Header image with four cats and the text: Pussreboots, a book review nearly every day. Online since 1997
Now 2025 Previous Articles Road Essays Road Reviews Author Black Authors Title Source Age Genre Series Format Inclusivity LGBTA+ Art Portfolio Purchase Art WIP

Recent posts


Month in review

Reviews
Amulet 6: Escape From Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi
Bad Kitty Drawn to Trouble by Nick Bruel
Below by Meg McKinlay
Birdmen by Lawrence Goldstone
Blood Rites by Jim Butcher
Burma Chronicles by Guy Delisle
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
Comics Squad: Recess! by Jennifer L. Holm
The Curse of the Thrax by Mark Murphy
El Deafo by Cece Bell
Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger
Ghostbusters, Volume 7: Happy Horror Days! by Erik Burnham
Ghostbusters, Volume 8: Mass Hysteria! Part 1 by Erik Burnham
The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage
Hilda and the Black Hound by Luke Pearson
If This Be Sin by Hazel Newlevant
Little Bo in London by Julie Andrews Edwards
Maddy Kettle: The Adventure of the Thimblewitch by Eric Orchard
Madlenka by Peter Sis
Matched by Ally Condie
Neurocomic by Hana Ros and Matteo Farinella
1.4 by Mike A. Lancaster
Over The Wall by Peter Wartman
Sea of Shadows: Age of Legends by Kelley Armstrong
The Shadow Hero by Gene Luen Yang
The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult
The Undertaking of Lily Chen by Danica Novgorodoff
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
The Wrenchies by Farel Dalrymple
xxxHolic: Rei Volume 01 by CLAMP

Previous month


Rating System

5 stars: Completely enjoyable or compelling
4 stars: Good but flawed
3 stars: Average
2 stars: OK
1 star: Did not finish


Privacy policy

This blog does not collect personal data. It doesn't set cookies. Email addresses are used to respond to comments or "contact us" messages and then deleted.


Comments for Blood Rites

Blood Rites: 11/20/14

cover art

Blood Rites by Jim Butcher is the sixth of the Dresden Files books. Dresden has a new job, going under cover at a porn studio. Someone or something is killing off the cast in violent ways.

So here's the thing, like many detective mysteries, it's expected that the novel will have a number of twists and turns, false leads, and red herrings. If the trail of clues isn't blatantly obvious, then the book will require concentration. Though these are also urban fantasies, Butcher's books require from me, more concentration than say Diane Mott Davidson's catering series. It's not that one is better written than the other, it's more a matter of clicking better with the characters, I think.

Anyway, I started reading Blood Rites just before I started a very intense, full time, but short term library inventory job. Between the commute time, the hours on the job, and other responsibilities, my days were twelve or thirteen hours long. I was coming home too exhausted to read for enjoyment. While I enjoyed (and tore through) the first third of the book, the next third passed by my eyes in a disjointed haze. Then the job was over (well done, efficiently executed) and I was able to finish the book with the same enthusiasm as I had started it.

BUT, with the middle blurred, I can't just blindly give it a top rating. Or even a very sensible review. The porn industry with supernatural creatures is certainly a natural blending of the two genres but it's a part of society that's completely off my usual radar (the only porn I've watched, I watched in film school).

My problem with the porn, isn't one of Puritan shame. Instead, it's a reaction to Dresden's discomfort. In previous books, he's constantly distracted by the female form — often distastefully so. It's hard to believe that someone so easily distracted would be unaware of the porn industry. Can't you see Dresden and Bob flipping through at least some magazines together? Or maybe that's just me.

Three stars

Comments (0)


Lab puppy
Name:
Email (won't be posted):
Blog URL:
Comment:


Tumblr Mastadon Flickr Facebook Facebook Contact me

1997-2025 Sarah Sammis