Dancing with the Devil by Keri Arthur
First in the Nikki & Michael series
2.5 stars
Nikki
James is a Private Investigator with a past that has been haunting her
for years and an ability that has done nothing but harm people.
Everything changes for Nikki when she follows a teenager named Monica
Trevgard who reminds her of herself into the shadows and finds herself
ensnared in war between two men that aren’t human. Michael Kelly came to
Lyndhurst to protect Nikki and ends up finding his archenemy, who is
now targeting Nikki for death. Michael’s existed in the shadows for 300
years and never thought he was capable of love, but Nikki may be the one
to change it all for him. Nikki’s psychic abilities and dark past are
catching up to her and it won’t be easy to win her heart. Let me say
this, I was actually really excited to read
Dancing with the Devil
because I had found the book a few years ago and it sounded totally
awesome. It wasn’t that awesome. I’m not really sure what to say, but
while reading I came up with a pretty interesting idea for my review.
Since we just finished studying the classifications of life, I thought
why not see if Michael is considered living or nonliving. I know what
you’re probably thinking, all vampires are dead so they are no longer
living, which is true but I’ve come across vampires that were much more
alive than some humans.
How to Determine if Your Vampire is Living or Nonliving in ITALICSDancing with the DeviITALICSl:
1) Made up of cells?
A: I’m pretty sure Michael and Jasper were made of cells. If not they once wouldn’t have been human.
2) Able to reproduce?
A:
It’s never discussed in the book because Arthur probably sees no point
in mentioning it. I want to know because most books about vampires
mention it.
3) DNA or genetic code?
A: At one point, so yes.
4) Able to grow and develop?
A:
Once upon a time. I think Michael has already developed into a full
human, but I know Jasper is still technically a teenager since it seems
that his development/ growth was stopped after being turned.
5) Obtain and use materials and energy?
A: BLOOD! All the blood you can get your fangs on.
6) Respond to their environment?
A: Better than humans because they have super-senses.
7) Homeostasis (stable internal environment)?
A:
Probably thinking I would say no, but Nikki says that Michael is warm
and I’m pretty sure that that is a sign of homeostasis. He’s no Edward.
8) Evolvement in species?
A: It’s never discussed so I can’t say.
Results: 6/8, but since two questions weren’t answered I’m resulting in this experiment as inclusive until further notice.
I
honestly don’t have much to say about this book and that was just a fun
way to entertain myself. I will say that I’m tired of these cliché
vampires that haven’t lived half-a -millennia. You can’t be a cool
vampire if you’re 300 or 100 years old. In my opinion, you’re a baby and
while you have experience you haven’t seen enough of the world. For a
good part of the beginning of the book there was absolutely no character
development, but just action scene after action scene. Even all those
action scenes started to dwindle to nothing.
The main
female character is Nikki. Nikki is one of the most desperate characters
I’ve ever encountered. You know jokes about thirsty girls that have
become popular, well this book was originally released in 2001 and Nikki
is one of the original heroines of thirsty girls. She’s constantly
throwing herself at Michael and the first time they have sex is because
she uses him to get Jasper’s darkness from her mind. She’s also
incredibly stupid. I’m stubborn, but not to the point where I’ll throw
myself into situations that result in me getting mauled and kidnapped by
zombies repeatedly. There is also no sexual tension or anything between
Nikki and Michael. I’m just not feeling their romance and it doesn’t
make me swoon or wish for my own boyfriend. In fact, Nikki and Michael’s
relationship is so bland and boring that I could probably find two
stray animals that have a better love story. Nikki is also like a
depressed teenager who thinks she’s not good enough for love. I didn’t
sign up for the adult version of Twilight. I wanted something unique and
badass not filled with teenage angst in an adult story. Nikki is also
always beating herself down and I know that a lot of people do that, but
she was beating herself up over being alone even though she was the one
pushing Michael away. You know what I have to say to that and your sob
story, Nikki?
Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 4
The
main male character is Michael. He’s better than Nikki, but not by
much. I find him to be completely lacking in a personality or substance.
We also don’t find out from the author that he’s a vampire until around
the 15% mark, which is quite far into the story and we’ve already had
multiple POVs from him. I dislike greatly when authors do this. He’s not
keeping a secret from himself and I don’t get why for such a long
freaking time he couldn’t admit to himself that he was a vampire in his
internal monologue of moodiness. Michael is also another Edward Cullen
in terms of moodiness and I’m just so over it.
Swoon Worthy Scale: 5
The Villain-
Jasper wasn’t half bad for a villain. He was probably the coolest
character in the novel. He’s sadistic, has mad psychic powers, can raise
his victims from the dead into zombies, and can easily manipulate an
idiotic teenager into doing his beck and calling. So, Jasper is pretty
badass in my view. I definitely would run as far away from his sadistic
self if he was real.
Villain Scale: 9
The
only other characters were Monica and Jake. Monica was irrelevant and
who cares about her dumb self for getting caught up with Jasper. Jake is
actually pretty cool though and he’s a father-figure to Nikki. He‘s
always there for her and I like how he actually cares about people.
Character Scale: 7
One
of the most annoying things about Nikki and Michael is that they are
broken records of emotions. They repeatedly think the same thought, but
in different wording on ONE page. It’s ridiculous. During halfway
through the book, it was like the storyline evaporated and this became
the huge plot:
Nikki having sex with Michael and refusing to talk
about Tommy. Who is Tommy you ask? Well, Tommy is Nikki’s boyfriend from
the past who also had psychic abilities. She didn’t talk about what he
did to her at all until 61% and she didn’t even internally think about
what happened, but it was just constant “Michael’s another Tommy.”
This gif describes how I felt the whole entire time while reading. I have nothing else to say other than I’ll be reading the sequel, but I won’t be afraid to DNF or drop the series if it sucks.
Cover
Thoughts: The new cover is definitely better than the old one. I like
it, but I don’t love it. It’s pretty standard PNR/UF cover.
Thank you, Netgalley and Dell for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
