Review: Immortal Beloved

Immortal Beloved by Cate Tiernan 

Series: Immortal Beloved, book  1

Genre: YA, Fantasy

Published: September 2010

Pages: 407

My rating: (Unfinished!)

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.


It couldn’t have been just the blurb that got me to buy this book, because that still made me wonder what on earth the book was about. So, other than the beautiful cover, it must have been a review that drew me to the book instead. Because reading the summary on Goodreads didn’t do it for me either, to be honest…

So, how interesting can a book about an immortal wasting her (not so-precious) time be? After the overdose of vampires, angels, witches, faeries, dragons and other supernatural beings we’ve had lately, it was high time for a ‘new’ supernatural species. Why not drag out the old (pun intended) immortals again?! Okay, why not? Okay, why so?

After reading the initial paragraphs I wasn’t even that curious to find out WHY Nastasya’s life had been turned upside down, because she sounded like a drag. But I read on anyway. (One thing that stood out immediately though: the book is written in the third person! Finally! I was beginning to think they stopped making them all together!)

However, as I said before: Nastasya’s mind, where I found myself the entire time, never stopped spinning  in circles with the same uninteresting, selfish thoughts. After what happened in the beginning I really didn’t like this girl. Woman. Antique. At all. I was baffled that someone her age (about 450 years old!) still acted so adolescent. Her friends seemed like ‘the wrong crowd’ also; an elite, arrogant, sadistic, superficial, egoistic clique. Especially Innocencio. (Note: I understand people had different names in the past, but these are truly unpronounceable…)

But, a good thing happened when ‘Nasty’ didn’t like herself either and ran away, ending up at a kibbutz/rehab centre for immortals. Reyn sounded like a dream come true, being, you know, the guy you usually don’t encounter unless he’s on the cover of cheap romance novel. Swoon...

Not certain whether to blame my own lack of reading mood/time, or the promise of having to continue this particular book, I choose to go with the last reason after all. I gave the book another chance last night and continued reading. It seems the only time Nastasya really had been happy was during the sixties: when she was on drugs, at parties. How shallow. How pathetic. Things became even worse (be it with a heads-up provided by Cate Tiernan herself) when Nasty found out about Reyns German background/origins and decided to act on them when he suggested she could rinse the dishes.

Proving that maturity doesn’t necessarily come with age, I saluted and goose-stepped to the sink. ‘Yes, Herr Kommandant!’ 

My jaw practically dropped to the floor upon reading that, feeling vicariously embarrassed for Nasty. The story proceeded to drinking herbal tea, kneading bread and Nastasya’s thoughts about those things, as well as her thoughts on the self-grown vegetables. Not only extremely boring to her, also to me. Nastasya is a failure, a loser, a quitter, a very adolescent girl despite her age. She’s all the things I mentioned above about her ‘crowd’ which makes her an unattractive person, unappealing to me and undeserving of my further attention.

I don’t care what’s going to happen to Nasty, whether she will succeed in becoming a better person. It only took her 450 years to realise what a horrible person she is, I however already knew after reading the first page. (Maybe that IS a sign of good writing though?!) She couldn’t have had a better nickname. 

I give up after reading 82 pages. No matter how fluently written the stoy itself may be. I’m not wasting my time reading Nasty's story, the way she wasted her eternal life. If I happen to find myself being immortal after all, I might give ‘Immortal Beloved’ another chance. Until then it’s ‘Immortal Whatever’ to me.

Care to share your thoughts on this book with me? Feel free to drop me a line! 
Have a good day! :)

Review: Always a Witch

Always a Witch, by Carolyn MacCullough
Series: Once a Witch, book 2
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Paranormal, Romance
Published: August 2011
Pages: 288
My Rating: 

I added some spoilers at the end, so be aware...!

I just finished reading 'Always A Witch' (the seqeul to 'Once a Witch' ofcourse) and wrote this review while it was still fresh. I swallowed away the tears that came over me while reading the ending, to share my experience of this story with you.

I do admit I'm very disappointed about this book. So, why do I give it 4 stars then? Because I'm disappointed there aren't any more sequels to this story!!! (Or will there be???)

The author clearly found her voice, because this book read better than the first one. It took just a few chapters before Tamsins adventures began this time. And what an adventure it was! I don't think I disliked anything that happened, I got sucked into the story and wanted to know what was gonna happen next badly. It was such a quick read, an easy story to stick with. I don't mean that negative, it was simple in a way that stops you from being confused as to why things are happening, who's who, what some sideplots or seemingly needless sidetrips have to do with the story.

As in the first book, the lack of description still kind of bugged me, but not so much because the story itself had me too gripped to be bothered with it. The story isn't one that relies on beautiful sentences, but it's okay. Some of the dialogue writing has already improved from book 1, a bit more spice was added. Still the writing is rather simple and basic, nothing too fancy. It is the story itself that gives this book a high score.

I loved Tams trip back into the past (to prevent Alistair Knight from warning his past relatives about what The Greene Family is gonna do to them). The author really involved the reader in what it must have been like to work in a rich household in the late 1800's. (Asides from the strange things happening in the 'Knight' family household, of course. And the fact that Tamsin seems to be able to cope with her new job so easy.)

Tams sense of 'duty' is greatly admired by me, her will to go through this alone because she doesn't want anyone (Gabriel in particular) to get hurt. (Maybe she's just stubborn, who knows...) Even if it means she'll be in more danger, she'll be terribly lonely and does not even know how and IF she will be able to come back to the present. Luckily Gabriel turns up after all.

I love Tamsin, I hate saying goodbye to her so soon already :( I liked all the side characters too, especially Tamsins 'Talented' (and very quirky) relatives, Cook and Jessica.

Little original things I liked: how Tamsins sister Rowena is able to make inanimate objects speak, like the china lions standing next to the fireplace. Unfortunately for Tamsin these china lions tell Rowena exactly what has been said been before, uncovering her sisters plans.

Towards the ending things got very exciting again, the book seemed to read even faster then. (Like in the previous book, I can see this being turned into an amazing movie!) I was soooo curious to see how Tamsin, Gabriel and Isobel, as well as Tams other relatives, were gonna fix things. They had some close calls. It had me very worried their future still wasn't safe after intervening (Gabriel couldn't 'Find' their relatives in the future, his gift being able to 'Find' any lost object. Next to being able to Travel in Time, obviously.)

When they finally figured out how to stop the Knight Family, I was still shocked about what Tamsin did at the last minute. But it made sense. No matter how heartbreaking it was. Such a sad, and yet at the same time happy ending.

Also I have to share my love for the cover, I seriously adore it! I loved this book. I want more. I seriously recommend this book! Go read it NOW!



SPOILER:


At Tams realisation that she had lost her Talent forever, it being locked inside the Domani to guard the Knights Talents, was killing me. Even if she did know it would happen. I cried along with Tamsin for loosing her precious gift, for giving up her gift as a sacrifice to save her entire family. Once Gabriel and Tamsin had returned to their Family home, everything still intact, everyone still alive, I felt happy. Even more glad that Tamsins life hadn't changed at all. She still had Agatha as her roommate and friend, she might be able to get into Stanford, her sister was still about to be married. She might have lost her Talent, she still has the life she always had, the life in which she assumed she had no Talent at all. No wonder Grandma raised her into believing she had no Talent, somehow she foresaw there would come a time Tamsin actually *would* be without a Talent.

Review: Once a Witch...

Once a Witch, by Carolyn MacCullough
Series: Once a Witch, book 1 of 2
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Paranormal, Contemporary
Published: September 2009
Pages: 292
My Rating:

'Once A Witch' was a quick and easy read. Aimed at a younger audience I think. If you want to read a nice book, that's not too complicated, and able to finish within 2 days, go for it!

First I'll talk about the things I did not like. Or maybe the things I missed is a better way to put it. Because I missed some descriptions. Environments and persons weren't very well described. Maybe it's good because it leaves your imagination at work, but I like my books more descriptive. That would have given the book, the characters and the environments a little more colour. Because it was a colourful life going on here.

The dialogues between Tamsin and Alistair, as well as those between Tamsin and Gabriel, could use a little more spice. I guess the whole book lacked a little spice. It was a very nice read indeed, but nothing very special or memorable that stands out.

The story enveloped at a slow pace, but not annoyingly slow. Things happened, but no major events at first. I think about halfway through the book, the story picks up speed.

The farther I read, the more the plot sped up. When something happened to Tam's sister Rowena, I was really curious how and what had happened to her. Albeit the plot being somewhat simple, the story not too complicated, I still found myself wanting to know what was gonna happen next, how Tam was gonna fix things.

Because of the 'action' I liked the second half better than the first, admittedly.

I like the book/plot/characters and promise of romance enough to read the sequel 'Always A Witch' today or tomorrow. The ending sort of forces you too, actually ;)
(Also because I know it's a quick read, I'm not always in the mood for a book that takes too long to finish.)

It's purely the lack of description (details) and the simplicity of the writing/ story /plot /characters that make me give this less than 5 stars.

If 'Once A Witch' were a meal, it would be a simple but pleasant supper, lacking a little spice... A meal that wouldn't linger too long on your brain for its complexity, or the fact that it touched you deeply somewhere because of its originality and boldness, but still an agreeable meal. An every-day supper.




****SOME SPOILERS: THINGS I LIKED VERY MUCH****

The family gatherings, and 'Talents' (witchcraft related gifts) every family member has, were sometimes really fun. After all, these people are normal people too and use their Talents for entertainment purposes as well. The uncle who allows the littles kids to break the china plates and then puts them back together with his Talent was a nice humorous touch. So was the uncle who keeps (dis-)appearing everywhere out of thin air, startling everyone all the time. Or the poor aunt who kept saying she had lost is, though no one seemed to know what it was she lost, including herself. I could imagine the chaos vividly.

I really liked the scene where Tam and Gabriel attended a party in 1939 to locate the object Alistair desired. It felt romantic being there, doing a waltz all dressed up, magic surrounding them. Magic, because of all their 'Talented' family members, even more magical because it was Tams own heritage she was in. She got to meet her own grandmother as a young woman, how cool is that? Also, she finally got to understand the things her grandmother would tell her later, *why* things happened the way they did, why everybody kept Tams talent a secret, letting her believe all this time she wasn't special in a family where everybody else is. But that's exactly what gave Tam her strength I think, to try and be normal.

And of course the ending scene was brilliant too. I could just see that before me on the silver screen. I didn't quite understand what it meant when Alistair vanished into the clock, but the epilogue clarified things for me. Tamsins family's future is blank, as in there will be none. Obviously Tamsin's got her work cut out for her and I am curious to see what will happen. Especially because that will happen in the Victorian Times. Can you say 'jummy'? ;)

Have a nice day! :)