Now, there is a fifth one, The Lords of Misrule. I am on hold for it at the library, however, so book four is as far as I've gotten in the series.
In order to not give away too much, here's the synopsis for Glass Houses:
From the author of the popular Weather Warden series. Welcome to Morganville, Texas.
Just don't stay out after dark.
College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation, where the popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks in the school's social scene: somewhere less than zero.
When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her 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.
That summary makes it sounds totally cheesy, right?
Well, I agree. This little explanation makes an ocean sound like a river.
Prime example: the school prima donnas do a little more than remind her that she's a geek.
That sounds so Mean Girls; let's not diminish this great series (any more than the book covers do, anyway).
Rachel Caine has here established a fantastic set of characters:
Claire, the small, brilliant sixteen-year-old who's already in college. Ever an endearing (yes!) goody-two-shoes, though, she has compromised with her always-worried parents that she'll stay close to home for a while before she heads off to a more well-renowned school. So she ends up at the university in Morganville.
Michael, the gorgeous and strong angel-figure who's got a not-so-angelic secret...
Eve, a young woman thrown out by her parents for not conforming to the town vampires' rules, is sweet and sunny despite the goth outfits she wears to spite the vamps.
And Shane. The handsome rebel with the crazy family.
The characters are incredibly relatable, all with their own desires and agendas, all trying to survive (happily, if possible) in a town that seems to always be dark. You really start to root and hope for them.
Best of all: it's been a long time since the vampires in the story were, GASP, evil!!
I know!
Each book builds upon the last, and Caine's writing style somehow, impossibly, makes light of such tense material. Not that she doesn't take things seriously, because she makes the consequences clear for these characters, but her talent is that she takes a story that could be oppressively heavy and makes it accessible and enjoyable for the reader.
Personally, my least favorite book was The Dead Girls' Dance, which felt like filler for a series that has a lot going on already.
(I also didn't think the dance had very much to do with the story and was annoyed by the title).
Book one really set things rolling, however, and three threw me down a great, curving, road that four has simply accelerated me down.
I'm very eager to read the Lords of Misrule!
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