Cate Tiernan

For the record I'm pretty sure I can't say Nastasya's name correctly. At all. Anyone who can tell me how wins a cookie.

So! Another new young adult paranormal-esque trilogy about a disaffected immortal being trying to figure out why the heck they're still around. And atoning for past mistakes. And possibly falling in true love. If you could see my bookshelves you'd see the shelves sagging with similar books--young adult and mainstream--all begging to be read and adored and loved. Some have prettier covers (I like Immortal Beloved's cover, but the title is just so big that it dominates and I didn't even notice the girl behind the title until much later), some are by authors I know and some have easier to say main character names. So what drew me to read Immortal Beloved?

Nastasya's sarcastic, condescending and often flat out rude commentary on everything. She has lived a long time and seems to have fallen in with a really callous and selfish lot in the last century or so, so its completely understandable of course. But cripes! I was cringing every time she opened her mouth, she didn't have a censor for her mouth at all. Well for most of the book. She does eventually learn to think before speaking, but it doesn't really put a damper on her speech.

Its kind of refreshing to read a character who doesn't just internalize everything. Whereas so many other characters seem to have lots of mean thoughts, but don't say it out loud (or are horrified if they do) Nastasya (called 'nasty' by her friends) just says it damn the consequences.

Beneath the rude veneer however is a complicated young (relatively speaking) woman who despite her years on Earth hasn't found something to ground herself. She 'falls' into her memories a lot, some random thing will happen in the present that will set off a memory of a previous experience and we see her through the ages. Her very young years with her family, the men she has married, children she has lost, wars she's lived through and decades she's partied through. There's a sense of desperation in her life story, urgency to find something to hold onto and not lose.

Innocencio, and to an extent the others in their group, sort of fill that gaping wound in her life. Innocencio was always with her, always by her side, picking her up when she fell and holding her hair when she felt sick. They had their tumbles and laughs, but they were never apart. But what did it mean? As Nastasya struggles to piece together her soul again, doubt creeps in and she begins to wonder at why Innocencio was always there.

The other Immortals, as well as the few mortals that Nastasya interacts with, are varied and interesting, but not much else. Oh I'm curious about River's backstory and I want to know what will happen at the drugstore Nastasya helps out at and the two girls she has befriended in town, but for me they were more distractions to the darker plot elements. Especially after Unsavory Plot Points are brought out into the light regarding Nastastya's past and her associates there of.

My only mild squick moment was the romance between Reyn and Nastasya. Big spoilers abound for this so I can't go too deeply into why it was squicky for me, but I can say while it makes sense given when they both were 'young', it in no way made me feel more comfortable with them now.… (plus d'informations)