Review: Immortal Beloved by Cate Tiernan

Immortal Beloved
(Immortal Beloved #1)
by Cate Tiernan
Published: September 7, 2010




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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.

Cate Tiernan, author of the popular Sweep series, returns with an engaging story of a timeless struggle and inescapable romance, the first book in a stunning new fantasy trilogy.

I've heard a lot of good things about the author of this book on her Sweep series but I picked up Immortal Beloved instead because, well, it was 50% off when I saw it in the bookstore. It also has high ratings on Goodreads anyway which means this is also good. Reading the synopsis at the back of the book though.. it didn't sound too special to me. It oozes drama and insta-love and catty girls. It made me think the story would be mainly about hot immortal romance where the main conflict would be how the villain-y, hot guy with the dark past and the main character would start their forever. But I was wrong. Oh, so wrong.

Immortal Beloved is more than just Nastasya being tired of living like a spoiled brat for more than four centuries. It is reliving history, the horrors and darkness of the past, living in the now, the beauty and importance of the present - acceptance, heartbreak, loss.. I mean, sure, maybe the author does have something wonderful up her sleeves but I didn't know it would have a lot of meaning and depth and realizations and life.

I really love Nastasya as a main character. She does live up to being the party girl that she is with her humor and her fun attitude. It made reading the book more enjoyable. But more than that exterior is 460 years of memories and secrets, both terrible and wonderful, and the darkness she's tried so hard to suppress. I thoroughly loved the parts where she remembers her experiences - being a slave, suffering famines and bubonic plagues, losing a husband, a child, being the star of a party, being the most beautiful girl in the room, leaving a life to start another. There were a lot of emotions involved.

The first parts of book were a little shaky but it picked up immediately the moment she found River's Edge. The rest was addicting and I couldn't get enough. It was a little disappointing that I didn't find a climax; it was kind of even throughout including the thing with Reyn. I keep thinking Immortal Beloved is maybe the introductory part, and then the second is where the climax will happen, then the last book is the ending. I dunno. Just that this book is really great and everyone should check this out and that I'm itching for book two.