Glass Houses

by Rachel Caine

Book Overview

College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation, where the popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks in the school's social scene: somewhere less than... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451219945
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: NAL Jam Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.8" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Five-star entertainment!

I'm 51 years old and I LOVED this book! Sure, the main characters act a little immature now and then, but THEY'RE KIDS. This is my first book by this author and I could only put it down with difficulty (as opposed to the second book in the series, which I absolutely could not put down at all). The background of the town and vamps has been intricately built, with fascinating characters on all sides. Claire, the lead, is especially interesting and multi-dimensional (and I hope someone points her towards birth control real soon because she's gonna need it). There is a real fear factor in the scary parts, real humor in the funny parts, and the guys are hilarious when they're being guys. The pace is get-up-and-go (2nd book even more so). All in all, tremendously entertaining. The only sore spot was the sudden cliffhanger at the end, which (disregard the "look ahead" excerpt at the end of the book) is speedily dealt with in ch. 1 of Part 2. It almost made me NOT buy volume 2 after I'd determined that I wanted more of this author, but I bought it and am darned glad I did. Beware: volume 2 also has its own cliffhanger as well as numerous plot threads that need to be resolved fairly quickly. But that's what series are all about, right? Buy this book! I don't like many vampire books, but this one is a winner.

4.5 stars. Do not read without book two ready. Cliff hanger ending.

Claire Danvers thinks studying and learning are fun. It is no wonder she ends up going to college early. She is only sixteen, so her parents do not want her to live in a dorm too far away for them to drive to. Therefore, Claire ends up at Texas Prairie University (TPU). Claire plans to remain at TPU until she is eighteen and then transfer to a much bigger and better college. Since Claire is sixteen, she expects that the other students would treat her a bit harsh. After all, Claire is much younger than anyone else and prefers to study instead of party. However, she never expects to find out that she is the ONLY normal or sane student in town. It does not take long for Claire to honestly believe that she is the only sane person in TOWN! Monica Morrell is the most popular girl. She is also the biggest bully. When Claire, accidently, makes Monica look stupid, she becomes Monica's personal punching bag. Worse, after being given a black eye and shoved down some steep stairs, Claire knows that Monica wants nothing less than to see her dead. Claire's only real choice is to find some sort of cheap housing off campus...TODAY! Claire ends up at Glass House. It a blend of Tara from "Gone with the Wind" and the home of "The Munsters". Within twenty-four more hours, Claire learns why the town is odd. Vampires run the town! Humans who are under Protection from a vampire always wear their bracelets identifying them as such. These humans swear their entire lives to their Protector. They live, serve, and die at their Protector's whim. And anyone without a bracelet, such as Clair, is meat! Claire now has three house mates. Eve works at the local coffee shop named Common Grounds. It is the only neutral territory around. Shane can only cook one thing, chili. He hates Monica even more than Claire does. (Monica returns his hateful feelings.) But the strangest is David. The house belongs to David. But David is never seen during the day, only at night. He is not a vampire though. He is one big mystery. The trio may seem almost as strange as the Morganville, but when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out at night for fresh blood, these three have Claire's back. ***** The only thing that I do not like about this novel is that it ends in the middle of a murder involving one of Claire's three house mates. Talk about a frustrating cliff hanger! So do NOT begin this novel until you purchase book two (The Dead Girls' Dance). If this book had ended three pages earlier, I would have given it the full five stars. Otherwise, this book is stellar! ***** Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

All Claire Danvers wanted was a normal college experience. Preferably somewhere far away, but when her parents send her to Morganville, Texas, she's still glad to be going to college, even if she is, at sixteen, the youngest college student around. Morganville is a small college town, and Claire's prepared to make the best of her fresh start. Unfortunately, things don't turn out the way anyone expected or wanted them to. At first, Claire's existence is made miserable by a few girls in her dorm who torment her. Dorm life, for Claire, is not all it's cracked up to be--in fact, it's pretty much as miserable as she thinks it can get, so Claire decides to move out and find a place off-campus. Luck is with her; she ends up at a spooky-looking mansion with a room she can actually afford, and three roommates who actually turn out to be pretty cool, even if they have reservations about letting her move in at first. Michael, Shane, and Eve are all eighteen, and Claire's a couple of years younger. If Claire thought being harassed in her dorm was bad, she didn't know Morganville's secrets. When she moves out of the dorm, however, she learns that there's more to Morganville than there seems to be. The town is run by vampires. Yes, actual vampires that can't go out in the daytime and drink human blood at night. If Claire's not careful, it could end up being her blood they're drinking... GLASS HOUSES is a great book for fans of vampire novels. Claire and her roommates are quite likeable as characters, and, perhaps making the book even better, the bad guys are just as easy to hate as the inhabitants of the Glass House are to like. In Morganville, Rachel Caine has created a mysterious, intriguing, and spooky town run by the undead (I was a bit reminded of Buffy's hometown of Sunnydale). The writing is great, and there are few flaws in this awesome book. Claire doesn't ask nearly as many questions as might be expected of someone who had just been let in on the secret that she's living in a town run by vampires; it seems like that might be a way of keeping some questions and suspense in the story, but it struck me as a bit unrealistic while reading. Even with its minor flaws, though, this is a book that will have readers hooked and ready for more in this series! Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce

Wow--great read for all!

Rachel Caine fans are in for another rockin' ride in this new series! Some may be tempted to compare this one to her Weather Wardens books, but that's a big mistake. Each should be read on its own merits, keeping in mind it IS a whole different world and the rules are different. Were I in the right age group for this book I'd likely go nuts over it and be craving another one ASAP. As an adult I'm still nuts over it, but for different reasons. The characters, especially the brainy, courageous Claire, are very well drawn and likeable for their quirks and shortcomings. Each has a history, baggage, and a unique way of dealing with problems. Young Claire is scary smart in some things, inexperienced in others, and attending college in Morganville, Texas, which has nasty goings on under the surface. Psychotic classmates, sinister cops, and other threats abound in a town where vampires make the rules and unwary humans are there for the taking. Caine has gone all out on the "What if vampires (the e-vul, bloodsucking, barely controlled fiend kind) designed and ran a town?" It ain't a pretty sight, but it's a page-turning read as Claire and her housemates figure out how to survive. As if classes, term papers, and after school jobs weren't enough on a freshman's plate, the freshman could end up being the meal on that plate! Think Veronica Mars crossed with Buffy, throw in a gallon of espresso shots to pitch things into high gear and that's what you'll find in Glass Houses. Just like the real world, this one isn't a fair place, and it can get very dark indeed, but you can get past that and thrive if you want it enough and have the support of good friends. The other plus is the swift, effortless pace of well-executed writing. This is a book you can finish, turn to the front, and read again. That was my favorite kind of book as a teen and still is now. High school and college are long behind me, but Claire's fortune's, tribulations, and will to survive into adulthood take me right back to what it was like when I was her age. She doesn't deal with ordinary bullies, hers are certifiably insane, never mind the vampires and other things lurking about. Caine's characters are pushed to the limit, and just when you think things can't get any worse, they do, but the heroes ARE heroic and do their thing to the best of their ability. I can't wait for the next one!