tantalize by cynthia leitich smith

Written by Darlyn At Monday, March 29, 2010
Title: Tantalize (Tantalize #1)
Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith
Pages: 336
Rating: 4.2/5

Summary (Goodreads):

Quincie Morris has never felt more alone. Her parents are dead, and her hybrid-werewolf first love is threatening to embark on a rite of passage that will separate them forever. Then, as she and her uncle are about to unveil their hot vampire-themed restaurant, a brutal murder leaves them scrambling for a chef. Can Quincie transform their new hire into a culinary Dark Lord before opening night? Can he wow the crowd in his fake fangs, cheap cape, and red contact lenses — or is there more to this earnest face than meets the eye? As human and preternatural forces clash, a deadly love triangle forms, and the line between predator and prey begins to blur. Who’s playing whom? And how long can Quincie play along before she loses everything?

My Review:

So finally this book wooed me. Tantalize is a very very interesting book. But when I say interesting, it doesn't mean that it was perfect. In fact, the characters are far, far, far from perfect but surprisingly, the whole story really hooked me up.

It's a story of 17-year-old Quincie (I love the name) has a lot of things to think of.
She's in her senior year, trying so hard to catch-up with school, have a crush with her best friend, Kieren who apparently a half-werewolf and the re-opening of her family's restaurant after her parents' recent death. Unfortunately, just days before opening, Quincie's long-time family friend and head chef, Vaggio, is murdered in the restaurant kitchen, brutally. This violent event begins a series that change her life forever. And this occasions blames a were-people, or to be exact, a werewolf. Were-people (possum, cats, wolf, anything can be a were too in this world), vampires and humans mix and together in a community. Cool. I thought it would be even curiouser when they blamed a werewolf instead of vampires. And of course, Quincie cannot trust Kieren anymore. And I even thought, "why Kieren is the bad guy? I want him to be the hero!"

**Spoiler**

**Then come the best part. The werewolf is actually the hero here. And not vampires! Finally. But, the interesting part doesn't stop there. Because it's going to be a vampire who fall in love with a werewolf. Awww.. I love the parts of Quincie and Kieren in this book. I kind of like that. A werewolf and a vampire really remind me of the Underworld movie.**

However, I have to admit that it's not a page turner book for about the first 50 pages. The problems of re-opening the family restaurant with a vampire theme really quite off the hook. But, it kind of worked a little with the plot she created. When
there's a major plot twist toward the end of the book that I somehow completely missed, too, so I found the book to be full of surprises.

I enjoyed the short chapters with titles of each as they really helped move along the pace of the book also added a lot of interest. However, I was very disappointed in the abrupt and unsatisfying ending. Another cliffhanger. It reminded me very much of the "resolution" to Rachel Caine "Glass Housess" I've read last week. To put it simply, there isn't much of one. As readers, I were left hanging to hope that Smith ties up some of the obvious loose ends in her subsequent books. Urghhh..
I felt this first portion of the story could have been a little more developed. But, it's OK I guess.

Overall, Tantalize is a tantalizing read. And luckily it did leave me wanting a little more. I can't wait for the next two books of the trilogy. I know the #2 is Eternal but I don't know when is the #3 installment. I don't even know the title. *LOL*

Have you heard anything about the trilogy? Hoping we could share some. =)

12 comments:

  1. I'm glad Tantalize did just that and tantalized you. Great review! I'm adding to my list!

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  2. You know what...I just read that book this week too!! I finished it on Tuesday and then I read Eternal on Wednesday. However, Eternal isn't a sequel to Tantalize. Bummer, I know. BUT, Eternal is still a good read too. I didn't know there was a third book, though. Now I want to find it and read it too. :-)

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  3. AWEsome review!! I've been wanting to read this one for awhile now! Sounds like it doesn't disappoint!

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  4. cool! This looks like a fascinating book - werewolves are "in" right now!
    buuut *facepalm* my MC in one of my manuscripts is named Quincy! Now I'll look like a copycat :(

    I'm going to put this on my TBR - thanks for such a great review, Darlyn!

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  5. O I am so glad you loved this one. I did too. LOL LOVED your spoiler. So true. So true. *high five*

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  6. @ fredamans = yup. Glad it did. hope i can hear your review on this one soon.. =)

    @ Hannah = What? I thought it's a sequel. I so want to read about Kieren and Quincie lovey-dovey moment.. *Sob2*

    @ Carrie = glad you think so..it's cool for me. but reading other review on goodreads, seemed tey rated it as 1 star.i'm shocked!

    @ Amelia = Aww..i feel bad to wrote the name now..*LOL* but i think you will think another cool name after this *wink*

    @ Juju = Thanks a Lot Juju! I like it too ;p

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  7. This sound rather interesting and make me wonder how come I've never known of its existence *lol* Gah, you sure make me wonder where you actually buy this book. I went to MPH Mid Valley in the past week and I cannot see much of these titles over there!

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  8. @ Shy = I happened to found this on pre-loved books online. we don't have MPH in bintulu. just a small POPULAR bookstore with out of stock book list.

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  9. hi darlyn! a community of paranormal characters, with a sort of feud between vamps and werewolves? sounds interesting. i've seen this book around the blogosphere but yours is the first review i've read about this book. thanks for your honest review!

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  10. Brilliant review! I just won this, so I can't wait to read it! :)

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  11. I totally wish that Eternal had been a sequel too! Another look at Quincie and Kieren would have been fantastic. But, don't worry, Eternal is really good in its own right too.

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  12. Great review! This book sounds really interesting!

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Thanks for the comments! XOXO ;p

 

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