Wer Zweimal Stirbt, Ist Länger Tot (2000) - Plot & Excerpts
The end of the last book was awful. This one starts out weird and kinda terrible. It has more redeeming parts than the last one and there are certainly still some humorous things cropping up, but I'm starting to wonder why the series is going in this direction because it's not as fun as it used to be and there's a lot of crap to wade through to get to the better parts. Clearly, the series was building for Laura to take over in Hell, because she's the Antichrist and just as clearly, Laura's not interested in it. Satan herself is tired of the rigmarole and doesn't seem to care what Laura wants. Betsy is in the middle trying to figure out how to handle the changes at home and what to do with Laura and it all culminates in a rather fascinating way. But. Most of the book is nothing happening and Betsy being, well, Betsy. Can she please, please, please grow up some soon? 'Cause that would be swell. Is it Thanksgiving again already? I never get tired of Betsy’s hatred of Thanksgiving. While I don’t share it, her anxiety reminds me of the movie Home for the Holidays. Good stuff.As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, probably all 10 reviews of this one’s predecessors, the Undead series is basically an entertainment only read. There isn’t a lot of deeper meaning in here. There isn’t a lot of material to fuel in depth discussion. There is, however, a lot of humor, cussing, airheaded moments, arguing, sometimes sex and a lot more.In fact, I decided to listen to the audiobook of the first in the series because it sounded like a ‘no brains required’ read. The narrator is the reason I continued with audiobooks even though I own the first ten in print. Nancy Wu is just fabulous. She is perfect for Betsy and I frequently laugh out loud; I am convinced it is because of Nancy Wu.Unstable brings back most of our favorite characters. It’s silly and fun but as with the last book, Unstable does get a little dark. But don’t worry, there is plenty of humor- quips, one liners; Jessica’s pregnancy is definitely good for that. And I was pleasantly surprised to learn something new! How often does that happen with Elizabeth Taylor, Betsy that is, not THE Elizabeth Taylor.Dystheism. Yep, that’s in this installment. What is dystheism you ask? Even if you didn’t, I will still tell you because despite my love of religious discussion and debate, I had never heard of this term before Betsy Taylor, or rather Satan/ Lena Olin, mentions it. According to the almighty and omniscient Wikipedia, dystheism is “the belief that a god, goddess, or singular God is not wholly good as is commonly understood (such as the monotheistic religions of Christianity and Judaism), and is possibly evil.”I love –isms.I do have one issue with Unstable- we still don’t get to see the future. I want to get more details about the future and what Betsy did to get to that point. I know it is going to change, and it’s a little weird writing in past tense about something that hasn’t happened yet and can still change, but the brief glimpse Davidson gave us was intriguing and I want to know more! Well, there are still two books to go, possibly more if she plans to continue with the series. We’ll see.Once again I will warn against listening to the audiobook on speaker if children are around. There is one sex scene and it gets a little graphic. And as always, Betsy has an arsenal of profanity laced insults at her disposal and some are pretty funny. Her favorite cracks me up every time she says it. I definitely recommend this entire series as a light, entertaining and quick read and I highly recommend the audiobook.Happy listening!
What do You think about Wer Zweimal Stirbt, Ist Länger Tot (2000)?
I'm officially done with Betsy. Her constant ignorant chatter and her inability to concentrate was annoying but to have everyone in her life call her stupid or remind her that she's easily distracted by shiny things is beyond palatable. She thinks she's as dumb as a box of rocks. Her friends think she is as dumb as a box of rocks. Her husband thinks stuff too but loves her anyway. Not only has Betsy not grown over the course of 11 books it is apparent that she is sliding backwards. If Betsy was this stupid in book 1 I never would have read book 2.The actual storyline was all of 3 chapters scattered throughout the book. The rest was filler where Betsy drinks smoothies or semi-mourns her cat or gets chased by dogs or gets arrested. None of which is actually pertinent to the plot.The time traveling aspect is just silly as there are some events that were altered for the sake of humor but for the life of me I can't figure out how they happened. Nick is now Dick and throughout the book (and the last one) Betsy calls him D/Nick or Nickie-Dickie or some other annoying name. I have no idea how Betsy's visit to the past could have changed one of the character's names but having her repeatedly calling Nick, De-Nick annoyed me.The writing itself seems chaotic. It's written from Betsy's perspective which is just awful. As I mentioned earlier she is easily distracted by shiny things so her mind wanders. We, as readers, are unfortunate to get to read about how she wonders what hair products so and so uses while that character is talking to her. In addition to this, one chapter opens up with something along the lines of 'and that is how I got arrested' BUT the end of the chapter before that had nothing to do with being arrested. The explanation of her arrest and the actions leading up to it are explained AFTER the opening of that chapter.So, because of the lack of growth on Betsy's part, the lack of a decent plot, the fact that the book is trying to be funny to the point it isn't and the chaos like writing I doubt I will ever pick up another Queen Betsy book.
—nas2999
For me this is going to be my last outing with Betsy. I loved the series when I first started reading it but now Betsy has gone from ditsy, self absorbed, vain but funny to just plain obnoxious. I get that maybe it's just the progression into Ancient Betsy character but I just can't carry on reading a book where I really dislike the main character. But if you are looking at the series for the first time I'd say read books 1-8.
—Kentvoo18
Funny but sometimes Besty gets on my nerves, and I get lost in what she is Bitching about NOW!!!!
—AlanPz
