Nastasya has spent the last century living as a spoiled, drugged-out party girl. She feels nothing and cares for no one. But when she witnesses her best friend, a Dark Immortal, torture a human, she realizes something's got to change. She seeks refuge at a rehab for wayward immortals, where she meets the gorgeous, undeniably sexy Reyn, who seems inexplicably linked to her past.Nastasya finally begins to deal with life, and even feels safe--until the night she learns that someone wants her dead.
Despite finding Cate Tiernan's 'Sweep' series dull and preachy I have to say that I loved Immortal Beloved, which was a shock because, had I not received this and it's sequel for review I would never have chosen to read it, simply because it sounded like the same old, same old.
Was it? No. The set up is different, the 'home for wayward immortals' may be a similar setting to certain books, but the way the plot develops and the characters develop is different and enjoyable to read. The tone of the book started pretty dark and I thought I was getting into one of those really dark, doom and gloom books that i have to be in the right frame of mind to read. Whilst the book does have a serious tone at times, it isn't all doom and gloom.
The book is narrated by Natasya, whose narration sounded pretty immature for a 400+ year old, i'll let this pass just because it was so enjoyable to read her thoughts. Nasty is a pretty mean character to start with, but throughout we see her reasons and we watch her develop and grow as a character. This isn't just a shallow YA paranormal, it also has some depth.
At first i thought that I was looking at a typical romance but complications further in the book really make this romance unique and I look forward to reading more about Nasty and Reyn. I liked Reyn as a character as well, a reformed bad boy with a dark history and a little depth, he could be compared to other YA hunks, but he also stands out for me.
The Mr. Miyagi teacher lady, River was maybe a little too shallow, a stereotypical leader/teacher, I didn't really find myself liking her character. Nell was a typical cow and many of the other side character were stereotypical and lacked development.
The writing is pretty good, as I said above, I liked Nasty's writing. At some points it seemed that Tiernan had just thrown bits together without linking them and so it didn't seem like some parts were well structured.
overall, Immortal Beloved was better than I expected, i totally enjoyed it though it had some flaws such as lack of development in minor characters. I loved the main characters and the romance.
Overall Rating: B+
UK publisher Hodder and Stoughton first released this title October 1st 2010.
My copy was given for review from the publisher.
Ooh, I have this one to read too! Good to hear that's it not just the same old stuff - Nastaysa sounds like a really cool main character! Great review, can't wait to start this :).
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