Immortal Beloved: Bk. 1 (Immortal Beloved 1) [Hardcover]

The first paragraph of the first page reads:

" Last night my whole world came tumbling down. Now I am running scared."

Other than Metamorphosis by Kafka, I don't think I have ever heard such a brilliantly intense and captivating first start to a book. I was instantly hooked and this alone urged me to read on to see how this statement came to be.

It all centres around Nastasya or `Nasty' to her immortal friends. Nastasya is an immortal and an old one at that, she enjoys the high life and has no need to worry about money or anything else that normal people need to, after all she can do what she wants without the limitation of impending death in old age(although immortals can be killed but do not die of old age). So we are put smack bang in the middle of this life, seeing it from her side, hearing from her point of view about her getting drunk, stoned and withering her life and herself away with so called friends that are doing the same. But when supposed to be bff `Incy' one night uses his immortal magic to inflict a sadistic torture on an unsuspecting victim, it all comes crashing down on Nastasya. She begins to wonder and question what she is doing and why she is living the life she is and why all of a sudden she is scared of her best friend for centuries; `Incy'.

With nothing but her gut telling her to flee, she runs. To America, in search of someone who once told her she could be so much more, a woman called River. Finding her, Nastasya also finds a whole new life with other immortals like herself who no longer want to be dark, not appreciate life and who are running scared of themselves too. Here Nastasya, with her punk like attitude and sarcastic and rebellious ways finds the real her and along with it uncovers the thruth about herself, her past and what is facing her future which come out in a series of beautifully captivating but tragic flashbacks to a past she once knew but has decided to bury and deny.

A past which, in the immortal reform school that River runs, she learns so much more than she ever would have thought and with it a possible love that seems to burn regardless of a haunting past in the form of fellow immortal Reyn, who she describes as looking like a viking god but is not as good as he shows himself to be...

By the end of the book, we don't see a new Nastasya but instead the one she has been hiding by reinventing herself over the centuries. We see the human desire to belong within and the love that she has never been so capable of before. But it's not all happy endings with welcoming the truth and living in the now, instead of the past. It is clear that it is just the beginning.

With the increasingly scarier by the minute `Incy' still on Nastasya's tail and determined to find her, will he? And with it go back to her old life? Will she and Reyn get together? All questions that leave you desperately wanting to know the answers to but sadly, which will not be answered until the next book and I am desperatly counting down the days until Tiernan gives us them in the next instalment which is yet to be given a release date (but I have heard to be next year) and I am sure I am not the only one who is begging for it to be soon!

Cassandra220689

Despite finding Cate Tiernan's 'Sweep' series dull and preachy I have to say that I loved Immortal Beloved, which was a shock because, had I not received this and it's sequel for review I would never have chosen to read it, simply because it sounded like the same old, same old.

Was it? No. The set up is different, the 'home for wayward immortals' may be a similar setting to certain books, but the way the plot develops and the characters develop is different and enjoyable to read. The tone of the book started pretty dark and I thought I was getting into one of those really dark, doom and gloom books that i have to be in the right frame of mind to read. Whilst the book does have a serious tone at times, it isn't all doom and gloom.

The book is narrated by Natasya, whose narration sounded pretty immature for a 400+ year old, i'll let this pass just because it was so enjoyable to read her thoughts. Nasty is a pretty mean character to start with, but throughout we see her reasons and we watch her develop and grow as a character. This isn't just a shallow YA paranormal, it also has some depth.

At first i thought that I was looking at a typical romance but complications further in the book really make this romance unique and I look forward to reading more about Nasty and Reyn. I liked Reyn as a character as well, a reformed bad boy with a dark history and a little depth, he could be compared to other YA hunks, but he also stands out for me.

The Mr. Miyagi teacher lady, River was maybe a little too shallow, a stereotypical leader/teacher, I didn't really find myself liking her character. Nell was a typical cow and many of the other side character were stereotypical and lacked development.

The writing is pretty good, as I said above, I liked Nasty's writing. At some points it seemed that Tiernan had just thrown bits together without linking them and so it didn't seem like some parts were well structured.

overall, Immortal Beloved was better than I expected, i totally enjoyed it though it had some flaws such as lack of development in minor characters. I loved the main characters and the romance.

Written in 1st person narrative from Nastasya's (Nasty) perspective alongside her many aliases. Your `typical' conflicted teenager but with the insight of over 400 years of life. Nasty has a wonderful narrative voice, directly addressing the reader at points which made me completely invested in the events concerning her.

The Gothic convention of nesting different stories within the same narrative is woven ingeniously into the book. Multi-layered plot giving aspects of suspense, romance, thriller and the paranormal all work beautifully together. Pieces of the plot are tantalizing revealed little by little making for compulsive reading. The Gothic aspect is reinforced by the Gothic font on the lettering at the start of each chapter.

Nasty's history is revealed in a series of flashbacks in the form of dreams and visions. Very strong imagery and descriptions immerse the imagination in both the past and the present seamlessly. The use of old European/northern language mixed with modern terms added to the longevity aspect of the prose. While the historical references spanning the term of Nasty's life were really well researched, adding a sense of realism while giving depth to the plot.

The 2 different sets of people Nasty associated with give a striking contrast in personality and actions. All the characters are wonderfully individual yet the group dynamics of both sets work well together. I really liked the inclusion of Nasty's interaction with `bad girl' Drey, the way in which she helped her via her own experiences showed how caring Nasty really is, even though she tries to project a tough girl persona. The character development throughout the book of all of the central characters was impeccable.

The magic/paranormal element to the book mixed modern ideas of witchcraft with older more traditional beliefs. The use of aromatherapy/homeopathy/herbalism all have a basis in Wiccan/Pagan/Druid `faiths' really showed the need to utilize the natural ingredients we have available. The idea of balance - that power comes at a cost - emphasized the need to work with resources rather than deplete them.

One aspect I didn't really like was the inclusion that everyone is born `dark' and that they have to work to achieve light paralleling the religious concept that everyone is born a sinner and they have to work at redemption. This is not something I can mentally reconcile, it makes me just want to go BLAHHHH. However, this is just my opinion and it worked well within the narrative.

The chemistry between Nasty and Reyn *sigh* literally crackled off the pages, the back-story *no spoilers* was insightful although somewhat distressing in places. However, the morale of the story shows how people evolve from their past, they change and hopefully learn from actions and events making them *fingers crossed* better people for it. It also showed that we should not dwell on the past rather life in the present. The journey of self-discovery for both Nasty and Reyn was completely engaging.

For me this was a great start to a different view of immortality, I cannot wait for the sequel and have been trying to track down information about when it will be published but to no avail. Anyone else know????