Obsidian Butterfly (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #9) By: Laurell K. Hamilton (Book Review)

 ***This review will contain spoilers***

Summary:

Edward was a hit man. He specialized in monsters. Vampires, shapeshifters, anything and everything. There were people like me who did it legal, but Edward didn't sweat the legalities or, hell, the ethics. He was an equal opportunity killer. I may be one of the few friends that Edward has, but it's like being friends with a tame leopard. It may curl on the foot of your bed and let you pet its head, but it can still eat your throat out...

Another fantastic book to this series! I'm happy that the 'boys' took a backseat and it was all about Anita and her crazy ass adventures. Although, do mutilated bodies count as an adventure? In this book, Anita is going to New Mexico because Edward cashed in his favor from Anita to help him on whatever he decides. Anita is brought in on a case where bodies are being mutilated and people are being skinned alive. Never a dull moment in Anita's life. 

It's so refreshing to have a book where Richard and Jean-Claude are not the main focus. Not only was it a nice break for us but it was a nice break for Anita as well. The past few books they were the 'main attractions' and the attention was all on them. Before Richard and Jean-Claude, Anita had more than enough on her plate. She was a badass vampire hunter and animator with a crazy, adventurous life. 

I love when Edward comes around because every time he does things tend to get pretty crazy, he brings the best toys (weapons) and there's constant action. Obsidian Butterfly was a great way for us to find out more about Edward and his background. Granted, we didn't learn a lot but it gave us insight into his life. I never thought that Edward would be a domesticated man, sorry 'Ted' was a domesticated man. He's got a fiancé and two step-children who he would burn the world down to protect. At first, Anita felt that Edward did not have pure intentions for them and was going to rip apart their life but at the end she realized that even monsters have the right to have loved one's in their life.

While psychically fighting the monster who was orchestrating all the murders and mutilations, Anita's psychic shields were completely destroyed and she almost died. If it wasn't for the help of a local witch Anita would not have made it out alive. Thanks to the local witch, Anita found out that on her journey to psychically block the guys from affecting her life she also left herself vulnerable to psychic attacks from vampires and different creatures. At the end, Anita decided that she'll finally slowly but surely integrate the guys back into her life. I find it unfair and childish that she also left behind the were-leopards who are dependent on her and the vampires like Asher and Damian. I get wanting to run away but shrugging your responsibilities and not being there for people you said you would protect just makes you an icky person in my books. I hope that in the next book she gets to redeem herself and finally embrace her role as pack/pard leader. 

Yet again Anita saves the day with her quick wit and following her instincts in moments full of danger. The big bad 'god' was defeated once Anita's blood was running in his veins. Not sure how that made him a vampire. I think when Anita said he was a vampire she meant figuratively and not literally. He was extremely powerful but only easily killed after drinking her blood. Once he died, all the skinned innocents who were alive by his 'magic' died as well. 

Rating:

I am going to give Obsidian Butterfly 4.5 stars on 5. The reason why I am not giving it a perfect rating is because the book did drag on in certain sections. I feel that there were scenes that really didn't tie in with the story or things were focused on without really adding to the story. For example, there was a huge focus on the were-jaguars that belonged to Obsidian Butterfly. Hamilton focused so much on them that I thought it would tie in to Anita's weird were-shifter side of her that she kinda has thanks to Richard but that never happened. There were so many pages of descriptive details of them without adding a lot to the story. We never really got a straight answer on what the 'red woman's husband' was. He thinks he's a god but not really and he's kinda a vampire but not really. A little confusing if you ask me. Overall, this book was good but the added descriptions was not needed.