Meg Cabot - Overbite

So I have mixed up the genre a little this time, though it is still paranormal, I haven't read one about vampires for a while.  This book took me forever to read (two week-ish) for a couple of reasons: one, I've been a bit busier than normal, and two, I just couldn't delve into this book like I usually do.

Overbite is the second book in Meg Cabot's Insatiable series, a vampire series which stands out against her Princess Diaries series.  Insatiable is told from the point of view of Meena Harper mostly, a young woman with the ability to see someone's death when she touches them.  It's obvious from the name Meena Harper that the Insatiable series is intended to be a modern retelling of Bram Stoker's Dracula as well as the traditional "come and be my bride" from the vampire.  In the first book, Insatiable, Meena works as a writer from a TV show called Insatiable which is a fictional American Soap Opera with the standard insatiable women going about their everyday lives and cavorting with men.  Quite standard stuff until the network decides to mix it up by adding a vampire to the show to fit in with the influx in vampires in popular culture at the moment.  Meena then meets Lucien and she is delved into the supernatural world when she discovers that he is the son of Vlad the Impaler, also known as Dracula, and is destined to take over his father's dark empire.  It gets worse when Meena is approached by the Palantine, a subsidiary of the Vatican that want to eradicate Lucien's kind.

Rating: 5

Recommended To: Those looking for a holiday read

Favourite Characters: Jon - made me laugh; Alaric - strong and protective

Favourite Part: No.  It was his eyes.  There was no hint of that boyish mischievousness she was used to seeing in them.  For once, they weren't gleaming with deadly determination either.  She didn't recognize the look in them.
[...]
It was only then that she recognized the look in his eyes.  She'd seen it only once before: that night at St. George's, when Lucien Antonescu had almost killed them. - Page 112

Good Points: The concept; the themes of loyalty and with that, temptation; the inclusion of different cultures

Bad Points: Not as engaging as first; bits felt skipped over

Overbite picks up a little bit of time after the end of Insatiable with Meena fully settled in her job with the Palantine and living with her brother.  Alaric and the rest of the Palantine have recovered from the fight with the vampires at the end of Insatiable but Alaric isn't quite the same and is even more protective of Meena.  Meanwhile, Lucien has disappeared, or so it seems, from Meena's life until she meets up with her ex-boyfriend, Dave, and is subsequently attacked by him as he has just been turned into a vampire and can't control himself.  Lucien saves Meena's life and once again, Meena struggles with his presence in her life as she knows they can't be together but Lucien keeps pushing the matter.  So with Lucien back in her life and trying to find out what happened to Dave, Meena has a pretty hectic life in Overbite.

I love the concept of this series, a modern retelling of Dracula told from the point of view of the woman as the vampire tries to entice the woman; I love how Meena has the ability to see the death of anyone she touches because it makes her stand out against other female protagonists in this genre such as Claire in Rachel Caine's Morganville series who is just a normal girl with vampires in her town.  I like the updated concept with Meena being the main voice and working with those that want to destroy Lucien and his kind.  Much like other books in this genre, the female lead falls in love with the vampire and falls really hard without knowing the truth about her love interest's true nature; however, Meena is horrified when she finds out which implies no romanticism of being in love with a vampire, a vicious blood-sucking monster which is a great thing about this book.

I love the theme of loyalty that comes from this story and with this loyalty also comes the theme of temptation as Meena has to choose between Lucien and the Palantine, who in turn means Alaric Wulf, and she is faced with temptation from both sides as she believes she can bring the good out in Lucien but she could have a full life if she stays with the Palantine.  For me, the test of loyalty is an important one because it can also lead to who you feel most secure with and in this world where Meena is receiving numerous threats on her life, even from those she thinks she can trust, she needs this sense of security.

What was fabulous, in my opinion, was the inclusion of vampires from a different region, the Lamir, one of the most feared clan even among the vampires.  I found this really interesting because it brought a bit of freshness to the story as they devoured flesh, not for the squeamish, and were quite savage while Lucien's clan seemed more civilised in comparison, sometimes not killing their victims and just feeding on them.  This brought a nice contrast and hinted at a war between the clans after Lucien massacred his own at the end of Insatiable.

I love Jon, he's my favourite character because he brings humour into a dark story.  With Meena's life in jeopardy frequently in this book, as well as the series, he tries so hard to gain the attention of the Palantine, especially Alaric Wulf, as he really wants to become part of the Palantine, like his sister and Alaric, but by inventing.  While he's the normal sibling as he doesn't see anyone's death but his behaviour makes him stand out as it's nerdy and considered weird, even in a paranormal book.

If I were to choose who was my favourite character of the three main characters (Meena, Alaric, or Lucien), I would pick Alaric because I found him strong and protective while I see Lucien as possessive and controlling.  I just thought Meena was a bit dull in comparison as she wasn't really in the middle of the action until right at the very end much like in Insatiable.  In contrast, Alaric seems to be in the thick of it more often than not and does it for Meena's sake which I find sweet.

While I've said in other reviews that the particular book I was reviewing at the time was easy to read but this time I found Overbite extremely easy to read as a lot of the prose seemed irrelevant.  I was able to skim over a great chunk of the text and it all made complete sense as when I reread certain parts before writing this review, it was just a lot of waffle that wasn't necessary.  While I was under no illusion that this was going to be a brilliant book as the first one was a chick lit book I picked up for a holiday but I was let down as I felt slightly disappointed as I was able to skim a fair bit.

Parts of Alaric's story seemed skipped over right at the end; I am curious by nature and I want to know what happens between the final battle and the end.  This may have been a contributing factor to why I felt disappointed because Cabot could have expanded on this story so that the book was more about these characters then the story that has been told over and over again and while I love this concept Cabot could have mixed it up a bit by expanding on characters.

No.  It was his eyes.  There was no hint of that boyish mischievousness she was used to seeing in them.  For once, they weren't gleaming with deadly determination either.  She didn't recognize the look in them.
[...]
It was only then that she recognized the look in his eyes.  She'd seen it only once before: that night at St. George's, when Lucien Antonescu had almost killed them. - Page 112

I just loved how this part showed how well Meena actually knew Alaric and I found that really sweet, being able to convey your meaning in one look and for someone to be able to understand it without even speaking.  It just implied to me that Meena has the potential to be in a more solid relationship as she understands him and isn't trying to save him from himself and he isn't hiding anything from her which Lucien does throughout this books he hides his real plan.

I'm sorry to say that I am disappointed in this book and in Meg Cabot because I usually love her books, such as the Heather Wells series and the Mediator series, but I think this series was just to fit in with the sudden influx of vampire centric books that have come out in recent years after Twilight and several others.  This book would be fine for a quick read if you don't want to think but I wouldn't bother buying it at full price, so go to the library or buy it used.

Other Books by Meg Cabot