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emo_christmas's review against another edition
5.0
To be honest I read the book a while ago, but I still remember the story well. And although I loved the Twilight series, I also loved the awesomeness of this book. At times I thought it was slow but I loved the characters and the plot line. This is defiantly a must read for anyone who says they love vampire books!
ashkitty93's review against another edition
2.0
Edit, years after that first read, to clarify: I had no idea when I picked this book up that it was book 2 in a series, hence not understanding what was going on and resulting in a low star rating. I plan to rectify this by at least reading book one and hopefully rereading this one, if not continuing with the other two books as well.
saidtheraina's review against another edition
3.0
Kind of a fun mashup of vampire and judeo-christian lore. The story of a guardian angel who falls in love with his charge, then she turns into a vampire and things get complicated. Enjoyable, and I was amused that the angel's name was Zachary (same name as one of our library angels). Not engrossing, but that could be because I was listening to it. The narrators weren't that great.
saidtheraina's review against another edition
1.0
I was doing this thing for a while where I was getting five kid/teen comics for free in the mail, which I then professionally reviewed for a database of book reviews. I didn't get to pick the books, and I got a wide variety of comics. This is one of those titles.
This just so happens to be also a GN spin-off/adaptation of a book I've actually read (years ago), giving me a better informed perspective on the world, plot, and concept.
This was my diplomatic review:
Getting to see a story from the vantage point of the hunk you drooled over should be awesome, right? Maybe not. This graphic novel depicts the same story as Smith’s book Eternal -- but this time, from the perspective of Miranda’s Guardian Angel, Zachary. Both books describe events in which Zachary saves Miranda from danger by revealing himself, then is banished from Heaven and eventually finds himself back in her service after she’s become a vampire. It’s an intriguing premise, but seeing things from Zachary’s perspective does not enrich the story, especially because this uses the graphic novel form. It is difficult to depict the inner thoughts of characters well in an illustrated format, and attempting to tell the story of an angel in this way makes things even more difficult. The illustrations do the story no favors, either. Doyle’s drawings are awkward and stiff. The characters are drawn inconsistently, and it is not always possible to tell the secondary characters apart when you have not retained their names. This couldn’t possibly thrill even the most rabid of fans.
I loved [b:Tantalize|353016|Tantalize (Tantalize, #1)|Cynthia Leitich Smith|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1424202318s/353016.jpg|343231] by Smith, and love her professional, scholarly work, so I'm bummed I hated this so much. But GNs that are mere adaptations always start out at a deficit for me.
This just so happens to be also a GN spin-off/adaptation of a book I've actually read (years ago), giving me a better informed perspective on the world, plot, and concept.
This was my diplomatic review:
Getting to see a story from the vantage point of the hunk you drooled over should be awesome, right? Maybe not. This graphic novel depicts the same story as Smith’s book Eternal -- but this time, from the perspective of Miranda’s Guardian Angel, Zachary. Both books describe events in which Zachary saves Miranda from danger by revealing himself, then is banished from Heaven and eventually finds himself back in her service after she’s become a vampire. It’s an intriguing premise, but seeing things from Zachary’s perspective does not enrich the story, especially because this uses the graphic novel form. It is difficult to depict the inner thoughts of characters well in an illustrated format, and attempting to tell the story of an angel in this way makes things even more difficult. The illustrations do the story no favors, either. Doyle’s drawings are awkward and stiff. The characters are drawn inconsistently, and it is not always possible to tell the secondary characters apart when you have not retained their names. This couldn’t possibly thrill even the most rabid of fans.
I loved [b:Tantalize|353016|Tantalize (Tantalize, #1)|Cynthia Leitich Smith|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1424202318s/353016.jpg|343231] by Smith, and love her professional, scholarly work, so I'm bummed I hated this so much. But GNs that are mere adaptations always start out at a deficit for me.
rainmisoa's review against another edition
3.0
Cynthia Leitich Smith improved with this novel. I'll be honest with you... I did not enjoy Tantalize, the first book in this triology, one bit. I thought it was boring and very uneventful for the most part. This book, however, was entertaining to an extent and the characters weren't as annoying as they were in the first book. I was actually quite surprised to see myself liking this one because I didn't think it was going to hold up seeing as how the first one was kind of toturous to get through.
I guess most of the reason why I liked this one a bit more was because Smith didn't continue the story with the characters from the previous book. She starts from scratch with brand new characters, brand new plot, and brand new setting. I was glad to see that Miranda was not as annoying as Quincie has been. She had her moments at the beginning of being whiny but that changes once she is transformed into a vampire (not a spoiler; says it in the synopsis). She is actually a pretty tough female lead. I'll admit that I enjoyed her a lot more when she WASN'T in the presence of her love-interest, Zachary. She became another pathetic, hopeless girl in love; always tripping and falling all over the place just to have him catch her. Also, I don't understand how she fell in love with Zachary. She met him and immediately fell in love with him. At least on his part, he's known her for all her life so of course he could develop feelings for her. Oh well... such is YA paranormal romances.
Zachary was... okay. I like him and yet I don't like him. At the beginning he came off as only liking her because he gets to see her naked and not really because he loves her. I don't know if that was Smith's intentions but that's how I perceived it as. On another note, he's pretty pathetic. He's supposed to be an "angel" but he sucks. He can't even protect himself let alone anybody else. He was just a nuisance most of the time. Radford is the "head vampire" but really, he's just corny as hell. I don't know why Smith's vampires are all corny but there you have it. I did like his mental side, though!
I found I liked the side characters a lot more in this book. My favorite has to be Harrison because he doesn't take crap from anyone! He's pretty badass and I love that about him. He's also daring, knowing full well he could be killed for it. Nora was another of a cool side character. I love her motherly nature towards everyone! Sabine and Phillipe are also awesome! The side characters are what made this novel, in my opinion. Without them, I fear that it would have been just as dull as the first one.
I'm really shocked that I liked this book. It was better thought out, well put together, and there was a lot more action this time! The characters weren't that bad and I actually appreciated the ending to this one! Yeah, I did have my problems with it; i.e. the writing, although improved greatly, still had moments where it didn't flowed smoothly; but I was able to get through it without cringing. To think I almost didn't read this book because of how much I disliked the first one. I say that this one, though not the best, still is worth the read. Check it out from the library! It's a decent read.
I guess most of the reason why I liked this one a bit more was because Smith didn't continue the story with the characters from the previous book. She starts from scratch with brand new characters, brand new plot, and brand new setting. I was glad to see that Miranda was not as annoying as Quincie has been. She had her moments at the beginning of being whiny but that changes once she is transformed into a vampire (not a spoiler; says it in the synopsis). She is actually a pretty tough female lead. I'll admit that I enjoyed her a lot more when she WASN'T in the presence of her love-interest, Zachary. She became another pathetic, hopeless girl in love; always tripping and falling all over the place just to have him catch her. Also, I don't understand how she fell in love with Zachary. She met him and immediately fell in love with him. At least on his part, he's known her for all her life so of course he could develop feelings for her. Oh well... such is YA paranormal romances.
Zachary was... okay. I like him and yet I don't like him. At the beginning he came off as only liking her because he gets to see her naked and not really because he loves her. I don't know if that was Smith's intentions but that's how I perceived it as. On another note, he's pretty pathetic. He's supposed to be an "angel" but he sucks. He can't even protect himself let alone anybody else. He was just a nuisance most of the time. Radford is the "head vampire" but really, he's just corny as hell. I don't know why Smith's vampires are all corny but there you have it. I did like his mental side, though!
I found I liked the side characters a lot more in this book. My favorite has to be Harrison because he doesn't take crap from anyone! He's pretty badass and I love that about him. He's also daring, knowing full well he could be killed for it. Nora was another of a cool side character. I love her motherly nature towards everyone! Sabine and Phillipe are also awesome! The side characters are what made this novel, in my opinion. Without them, I fear that it would have been just as dull as the first one.
I'm really shocked that I liked this book. It was better thought out, well put together, and there was a lot more action this time! The characters weren't that bad and I actually appreciated the ending to this one! Yeah, I did have my problems with it; i.e. the writing, although improved greatly, still had moments where it didn't flowed smoothly; but I was able to get through it without cringing. To think I almost didn't read this book because of how much I disliked the first one. I say that this one, though not the best, still is worth the read. Check it out from the library! It's a decent read.
goodbetterbetsy's review against another edition
2.0
It was ok. I haven't read any of the series this graphic novel is based on. I might pick them up. I think they'd be better than this.
moonlit_mystic's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
catpingu's review against another edition
3.0
Like I've said in my reread review of [b:Tantalize|353016|Tantalize (Tantalize, #1)|Cynthia Leitich Smith|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1430626302l/353016._SX50_.jpg|343231], I think I've aged out of the target demographic so I can be a little more critical about the actual writing.
Zachary's a guardian angel who's in love with his charge, Miranda. He's watched over Miranda her whole life, always invisible and imagining all the things he'd say or do with her if he'd just be allowed to reveal himself. One unfortunate encounter with a vampire in a cemetery, and Miranda disappears. Zachary's angelic abilities are taken away and he roams around depressed and in despair he failed his duty as a guardian angel and as Miranda's protector. A year later, he's assigned a new task; completion of his task means his holy reinstatement. He goes to Dracula's new castle and meets a familiar face...
I have to say, while this isn't a slow descent into darkness as much of a good vs. evil battle, the murder mystery is much more upfront and a little more fun to figure out than the last book. I might be biased, I still like Tantalize better, but I guess this book works to introduce more concepts and characters. I can't really say it's a super good read; more like, it's there and I read it. The reason it's taken me like 12 years to read it is because I didn't feel invested to read this book, until I found out the next book, which is bringing back our original cast of characters, would interact with some characters from this book as well.
Zachary's a guardian angel who's in love with his charge, Miranda. He's watched over Miranda her whole life, always invisible and imagining all the things he'd say or do with her if he'd just be allowed to reveal himself. One unfortunate encounter with a vampire in a cemetery, and Miranda disappears. Zachary's angelic abilities are taken away and he roams around depressed and in despair he failed his duty as a guardian angel and as Miranda's protector. A year later, he's assigned a new task; completion of his task means his holy reinstatement. He goes to Dracula's new castle and meets a familiar face...
I have to say, while this isn't a slow descent into darkness as much of a good vs. evil battle, the murder mystery is much more upfront and a little more fun to figure out than the last book. I might be biased, I still like Tantalize better, but I guess this book works to introduce more concepts and characters. I can't really say it's a super good read; more like, it's there and I read it. The reason it's taken me like 12 years to read it is because I didn't feel invested to read this book, until I found out the next book, which is bringing back our original cast of characters, would interact with some characters from this book as well.