Review: Darkness Falls by Cate Tiernan

Darkness Falls
(Immortal Beloved #2)
by Cate Tiernan
Published: October 2012




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You can run from your past, but it will always catch up.

Nastasya has lived for hundreds of years, but for some reason it never seems to get any easier. She’s left behind her days of debauchery to find peace and forgiveness at River’s Edge, a safe haven for wayward immortals. There she’s uncovered her family’s epic history, reclaimed her magickal powers, and met Reyn, whom she dubs “the Viking god.” Just as she settles into her new life, Nastasya learns that her old friends might be in town....

Reuniting with her gorgeous and dangerous ex-best-friend, Innocencio, Nas wonders if she’ll ever be truly free of her dark legacy. Is Incy dangerous, power-hungry, and wicked? Or is he the only one who truly understands Nas’s darkness? Either way, Nas is desperate to find out who she really is-even if the answer kills her.

OH.MY.GOD. I have no idea where to start. You've read my review of the previous book, Immortal Beloved? If not, I'll tell you this - I really, really liked that book. It was so addicting that the day after I finished it I was out hunting for the sequel, Darkness Falls.

It started out great, because anything that involves Reyn and Nastasya together is great. I enjoy reading the parts when they are together and I crave more of it. They rarely have alone moments, my god. Nastasya is as funny as ever and still on the process of giving her existence more meaning.

River resolved to be more understanding and accepting, which IMHO was like water trying to be more wet. I didn’t see how she could possibly be more of those things.

I've always liked who she is in River's Edge. Hearing her perspective on things so openly and how she deals with it so she can be better is a lot of progress. But I don't like who she is whenever she goes running back to her old lifestyle when trouble comes because of her. Another thing I liked in this series aside from the main character's humor is going back through their pasts. It's great to hear each immortal's stories, evil or good, and it tells a lot of who they were before and who they are now. Each small steps to realizations were very engaging and I loved those parts. But in the end, Nastasya and her "realizations" was what pissed me off.

I did not find any climax in the first book and I was hoping I will find it Darkness Falls. Well, I did, but I was filled with frustration and disappointment and anger. God, for all the love I have for Nastasya, I sure would have found a lot of satisfaction by strangling her at that time. She is powerful and she can overtake whatever darkness it is within her. All she has to do is believe in herself which I thought she was on her way to achieving. At the very time where the lives of her friends are at stake, all she has to do is focus and do everything she can. She does, for like, 10 seconds and then her mind wanders off to oh so many realizations the situation is giving her. Like, goddamit, Nastasya. I would congratulate you if it weren't for the fact that heads are rolling on the floor with your inner monologues. Trust me, hitting my pillow so many times did nothing to release my frustration.

Aside from all that, not much happened. Darkness Falls doesn't really connect with the first book. Same characters, same setting, but totally different circumstances. The story line is confusing. All I can gather from what I've read is that there is a place for immortals, like rehab, and there is evil in the world. But even if I did not like this as much as the first book, it still made me want to pick up the sequel mainly because, um, I'm still waiting for Reyn and Nastasya's romance to level up.