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Undead and Undermined is the 10th book in the Undead Queen Betsy series by MaryJanice Davidson. Davidson is the author of several paranormal romance series, including the Wyndham Werewolf and Jennifer Scales series.
Dreamworld's Synopsis
In the 10th installment of the Queen Betsy series, the undead Betsy Taylor, Queen of Vampires, wakes up in a Chicago morgue in present-time after taking a major time-traveling trip years into the future. Upon returning home to her mansion in St. Paul, Minnesota, Betsy learns that her time-travel excursion has changed many things in the present - including the living statuses of some of her close and recently-deceased friends.
Betsy then tries to determine how she can use these changes to her advantage, especially in regards to making sure her friends do not become the demented versions of themselves as was evident in her trip to the future.
Dreamworld's Review
Undead and Undermined begins confusingly with Betsy lying on a slab in the morgue despite being a vampire. After several chapters of rambling (I'm still unclear as to why Betsy was in a Chicago morgue in the first place) and waking up on the morgue table, Betsy abruptly returns home to her mansion clan, where she is shocked to learn that she has entered an altered timeline affected by her time-travels in book #9, Undead and Unfinished.
At this point, nearly every event that has occurred in the series since book #1 has been seemingly reset and altered so Davidson can take the series in a totally new direction. Deaths of major characters that affected readers in earlier books (and which made the series feel genuine and real) have been brought back to life, and some of the characters have even adapted completely different personalities.
As for the humor and dialogue, it seems as if Betsy and her friends are becoming more idiotic and immature as the series progresses. The humor lacks wit and screams nerd, and Betsy's ramblings are annoying and make zero sense.
After being personally frustrated with the last several books in this series, Undead and Undermined has officially made me throw in the towel with the series. The first 5 or 6 novels in the Queen Betsy series are humorous, cute, and super-fun, but the latter half of the series up to this point have become progressively worse. Davidson is a talented woman and writer, but I've mentally checked out of this series for good.
Dreamworld's Recommendation
You may enjoy Undead and Undermined ONLY if you have read the previous 9 books in the Undead Queen Betsy series. Even then, I don't recommend it. The novel is disappointing, and in no way resembles the first few books in the series.
If you enjoy paranormal romance involving vampires, I highly recommend reading Jennifer Armintrout's Blood Ties series. I enjoyed that particular series far more than I ever enjoyed the Queen Betsy Undead series. The Armintrout Blood Ties books in order are: The Turning (2006), Possession (2007), Ashes to Ashes (2007), and All Souls Night (2008).
The first 3 books in the Queen Betsy series are: Undead and Unwed (2002), Undead and Unemployed (2004), and Undead and Unappreciated (2005). The 11th book in the series is entitled Undead and Unstable, and is due to release in June 2012.
Read our other reviews on the Undead Queen Betsy series and Jennifer Armintrout:
Dreamworld Book Reviews - Undead and Unfinished
Dreamworld Book Reviews - Undead and Unwelcome
Dreamworld Book Reviews - Undead and Unworthy
Dreamworld Book Reviews - All Souls Night
What are your thoughts on Davidson's Queen Betsy series? What are your favorite paranormal vampire romance novels?
I agree with all your thoughts about this book. I used to love this series when it first came out, and I would always buy the new releases for it right away, but now they just suck. I think I stopped liking this series in 2009. They just got stupid, and Betsy's character is dumb and so not funny.
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