Undead and Unwary, Unforgiven, Done, and More!

From the beginning I have loved this series. I love Betsy, I love the Wyndham’s, and I love Fred. The world was realistic enough, but had the best doses of supernatural. I was hooked from the start, and it was an interesting ride.

I liked the lightheartedness to start, but even when it got my serious it was still good… until Hell. That was what derailed the entire thing. I was ok with going back in time. It was kind of cool to see it all, I was even ok with some of the minor changes. However… when they got back from the adventuring, there was too much that was different. Things that didn’t even make sense. The only part of it that made sense was Nick and Jess. The name change? I refuse to get on board. Yea, I’m a lot like Betsy, except even the speech didn’t change my mind. The twins? I don’t even know where to start. Every time they did their shifting through time bit, I had to roll my eyes. That ark makes no sense. None. Not in any way, with any logic, period. I just don’t like it.

Sometimes I wish Betsy didn’t hide her intelligence. I know that’s a big part of the book. She can be a little slow to understand, but it always felt like a front to me. It was a way for her to try to not deal with things. It was a defense mechanism. One that made sense no doubt, but still. Toward the end it would have been nice to see just a bit more of it without the ditz persona.

There is a lot more I want to say about Betsy, but I want to cover Laura first. I really liked her when she was introduced. She got progressively more crazy and bitchy (and not in a good way). Every time she had a major fuck up, Betsy forgave her more or less. I just couldn’t… I tried to. I tried to keep liking her, but I was always suspicious, and each time I got more so. Betsy was right with one of her later descriptions. She was the worst kind of bad guy: a bad guy that thinks they are a good guy. In Unfinished and Done she was completely unhinged. The bomb was a catastrophic idea, and I’m not sure how she didn’t see that it would backfire. I knew it would all end in her death. I didn’t expect to be as upset by it as I was. I think what really got to me was how much it upset Betsy, and how gentle Sinclair was with both Laura and Betsy.

Jessica seemed to stay pretty much the same throughout the whole thing. It was mostly understandable, but I kind of wish she would have gone through more personality wise. She did have the weird babies, so her pregnancy changed her a bit, but after she was more or less the same. I do have to say… I loved the lawnmower in the Mustang. I was in awe. Since book one I wanted something to happen to her dad. He was such an awful human being. When he died I was glad he was out of her life, but then he came back. I was glad to see his car ruined. Jess is kind of a badass, and I have crazy respect for her.

Nick… Nick is kind of hard for me. I like him before the traveling in hell. Then he went crazy with vampire hate, which was understandable. Until it wasn’t. It got to a point where it was ridiculous. I hated him for giving Jess and ultimatum. I couldn’t forgive him for that. I know he had a major ordeal with the fiends, but that wasn’t on Jess. After hell… I was just supposed to be ok with him again? Don’t get me wrong, he and Jess were so good together, but I just didn’t like him as much as I did before. I tried. I really did. There were several times during the pregnancy that he annoyed the hell out of me, but I let that go. In the end they are happy. That’s what matters.

Marc! Marc is fabulous! When he killed himself I about lost it. I wanted to give up on the series. Yes, I love Betsy, but Marc is my favorite. He kind of snuck up on me. He was always funny, and curious, and so full of life. I always wanted him to have a happy love life. It was always so sad when it fell apart. Seeing him crazy in the future was heartbreaking. Him killing himself was devastating. When he came back as a zombie, I had mixed feelings. I didn’t want that for him, but I was so glad he was back. It took a little getting used to, but he was still Marc. I kind of liked him on committee in hell. He was a good choice because of all the reasons I love him. He was also fair. Plus I feel like there are enough people in hell to keep him busy and rot free. When he met Will I had so much hope. I kept wanting Marc to stop putting it off. Again, when Will was shot… I was heartbroken. Marc deserved someone to be happy with. Of course, in comes Betsy. Now Zombie Marc has Zombie Will and maybe, just maybe he can have his happy ending.

The Devil was kind of a bitch (and not in a good way). I know, she’s the devil, but still. There was so much conniving there, it was hard to follow sometimes. Especially when she was pretending to be Father Markus. The entire thing was bizarre, and I thought I knew what was going on, but then I didn’t… I wasn’t a fan of her. Shocking, I know.

Sinclair has been hard for me to like most of the time. He always says the right thing, he always seems to have the right intentions, but something just never felt right to me. After seeing his past, I like him a lot more. Then… I didn’t anymore. It was weird. Just little things… like how obsessed he was. Sometimes it was sweet, other times it annoyed me. It was just too over the top, bordering on stalker. The last two book though? I decided I did like him. I did like him and I did like them together. And as much as Betsy didn’t like how he was with the dogs, I think it was nice. It showed a much more likable side to him. How he was with Betsy when Laura was dying… That really sealed the deal for me.

Tina was always interesting, but I feel like we didn’t get to see enough of her. There were bits and pieces. Parts of the past from the time traveling, a story or two from her or Sinclair. She was adorable, helpful, and surprisingly deadly. She was a master of all sorts of weapons, extremely smart, and loyal to a fault. She really was pretty awesome. I wish she had gotten some more air time.

Ok, back to Betsy… Watching her take over hell was pretty amazing. I of coursed rolled my eyes at hell turning into the Mall of America…. However, it was pretty clever. Malls are pretty hellish. Long line, crowded stores… well, I certainly hate them. I liked the idea of the committee too. There was so much about her hell takeover that was cool. I was actually kind of hoping it could all be real. Also, the parole from hell? Fantastic. It give people a chance to atone. While some people might need a hell of a lot more time before release is considered, overall I think it is a good thing. I also like how she called Laura on her shit with outing the vampires. I liked how she handled it, I was pretty happy with how all that turned out too. Nothing too crazy, her interview was good (aside from the mentioning werewolves), and Marc got Will out of it!

The end of the series covered most of the bases. Why the twins show up when they do, what happens with the sisterly feud, whether or not Betsy can hold her throne, how hell is handled, relations between the werewolves, vamps, and mermaids, how the general population handles the exposure of vampires, and a slight glimpse into the future. I just wish it had more of a final feel to it… All and all, I’m glad I picked it up, I’m glad I stuck with it, and I’m glad things seemed to have worked out.