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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
Something about this novel captivated me, as is always the case with Cate Tiernan novels. Pinning it down is often curious.
As a huge fan of Cate Tiernans Sweep and Balefire series', I was hesitant to read these, fearing they might not be as good. While I will always reserve a deep connection and love, of the Sweep series especially, it having been essential to influencing me as I grew from a teenage boy, into a young adult, I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery set forth and subsequently revealed in Immortal Beloved. I still maintain Sweep as her all time magnum opus, that said.
MINOR SPOILERS (no specific plot reveals but read at your own discretion)
I enjoyed the mysteries and their revelations thereafter. The sexualized tension between Nastasya and Reyn is palpable, yet odd. First cold, their relationship becomes uncertain, and even hostile, before turning to passion. Perhaps that is what makes her books so entertaining, that personal connectivity she interlaces between her characters.
I do not wish to say anymore. for fear of spoiling things, but will say that if you enjoy fiction with a wiccan spin, with immortality and magick and neat flashbacks and uncertain mysteries, two seemingly unfit people falling in love, and a woman who becomes empowered by a force of magick deeply rooted to her lineage, you will enjoy this.
In many ways this rings similar to Sweep. Girl meets boy. Girl and boy fall in love, boy being too hot for girl. Girl turning out to be a powerful being of magickal lineage. What seems to be coming is an ensuing struggle between light and darkness, good and evil, Nastasya and her past versus the new people of Rivers Edge and the positive future she hopes to endeavor upon with their help as she shuns the darkness pressing in upon her for centuries time. She must accept who she is, what she is, and fight for her right to be herself in the face of those who would use her power for ill means, those who she once considered best friends, but who themselves have strayed into a bleak black abyss of evil and darkness.
As a huge fan of Cate Tiernans Sweep and Balefire series', I was hesitant to read these, fearing they might not be as good. While I will always reserve a deep connection and love, of the Sweep series especially, it having been essential to influencing me as I grew from a teenage boy, into a young adult, I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery set forth and subsequently revealed in Immortal Beloved. I still maintain Sweep as her all time magnum opus, that said.
MINOR SPOILERS (no specific plot reveals but read at your own discretion)
I enjoyed the mysteries and their revelations thereafter. The sexualized tension between Nastasya and Reyn is palpable, yet odd. First cold, their relationship becomes uncertain, and even hostile, before turning to passion. Perhaps that is what makes her books so entertaining, that personal connectivity she interlaces between her characters.
I do not wish to say anymore. for fear of spoiling things, but will say that if you enjoy fiction with a wiccan spin, with immortality and magick and neat flashbacks and uncertain mysteries, two seemingly unfit people falling in love, and a woman who becomes empowered by a force of magick deeply rooted to her lineage, you will enjoy this.
In many ways this rings similar to Sweep. Girl meets boy. Girl and boy fall in love, boy being too hot for girl. Girl turning out to be a powerful being of magickal lineage. What seems to be coming is an ensuing struggle between light and darkness, good and evil, Nastasya and her past versus the new people of Rivers Edge and the positive future she hopes to endeavor upon with their help as she shuns the darkness pressing in upon her for centuries time. She must accept who she is, what she is, and fight for her right to be herself in the face of those who would use her power for ill means, those who she once considered best friends, but who themselves have strayed into a bleak black abyss of evil and darkness.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So I loved this book too much it’s just that for any reason I thought it’s about vampires and I didn’t like this whole teaching and therapy trope at all but it wasn’t that bad. And gosh I have a hate love relationship with Reyn (I can’t explain you wouldn’t get it)but at all I do love him. I swear Nasty and I are just the exact same person like for real the exact same so i obviously loved her. And I highlighted a few nice things only other critic point is that I needed more action but I’m sure there will be more in the next parts
3.5* Not bad. I’ve had rough luck with books lately but this was not bad!
I really enjoyed this novel. Surprisingly (for me), some of my favorite parts were the flashbacks--I normally don't love flashbacks, but they were, for the most part, so INTERESTING in this book that I ended up being riveted. The contemporary plot was fascinating too. I listened to the audiobook version of this novel, narrated by Kelly Lintz, and it was one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to. The narrator did an impeccable job with an already intriguing book--though I could get my hands on a hardcover version of book 2 from the library, I'm going to shell out for the audiobook. I'm just disappointed the third book in the series was never made into an audiobook.
Really gets into the psychology of what it means to live for hundreds of years. So good! Just sad I have to wait for the rest of the series.
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5
I can tell you, this book has a serious case of the series syndrome, and it's very slow.
However, I am interested enough to keep going with the series, hoping book two isn't just filler fluff to get to book three, which will reveal the things book one questioned.
Long Review TK
I can tell you, this book has a serious case of the series syndrome, and it's very slow.
However, I am interested enough to keep going with the series, hoping book two isn't just filler fluff to get to book three, which will reveal the things book one questioned.
Long Review TK
Natasya, or Nasty as her friends call her, has reached a crisis in her 459 years of life. While out partying with other immortals, her best friend Incy gets angry and uses magick to snap the spine of their cab driver. She flees and finds River, another immortal she met 80 years previous. Life with River and her "school" of immortals isn't what she was expecting. They live on a farm, grow all their own food, and study the light side of magick. Nas isn't sure she can tolerate life like that. Not to mention Reyn, an immortal who looks very familiar to her. The longer she spends with River the more painful her memories become, as her deepest memories come to light. Nas must accept her past, however, to move into the future.
Not sure why this is really considered teen though. The book is good - I couldn't put it down. But it would do just as well in adult or better.
Not sure why this is really considered teen though. The book is good - I couldn't put it down. But it would do just as well in adult or better.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this book as a child ten years ago and I think it has aged well! I definitely see it in a new light as an adult that is flawed.