Immortal Beloved Review



 



Immortal Beloved
Cate Tiernan
January 2011
Hodder & Stoughton


Opening line:~ Last night my whole world came tumbling down.

Now I'm running scared.

Closing line:~ I was done running.

Favourite quote:~ ...'I want my power back. I want my heritage. I want to be my mother's daughter, my father's heir.'
~Nasty~

An interesting story for the dark romance genre, not a vampire, werewolf or angel insight. Instead we have immortals with a flare for magic.

Nastasya has been existing for over 400 years. Leading many different lives, most are spent parting with friends and not having a care in the world. But when one of her closest friends leaves a taxi driver paralysed Nasty is shocked into turning her life around. On the run from her friends she finds herself at River's house, an immortal she met hundreds of years earlier. River's 'safe-house' could be likened to immortality rehab where immortals can spend time learning to use their magic in a good way, and fight the personal battle of good and evil.

And what story would be complete without the guy!? Enter Reyn. 

Reyn seems very closed off to Nasty but the two seem to vaguely remember each other from some point throughout their lives. Constantly draw to each other the pair soon remember more about the other but with over 400 years of memories not all memories are good!

I'm really torn with how I feel about this story! It had a great opening chapter and I was totally hook, then after Nasty was on the run I was so intrigued as to what would happen. But then Nasty reaches River's house and things slow way down. I appreciate she is on a road to self-discovery, as are the other immortals at the house, and we need to learn about her past to understand her present, but I wanted so much more. It's not until you get about 190 pages in that things start to really pick up again. Then I was hooked again with magic lessons, the true discovery of Reyn, and Nasty's own heritage being reviled, I couldn't read quick enough!

I really like Nastasya! I like the fact that even after 400 years she can still be shocked by her closest friends. I admire the courage that she has and what it took for her to leave them all behind along with everything else. Her past is so haunting and I look forward to the next book to she how she deals with things now she knows what she knows.

I love Reyn!! I can't say much more about him as I feel it would give too much away! But his own journey is just as compelling as Nasty's.

I am looking forward to the next two books to see how their lives develop and how Nastys friends are going to react to her.

3.5 of 5 Stars. Why? Because I loved the idea of the story, it was just a little too slow at times but I understand why. As I said you need to now about the past before you can understand the present.