closed, everybody out of the pool, time to shut off the lights and lock up, hit the trail, shake a leg, beat feet, get gone, get out.
I was out.
How sucky was it that I knew, knew the one thing worse than waking up on an embalming table was waking up inside a body bag? I did not ever want to know that. No one should know that.
Oh, and while we’re compiling a list of things no one should know? No one should know that they grow up— grow old, anyway— to torture their friends. That they either brought about (or didn’t bother to prevent) a scary- ass nuclear winter apocalyptic event resulting in the very real possibility of freezing to death on the Fourth of July. No one should know that, on the off chance they turn into an ancient evil vampire crone, they forget all sense of fun and, worse, fashion. Gray dresses!
To finish reading this excerpt, visit MaryJanice Davidson's website HERE.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
MaryJanice Davidson is the New York Times bestselling author of the Undead novels featuring Betsy Taylor; Derik's Bane, and the new young adult novels featuring Jennifer Scales, written with her husband, Anthony Alongi, among other titles.

And from Penguin Publishing's website, here is a brief interview to learn more about this very talented author:

Q. Do you really have a shoe fetish like Betsy?
A. No! Strictly a Payless “buy one pair get the second pair half off” girl. I can’t see spending that much money on something I will walk through who-knows-what in!
Q. How do you come up with your ideas?
A. A long time ago a teacher told me “see what’s out there, and then write what isn’t.” I really enjoy putting extraordinary characters in ordinary circumstances and then watch them handle them as regular people would have to.
Q. What other genres are you interested in pursuing?
A. I love murder/mystery. I have some ideas for projects outside contemporary/paranormal romance and I hope I get a chance to try them out.
Q. Why cyborgs, vampires, werewolves, etc.?
A. I love to read these kinds of stories myself, but all the characters seemed so dark and monotonous—same kind of personality, very unapproachable. My characters are all just regular people thrown into extraordinary circumstances, then they have to face ordinary challenges just like the rest of us but from a completely different perspective. Can’t find a parking space, need a job, etc. Don’t you think this is funny?!
Q. Are you going to write more Undead books?
A. Absolutely! I've got the series plotted out through book five, and hopefully I'll be able to write even more than that (it depends on my publisher and, of course, the readers!).

MY THOUGHTS/REVIEW:
UNDEAD AND UNDERMINED by MaryJanice Davidson is the second book in a trilogy and so Davidson gives a review of what has happened so far in the beginning of the book. This is good for me as I had not read the first book. The book is about Vampire Queen Betsy surviving and figuring out how to deal with a parallel dimension and time travel. Betsy seems to have some attention deficit disorder and Davidson writes a whole lot about how Betsy is very sarcastic which became a little tiresome after a while. The story has many characters that come from the first book and from other time periods.

There is Dick, who from what I can tell, used to be called Nick, and used to hate Betsy but now he doesn’t as he is in this different world due to this kind of time travel thing.  Evidently, he wasn’t fond of vampires (hmmm, wonder why?). Betsy has a roommate named Jessica who is eight months pregnant and it appears that Dick (Nick) is the father. He seems to be really in love with Jessica. Other characters who enter the story are Garrett who is alive in this new world and then there is Laura who seems to be a very frightened girl who has slowly come to accept her destiny. Betsy’s love interest is Sinclair who does seem crazy in love with her. And also there’s a character named Thing who evidently has followed Betsy back from another time in the future.

What I got from all that was while Betsy was time traveling, she changed some things and now everything is messed up. What she changed in the past evidently has made things in the future change as well and someone is out to get her to fix things or die trying. I honestly must say that this is definitely not my kind of book. I know that MaryJane Davidson is a talented author but this genre just didn’t appeal to me. I felt lost most of the time and wonder if I had read the first book if it would have mattered. Sorry to say, I don’t think so. However, if this paranormal type book is in your kind of read, I will say there were some pretty humorous parts to it. 

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO ALEXANDRIA AND FRIENDS AT
PENGUIN PUBLISHING, I HAVE ONE COPY OF
MARYJANICE DAVIDSON'S BOOK TO GIVE AWAY
 
 
--U.S. AND CANADIAN RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES, PLEASE
--INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT
--ALL ENTRIES/COMMENTS MUST BE
SEPARATE IN ORDER TO COUNT
AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: READ ABOUT UNDEAD AND UNDERMINED ABOVE AND COMMENT ON WHAT MAKES YOU WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COMMENT ABOUT IT LEAVING A LINK THAT I CAN FOLLOW

+1 MORE ENTRY: GO TO MARY JANICE DAVIDSON'S WEBSITE HERE AND COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FIND INTERESTING THERE

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON HOW YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG. IF YOU FOLLOW MORE THAN ONE WAY, YOU MAY COMMENT ON EACH WAY AND THEY WILL EACH BE COUNTED AS A SEPARATE ENTRY

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, AUGUST 5
GOOD LUCK!

50 comments:

debbie said...

I really like the paranormal genre. It is one of my favorites. I think it is one of those genres that you either love or hate it.
I like that this one has a little time travel in it.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com

debbie said...

I am a email subscriber.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com

debbie said...

I learned she wants to learn to make potstickers on her site.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com

lag123 said...

I am not into the paranormal genre but this one sounds like it has a little humor to it. I think I would like to try it!

lag110 at mchsi dot com

lag123 said...

Tweeted: https://twitter.com/#!/lag32583/status/93635879175860224

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lag123 said...

I learned from the author's website that Undead and Undermined is #26 on the NY Times bestseller list.

lag110 at mchsi dot com

lag123 said...

I am an email subscriber.

lag110 at mchsi dot com

lag123 said...

I subscribe via google reader.

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lag123 said...

I follow via gfc.

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lag123 said...

I follow via networked blogs.

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lag123 said...

I follow on twitter: @lag32583

lag110 at mchsi dot com

lag123 said...

I am a FB fan: Lisa Holmes Garrett

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holdenj said...

I gave the first book a try and wasn't too sure about it, but one of my good friends think Betsy's the greatest character! Always worth another shot. Thanks!
JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

holdenj said...

MaryJanice is a fan of Cinnabon!
JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

holdenj said...

I am an email subscriber.
JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

Anonymous said...

The paranormal genre is my favorite, but mystery/suspence comes in a close second.
mom1248(at)att(dot)net

Anonymous said...

I am an email subscriber.
mom1248at)att(dot)net

Anonymous said...

I follow by GFC.
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Unknown said...

I love paranormal and vampires. Please enter me in contest. I am a follower and email subscriber. Tore923@aol.com

Reading said...

Thanks for the giveaway. I love the paranormal and vampires are my fav. I think this is something I would really enjoy.

lizzi0915 at aol dot com

Reading said...

I follow on GFC

lizzi0915 at aol dot com

Reading said...

I am an email subscriber.

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mamabunny13 said...

My daughter likes the paranormal genre and I want to win it for her.
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mamabunny13 said...

I learned that Mary Janice likes Cinnabon, I love Cinnabon!
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mamabunny13 said...

I follow you via gfc
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Linda Kish said...

It sounds a bit quirky and worth a try.

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

Linda Kish said...

I am an email subscriber

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Linda Kish said...

I am a GFC follower

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

Linda Kish said...

Reading her bio, she has a very oddball sense of humor. I love it.

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

bison61 said...

a Vampire in a morgue-this book sounds great

tiramisu392 (at) yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

gmapeony at yahoo dot com

Cover girl looks like Madonna

Unknown said...

I would love to win this, because I love humorous paranormal books.
marlenebreakfield(at)yahoo(dot)com

Unknown said...

Tweeted http://twitter.com/#!/mbreakfield/status/98471004518625280
marlenebreakfield(at)yahoo(dot)com

Unknown said...

I found it interesting that she writes a YA series with her husband.
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rss subscriber
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Twitter follower @mbreakfield
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Liked you on fb
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