Book Review: Overbite by Meg Cabot (Insatiable Series #2)

Title: Overbite

Author: Meg Cabot

Publisher: William Morrow

Publication Date: July 2011

Genre: Adult Paranormal Contemporary Fiction

Series or Stand Alone: Series, Book Two

Synopsis can be found here.
You can find my review of book one here.

Review: Meena Harper and friends are in over their heads. It’s been about six months since their fight with Lucien Antonescu, son of Dracula, and where the first book in the series Insatiable left off. Meena is working for the Palatine Guard, only to find something new and more sinister has moved into Manhattan. And it seems to be targeting Meena.

The second book in the series is significantly shorter than the first (only coming in at 278 pages.) I wasn’t sure what to expect, as the first book was almost twice as long.  The story was suspenseful and fun, but it didn’t have the same magic as the first book. There was less humor, more drama and the characters changed so drastically in such a short amount of time, they were almost unrecognizable. The foundation was there from the beginning and I immediately knew which way it was going, so while the ending wasn’t a complete surprise, I didn’t feel like it had a very natural flow of getting there. I also thought this book seemed more YA-ish, while the first book leaned more on the romance adult side. (The heat between Meena and Lucien jumped at you from the first book. The second book didn’t really have any sizzle.)

Favorite characters were back, including Mary Lou and Emil, both adding much needed comic relief. And while Alaric seemed like his old self during the first part of the book, his fun awkwardness and unique thoughts were absent towards middle and end.

It is not that I didn’t enjoy the book. It was fun to visit Meena and her friends, even if this installment was much darker.  I read it in a day and wanted to see what happened. That being said, I just didn’t feel like it lived up to Insatiable, book one.

I wonder if this will continue to be a series, Cabot has certainly left it open a sliver at the end for more adventures. But I would hope she try to channel the first book’s humor and wit.  

Rating: 6 Good, but wouldn't own a copy.