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: A Great and Terrible Beauty

A Great and Terrible Beauty, by Libba Bray
Series: A Great and Terrible Beauty, book 1 of 3
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Supernatural
Published: December 2003
Pages: 403
My rating:  Unfinished!


I can't be honest in my judgement about this book, because I don't have all the facts. I gave up. After reading more than 100 pages (which is more than a quarter of the book!) I decided to let the book rest in peace. I still wasn't drawn into the story, still wasn't gripped. Rather than keep hoping the story will improve, I'll read something else.

What stands out about this book when you flip through it, is that it’s written in Present Tense. I myself have only ever gotten as far as writing fan-fiction, but one of the first lessons was NOT to write in Present Tense. It has an odd feel to it. It made me like the book less, instantly.

It reads slow, like a 'quality' movie. Very long introductions. Gemma’s boredom is very feel-able. Okay, her mother is almost killed by a shadow-demon-thingy and then stabs herself with a knife instead, but was it the vision, or real? The action isn’t that well written, blurry descriptions. I didn't understand what the shadow-monster looked like or where it came from.
Also, you’re not really in the middle of things, they’re not embracing you and pulling you in. It's like you're watching from a distance and are unable to loose yourself in the reality of the book, as you are supposed to.
It’s not until page 50 or so Gemma finally reaches Spencer’s and (tiny) things happen. I like that she hates being a lady but all her thoughts and mental comments are a bit overwhelming. Not always as funny or witty as they were probably meant to be. Kind of obnoxious.

Spencer’s setting is eerie enough, it has potential despite not being that original.

I did like that Gemma stands up for ‘poor’ Ann and that way draws the attention of the popular girls. I like all the details about what ladies are supposed to act like (especially towards her brother Tom) and the way society works and looks. Like they’re not supposed to look out the carriage window when they ride through the slums. Literally closing yourself off for misfortune.

The church scene after dark where Gemma has to obtain the wine is creepy. But the ‘mystery’ surrounding the young Indian man is too… hazy. Too childishly simple, so far. Too easy.

From reading the bit I've read so far, clearly this book is meant for a much younger audience, not for teens. 13 Year olds would probably really like the mystery and girls' relationships.

I'm not saying this is a bad book, it's just not for me. It didn't grab me. Young girls might like it though. Perhaps, had I been that age, I would have loved it too. Part of me thinks that would have been the case. Alas, I am not that young anymore.

I'm just glad I didn't buy the whole trilogy in advance and get to spend my money on more interesting books. Or, so I hope.

Have a nice day! :)