Review: Daylighters by Rachel Caine

Daylighters
Author: Rachel Caine
Reviewer: Una
Rating: A-, 4 Stars

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What I’m Talking About:

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Wow…I am speechless over the final book in the Morganville Vampires series.  I started this series from reading a novella (how Eve came to be a member of the Glass House) and enjoyed the novella so much, I started the series with the first book.  Daylighters ties this series up with a big red bow it seems.  Although there is the option, if Ms. Caine decides, for us to be able to return to Morganville.  However, the story of Claire and her Glass House friends has come full circle, and I’m happy to say, the ending is all I hoped for.

As we were left in Fall of Night, our friends return to a Morganville much different than when they left.  The Daylighters have taken over the town, placing all the vampires in an enclave – for not only the town’s protection, but the vampires as well.  The head of the Daylighter’s claims he can rehabilitate the vampires and cure their vampirism.  However, as Claire and Eve learn more about the cure, they find out it is not as sunny as it appears.  There are quite a few references that tie the Daylighters to the Nazis and the allusion is quite accurate.  This mandatory cure kills more than it heals.  As understanding about this cure comes to light, Claire begins to learn what the “dog bite” to Shane has truly done. There are some very tense moments during the story, making it difficult to put down.

Another long-standing issue is the marriage of Eve and Michael. In this the town, it seems they stand united; a vampire and a human are not meant to be married.  The nature of a vampire cannot ignore its natural prey.  It happened only once before in the town’s history – and it did not end well.  This “Romeo and Juliet” situation becomes much dire with the Daylighters now in charge.  Eve finds out only shortly after arriving back into Morganville that her marriage may be annulled.  With the vampires imprisoned and miserable while the humans are overjoyed and happily living without fear, Claire finds herself at a moral dilemma.  She knows the treatment of the vampires is wrong.  However, the town has been transformed – people freely walk the streets, well into the evening.  People are truly living in Morganville without the fear that has hung heavy throughout their previous existence.  Claire feels it is her duty to free the vampires from their persecution, but will doing so condemn her in the eyes of her fellow human neighbors?  What is the morally right thing to do?  If the vampires are freed – will the town once again be caught in the oppression of the humans as it was before?

As always, Ms. Caine, through her vampires and humans, addresses some very mature subjects.  Through Eve and Michael’s relationship – racism.  With the Daylighters, more than just the concept of racism but the idea of freedom without prejudice, the freedom of personal choice, the humane treatment of others.  Ms. Caine throughout this great series has not simply educated us with these topics, but truly shown us the debate of what is just and morally correct.  The political battle between the vampires and humans – the right to exist and the goal of coexistence is stunning to experience over the course of the last fifteen novels.  What I enjoy most is reading Claire’s inner monologues as she tries to find the direction that will allow her to face herself honestly.  To determine what choice she needs to make in order to do that which is justly and morally correct.

I truly must recommend the Morganville Vampires series to anyone one, from junior high (a mature junior high) through adult.  Although there are the moments of teenage angst and drama, the overall novels are engaging and exciting.  I find them hard to put down, typically, as I get engrossed in the plight of Eve, Claire, Shane and Michael.  Daylighters nicely ties up the fate of our friends along with giving us hope that the future of Morganville is in good and just hands.  Although I feel (depending on if something unexpectedly horrible happens) that the story has been completed, Ms. Caine has the opportunity to return to this world if she so chooses.  I must applaud Ms. Caine in her masterful care she has taken in the Morganville Vampires series.  Thank you so much for sharing this series with us!

4 stars: Enjoyed – strongly recommend (A-)

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About the Book:

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While Morganville, Texas, is often a troubled town, Claire Danvers and her friends are looking forward to coming home. But the Morganville they return to isn’t the one they know; it’s become a different place—a deadly one… 

Something drastic has happened in Morganville while Claire and her friends were away. The town looks cleaner and happier than they’ve ever seen it before, but when their incoming group is arrested and separated—vampires from humans—they realize that the changes definitely aren’t for the better.

It seems that an organization called the Daylight Foundation has offered the population of Morganville something they’ve never had: hope of a vampire-free future. And while it sounds like salvation—even for the vampires themselves—the truth is far more sinister and deadly.

Now, Claire, Shane and Eve need to find a way to break their friends out of Daylighter custody, before the vampires of Morganville meet their untimely end…

Release Date: November 5, 2013
Publisher: NAL
Series: Morganville Vampires #15
ISBN: #978-0451414274
Genre: Young Adult
Format(s): Hardcover (368 pgs), ebook, audio
Book Source: Publisher

Purchase Info:
Daylighters (Morganville Vampires #15)

Reviews in the Series:

Ghost Town by Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampires #9)
Bite Club by Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampires #10)
Last Breath by Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampires #11)
Black Dawn by Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampires #12)
Bitter Blood by Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampires #13)
Fall of Night by Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampires #14)