Obsidian Butterfly. (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter #9). (Pbk.)

This was a frustrating book. I loved Edward’s character development, but I have a few bones to pick: 1. The first half was boring. It was brutal and graphic, but boring. The worst combination. 2. The second half got gradually less boring, but I felt like there was too much out-of-character behavior for both MCs. For Edward, it was explained and part of a well-developed characterization. For Anita, there was a lame attempt at possible explanations which were SO unconvincing... and it was all so distracting. 3. There was some very harrowing, gratuitous violence. Yes, I know these are violent books, and I don’t mind when it’s essential to the plot. But in this book and the last one, sexual violence was included and it felt like it was purely for shock value, and to make the characters’ rage and murdering justifiable. Rape is not a friggin’ tool for anyone to use like that and I am not ok with her using that in two books in a row, this same way!!! It normalizes assault, putting it across as just something that happens to good people, not to mention something you can get revenge for. NO. Also, using it like this cheapens it, makes it sound more trivial. This is SO not ok, and it bothers me so much that it is actually a miracle I didn’t rate this even lower. All in all, this is more like a book you have to get through to get to the rest of the series, than one that adds a lot or is even integral part IMO, other than introducing Olaf and Bernardo and Edward’s new... choices. I’m considering taking a break before rereading the next book, because I’m kind of mad at the author and the series right now (what. I can. It’s my prerogative as a bookworm.)

9 books in and I still haven't gotten tired of Anita as a character. This one takes a bit of a detour from the rest of the series by following Anita as she helps out her friend(?) Edward, getting some insight into him as a character. There has been a pretty bad crime(which is nothing new to these books) in which several people have died and others just horribly mutilated. Anita and the local cops aren't entirely sure what is causing these deaths and its a slow build during the mystery of trying to figure it out. This one seems to be pretty gruesome compared to others, at least in my opinion. Edward's personal life gets dragged into the thick of things and he and Anita retaliate in full force. I feel the ending was a bit rushed in this one.

I'm not sure if I'll read anymore after this one. I love LKH's writing and her amazing world building ability but I just never expected their to be so much unnecessary rape and violence. I mean I guess that's why a lot of people read her books but it's just not my thing. Generally I read (and write) YA so this is just a little outside of my comfort zone. Probably the best thing to do is to step away from this for a while and see if I miss the story lines or feel like I need to know more of Anita's story. At the moment, I have no urge to keep reading it.

I really liked this one. Anita was having too much involvement by guys and this one made her leave everyone and actually be a badass again.