Slay" (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #30) by Laurell K. Hamilton is a captivating novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. I am delighted to have read it shortly after Smolder, as it revolves around the same antagonist. I eagerly anticipate the release of future installments in this series.

I’ve been reading these books for over 20 years. I am very close to giving up. Splitting these books into two hurt the overall narrative and was extremely frustrating. Slay was much better than Smolder but they were both awful. I enjoy the therapy and mental health angles overall but the books are getting soooo bogged down in that and the complicated metaphysical stuff that I’m getting so bored.

If Olaf is redeemed, I will never ever forgive you all. Ever. Stop trying to make him likeable. His arc is everything wrong with the series.

The pacing was a bit uneven but you get the payoff of the battle with the Big Bad, Deimos, hinted at in the previous book, Smolder. Parts of Slay felt like classic Anita Blake with the mystery and the villain. And other parts felt like recent Anita Blake with angsty interpersonal relationship drama, this time including her family. Not a good entry point for new readers but I think current fans will find SLAY satisfying.

Recommended book which is well-written and will be enoyable fans of the author. Enoyable book and will look forward to more.

Slay by Laurell K. Hamilton
This book started slow and boring with all the self reflection that I hate about Anita. Then, part way through the action started and I felt I was reading one of her first 7 books in this series again. Stick to the action! That's what I want....I don't need to know about everyone's therapy process. Everyone is screwed up in some way.

Slay is the 30th book in the Anita Blake series and magical shenanigans (and a visit from her family) takes Anita right back to the beginning of the series and she re-experiences what it was like to be less powerful and less loved than she is in the current timeline. When a family visit turns ugly, an ancient vampire and hidden dissidents within the city use the chaos to pull Anita away from her allies in an attempt to kill Jean-Claude and take over the city. Anita is left to remember those she has lost in the search for home.

Although the pacing in this novel was a little uneven, it was a good reminder of past events as Anita's walk down memory lanes brings back a host of characters lost to time and death. This novel closes the story arc from the previous book. Anita Blake fans are sure to enjoy.

Anita’s family has decided to come to St. Louis to meet Jean-Claude prior to the wedding. It has been up in the air whether her dad would be able to walk her down the isle since in his eyes and that of his mother’s, vampires have no soul and if Anita marries him then her soul will be damned to hell as well. Even though Anita has her family to deal with, details with the upcoming wedding, she still ends up entrenched in vampire politics.

The biggest surprise for Anita comes with how her stepmother and stepsister behave towards her and the loves of her very confusing poly group. As Anita quickly learns blood doesn’t make you family, loyalty does. Her grandmother, who was not supposed to come insisted on joining the family on this trip and needless to say there was a reason she wasn’t to come. I have to say I really enjoyed this story. There was more story and less sex which sometimes is what I am looking for.

A decent addition to the Anita Blake series and worth a read. Anita and co finally get around to confronting Deimos in the flesh, a storyline left completely open at the end of the last book. Because of this, Slay felt like acts 2 and 3 of Smolder instead of its own book, in my opinion. Previous entries in the series have been more episodic with each main conflict being resolved by the end of each book.
I enjoyed that Slay maintained a fast pace and contained plenty of action, instead of getting bogged down in the emotional and physical logistics of Anita's ever-growing poly group. Anita's family (her Dad and Grandmother specifically) did feel a bit one-dimensional and heavy-handed in their bigotry, but sometimes hate isn't nuanced.
All in all, I'm looking forward to the next installment.

I love the Anita Blake series, and this was another great addition to the story. In this book, the characters continue to deal with the big bad from the previous book Smolder. Though this was not my favorite villain, I did love the unique situations Anita found herself in because of this villan's plan and how intricate his plan turned out to be.

I enjoyed seeing Anita's family in this book and getting a deeper look at the people she has talked about in passing; being able to see them in motion adds clarity to why Anita acted the way she did at the beginning of the series and how having prolonged contact with them affects her now even though is grown up.

I stand behind my review of the previous book #29 Smolder. These two should have been one book that needs significant editing to make them cohesive. The pacing and narrative transitions just seem sloppy to me. Call me jaded, but after reading the series for 20+ years, I know Hamilton is capable of better.

I still miss the older style of Anita Blake. There was almost the old vibe I remember but then it was gone. Maybe one day we'll see Anita get back to solving crimes and hunting interesting monsters.

I officially give up on this series! Smolder, the book before this one, started out great, like most Anita Baker books and devolved into a 24 hour sex-fest that rehashed 42 million interpersonal relationships. It never did anything with mystery that started at the beginning of the book and it ended rather abruptly on a kind of cliff-hanger.

Now for this book, Slay, we have gone back in time to events before Smolder. We are no closer to the wedding but because of Smolder some Slay storylines have been spoiled. I have more questions, which makes me think the next book will probably take place between the events of Slay and Smolder...and its all just so confusing, and frustrating, and irritating. I AM DONE!

First and foremost thank you Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the Arc.

Where to start?! Laurell K Hamilton has created perfection with Slay. I absolutely cannot give this book enough praise. This book was unbelievable! I cried, I screamed, I put the book down in shock, I swore more than once in response and even cheered.

THIS IS THE BEST BOOK SO FAR!! I couldn’t put it down. This was everything we wanted and needed and I mean EVWRYTHING!

If you have an Anita Blake things I want to see happen checklist I promise you you’ll check off several things this book. The action was heart stopping and will give you goosebumps. The drama was gut wrenching and heart fluttering. Characters old and new return to screen in one of the most action packed and intense Anita Blake novels so far….don’t pass up this book!

Yeah I really enjoyed reading this book! It's wild that this is book 30 and it's been 30 years since the first book was published. And it's still going strong. And it was fitting, because a part of this book was looking back on how she used to be, of how much she's changed.

This is the book that deals with family, the one that you're born with, and the one that you choose, because her family is in town for wedding fittings. There was one thing about her grandmother that was mentioned and then dropped which I wish could've been explored more, because it was interesting to me!

One thing that was brought up that was interesting to read, was that it was Jean-Claude, a vampire who feeds on lust and/or love. That if another vampire had been in his place, to feed on something else, like pain or fear, things would've been much worse!

The threat that this bad guy poses, the guy who was introduced in the previous book, is pretty awful. The affects of what he feeds on, well, it made things interesting. And caused a lot of problems for the good guys but it brought up an interesting situation. But one that they learned from! Loved how it worked out!

Loved reading this book and I can't wait for more! We still have to make it to the wedding!