Immortal Beloved by Cate Tiernan

Nastasya - or Nasty as she is known to her friends - isn’t exactly the type of character I generally enjoy. Think back to my love for Grace of Shiver and you’ll see why. Whereas Grace was intelligent, independent, and sensible, Nasty is a bit of a jerk. Well, more than a bit, actually. Nasty is a hard drinking, party girl whose personality displays all the superficiality I usually hate in girls. But then I guess you’re bound to get bored after you’ve been alive for two or three or even four hundred years. Eventually, as Nasty has discovered, the good girl thing isn’t so interesting anymore. With her band of equally empty friends, Nasty has spent the last several hundred years drinking her way through the decades, concerning herself only with filling up the hours which, I have to admit, must start to seem pretty long after awhile. Happily, though, Nasty isn't nearly as empty-headed as she first seems. Having survived some horrendous tragedies over the centuries, including the loss of her family, Nasty has developed coping mechanisms that include drowning herself in alcohol and, generally, try not to think too deeply about anything. And then it all catches up with her. Witnessing an incredible act of mindless cruelty on the part of one of her friends, Nasty has an “I-can’t-take-this-anymore,” moment and splits without letting anyone know where she is headed: River’s Edge, a sanctuary for immortals looking for guidance. River’s Edge is a sort of home for lost immortals and is directed by the ever wise, River, herself an immortal who really seems to have her act together. At first, Nasty fluctuates back and forth between wanting to turn over a new leaf and wanting to return to a life where numbness covers up painful memories. I once again found her behavior a bit irritating, but I think that, in reality, her feelings would be fairly normal. Among the perks of living at River’s Edge - you know, aside from things like not waking up and vomiting every morning - is the incredible Reyn, a Scandinavian god of a man who instantly has Nasty’s attention. He’s anything but charming, but what he lacks in manners, he seems to make up for in extraordinary good looks. Who needs talking anyway? In the end, I found Immortal Beloved to be an extremely entertaining story with the added bonus of a good lesson about how to best live one’s life. It was such a good story, in fact, that I began the sequel, Darkness Falls, right away. Stay tuned for that one. LAME FACTOR: I would give it a 1 out of 5 for Nasty’s often annoying behavior, but I suspect I’m the one who is lame. That said, it realistically deserves a 0 of 5. Summer reading book, anyone? YOUR PARENTS WILL FREAK FACTOR: Well, they might, just a teensy bit. There are many references to bad behavior, but nothing too graphic, and the character does learn her lesson. There is also some paranormal mumbo-jumbo and violence. As long as you don’t use it as a “how to” book, everything will be fine. BRAIN POWER: Immortal Beloved is very well-written, but nothing you can’t wrap your little head around.