IMMORTAL BELOVED by Cate Teirnan
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (September 7, 2010)
Language: English
Author Website: CATE TEIRNAN
Rating: YYYY

Nastasya has spent the last century living as a spoiled, drugged-out party girl. She feels nothing and cares for no one. But when she witnesses her best friend, a Dark Immortal, torture a human, she realizes something's got to change. She seeks refuge at a rehab for wayward immortals, where she meets the gorgeous, undeniably sexy Reyn, who seems inexplicably linked to her past.

Nastasya finally begins to deal with life, and even feels safe--until the night she learns that someone wants her dead.

REVIEW

IMMORTAL BELOVED is a great book for readers. adult and teen alike, who enjoy reading fantasies that are edged in darkness, mysterious, and romantic. The characters in this inventive story live forever, yet are not vampires but true immortals who struggle with something far greater than a simple person can conceive. IMMORTAL BELOVED is narrated by Natasya-- an immortal who has lived nearly 500 years who is barely surviving her very existence when she is pushed over the edge one evening and decides to flee everything and everyone she has known. She leaves London and relocates to a small town in Massachusetts, to live with other immortals that seek peace and meaning to their life. Thus begins Nastasya's true journey to self acceptance and worth

I truly enjoyed IMMORTAL BELOVED because the lives of the immortals, especially Nastasya, are revealed slowly but carefully, leaving you wanting to know more about her past as well as her present. Tiernan does an excellent job of weaving Nastasyas two stories (past and present) through a series of flashbacks and present day that makes the reader understand not only who she is, but what she's fighting against. You become her champion as you witness her life unfold before your eyes and laugh out loud at her snarky comments that lend light laughter to this dark fantasy tale. The romantic element in this story is a welcome surprise that does not overwhelm the entire storyline but adds a bit tension that leaves you satisfied and very curious. I also enjoyed the fact that the story does not leave you with a big cliffhanger ending and yet you are left wanting to read more about Nastasya and what will happen next.

I highly recommend IMMORTAL BELOVED to those that love the Highlander series and to those that love paranormal stories that don't have a fang, were or fae lurking in the shadows. Not that I don't enjoy them but it is a refreshing change from the norm in that genre.

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