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Immortal Beloved
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Immortal Beloved
Unavailable
Immortal Beloved
Audiobook9 hours

Immortal Beloved

Written by Cate Tiernan

Narrated by Kelly Lintz

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

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.

A Hachette Audio production.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 7, 2010
ISBN9781607887133
Unavailable
Immortal Beloved
Author

Cate Tiernan

Cate Tiernan is the author of the Sweep, Balefire, Immortal Beloved, and Birthright series. She lives with her family in North Carolina.

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Reviews for Immortal Beloved

Rating: 4.076271186440678 out of 5 stars
4/5

236 ratings34 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I absolutely loved this book and this trilogy series!!!! And i would love it even more if Cate Tiernan would write more about Nastasya and her handsome bu. Take over where she left off in Eternally Yours and give us a little more, but if wishes were kisses we'd all be rich. I can't get enough of this book and i am happy to add it to my list of books id read over and over again. It was just that good!!! Now if i could just find The Book of Shadows and start that series to see if its any goo did be happy. Cate Tiernan, your an awesome writer, keep it up!!! ^^
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I would have given this 5 stars but it just kinda... Ended. No climax. No resolution. Just done. Blah. But the rest of the book was fantastic!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    These days she uses Nastasya as a name, she was born in 1551, an immortal who lost her family young and has watched lives pass her byAfter one of her friends does something so wantonly cruel she finds herself disturbed that she doesn't find it as disturbing as she should, she remembers an invite to River's Edge in the US, where a group of Immortals live, trying to live a better life. So she goes and has to face up to many of her demons.It's an interesting read, she has a lot of issues to deal with, not least of which is magic and someone who hates her. This series has a lot of potential. The way the immortals are depicted is pretty good and interesting. I just had a few moments where it didn't quite work for me.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I loved this book! I just can't express how easy it was for me to love it. Ok, what made me fall in love with the book is the characters and the plot. Both were simply dynamic and just WOW!First, the characters. I love that the characters have been to an extreme point in their life that they are changing it. I liked that Nastasya set out to change to way she was living. She lived her life however she wanted and was not happy. I liked that Nastasya took some control and tried to find some peace in her life. I adored that Nas is strong and determined to change. I liked that through the book, Nas see the things of what is wrong in her life. The other characters that through me for a spin is Reyn. He is so fiesty and mean that I just wan t to kiss him!! He is beyond anything that I could comprehend. So complicated, so stubborn and I'm so in love with him!!Next, the plot. ZOMG! The plot is not as complicated as it seems. An immortal going to a half way house to become someone new. The author makes this plot so good. The reader see her struggle, fight, and be attacked in every way possible. I loved that Nas persevered through out it all. She no doubtfully knew that she did not what to live that and fought. I admired her strength to deal with her bad past and face it.The love interest in this book is so good! They fight, they bicker, they yell and get angry. You know that hey are just dying to kiss each other. I really loved how they're past was so intriguingly woven. The past full of hurt, death, and betrayal, they need each other to heal.Go and pick up this book! This is a book that you will have no problems getting into. The pacing is perfect as well as the characters. Each plays a part in Nas 's life. And the way the author unfolded each piece of her life through flashbacks and people, your are enthralled to finish till the last page.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Immortal Beloved is a fun, different-ish read. I haven't met many characters like Nastasya, the ones with the party attitude. She is well over four hundred years old, and you would expect her to have a greater sense of the world. Instead, she's wasted her years partying, trying to suppress the memories of her first years.Nastasya grows a lot over the course of the novel. At first, it was hard to get into the book because of her party attitude; however, as I grew accustomed to her voice, I also grew to appreciate it. She is such a fun character once you get to know her. She is stubborn and rebellious, and she admits that she's evil-ish in that she finds it hard to be good. She loves teasing Nell and Reyn, and she has a strong aversion to magick. I just adores the way her mind works.I did not anticipate the true nature Nastasya's relationship with Reyn. It was interesting watching them antagonize each other from day one of her arrival. It was even more interesting to watch secrets unfold. It is so much better than I thought it would be. It is so much darker and more devastating. It definitely leaves a lot of questions as to what will happen next.I love the references to ancient cultures, the concepts of magick introduced in the book, and the way Tiernan reveals Nastasya's dark past. The hardest idea that I have grasping is why this one person wants Nastasya dead. All I can think of is that the person is seriously whacked up--crazy, psycho. I really didn't see it coming. Honestly, it would have been more believable if it was someone else. But that's it. I really enjoyed the book overall.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book was okay, although I found it to drag on in a few spots. I'm hoping the next book is better than this one.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Whoa, y'all. I got so much more out of this book than I was expecting. Of course, I'd never have picked it up if I didn't think I'd be intrigued by it, but I didn't expect it to strike me as anything above average.Well, turns out...it did. Average is somewhere down here and this book is way up here.Nastasya and Reyn are great characters: both with captivating personalities and backgrounds. I can't wait to see where their story goes next. I love the sparks they throw off each other: the love/hate thing they have going is very realistic and believable, the chemistry Tiernan projects of them is amazing!I also loved the flashbacks: which is rare. Normally I hate them and either skim them, skip them or go back and read them later. In my opinion, they stick out like a sore thumb a large majority of the time.The immortals are pretty original I think...they aren't exactly like anything else I've read anyway. I love the concept of them...they're like vampires minus the creep factor. The fact that they are largely a party-loving immature group is fantastic I think, it makes them more believable because if you lived that long, do you really think you could survive taking yourself too seriously? Sure they were a little annoying, but always very real.Anyway - pick this book up and read it. It is fascinating and you'll be left waiting for the next one just like I am! I originally just borrowed it from the library and have since gotten a copy to keep for myself!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I am a huge fan of Cate Tiernan's Sweep series so when I found out that she had a brand new trilogy coming out, I was so excited! Even though it took me awhile to finally get to reading Immortal Beloved, when I started I was immediately entranced with this fantastic new world. The plot is refreshing and I adored the group of immortals at River's Edge who took Nastasya in during her time of need. I am eager for the next installment in this bewitching story.Nastasya is a very conflicted 400 plus year old immortal who is in need of a change in her life. She has lived hundreds of years without feeling emotions and she was fine with that way of living until her best friend critically injures an innocent man. Nastasya is disgusted and flees her dangerous friends for refuge in an immortal rehab. There Nastasya finds out much about herself and her heritage. She learns that magick can be used for good and that she doesn't have to have the terrible side-effects when using it. Nastasya makes new friends, immortal and human alike, who give her a new meaning in life. Nastasya also makes an enemy during her stay that makes life anything but easy for her. Nastasya grows tremendously in Immortal Beloved and am excited to see where the sequel will take her.Reyn aka Viking god, is an enigma. He is a very tortured, brooding man whom Nastasya can't seem to figure out. He is a total jerk to Nastasya yet she can't help but want this gorgeous, tortured hunk of a man. I never got any good insight into Reyn until the end of the book and I wish there would have been more of him in here. I can see why the author didn't do much with Reyn at first though, in order for the reader to get a better understanding of Nastasya. Tiernan doesn't rely on the romance to carry the story and I applaud her for that. I do love romance in my books and while it was very subtle in Immortal Beloved, there was just enough to whet my appetite! I expect that Reyn will be a much more prominent part of the sequel and I can't wait to get more insight into him! He has some very surprising secrets revealed in the book!Immortal Beloved was a dark and conflicting story about a dark immortal who wants to change. I adored this book and I am very excited for the sequel. Immortal Beloved ends at the perfect point and I can't wait to find out more about Nastasya and Reyn. Definitely pick up this book if you can!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Don't let the cheap looking cover scare you away. The book is actually pretty great. The immortal mythology is amazing and the characters are extremely compelling. The main character is unique and witty. The only thing that I would have wanted, that I didn't get was a satisfying end to this book's story. While an interesting journey, it didn't really have a clear middle and end. Something was resolved in the final chapter, but I would have preferred the book to be a little more self contained, rather than being an obvious first book of many. I understand there has to be some unresolved issues to have more books in the series, but each book itself should have a satisfying story arch, which this one was somewhat lacking.Ultimately I really enjoyed the story and am eager to read the next book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Ultimately this book is about one woman's inner growth. While over 400 years old, Nastasya is actually quite juvenile at the beginning of the story. She is self-medicating and unwilling to face her pain. There is very little external action in this book. The action is all inside Nastasya's heart and ming -- and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Some aspects of the book were even inspiring with such themes as focusing on the present, looking at life as a journey rather than a destination, etc... As for the romantic element of the story, there wasn't romance but a very complicated relationship (actually more of a history rather than relationship). I think the best is yet to come for them in future books, we only got the tip of the iceberg with these two in this first book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    For some reason, possibly because I watched a movie with the same title, I thought that this book was going to involve Beethoven. Perhaps that is why I took so long to read it. I am a fan, but not so much that I was moved to read a book about him. Alas, I was wrong. This book had nothing to do with Beethoven and everything to do with utter awesomeness.The immortals in this book are not vampires, not some crazy creatures. They are born like anyone, and are just exceptionally hard to kill. This does not mean that they make great decisions and choices after having lied hundreds of years. Lots are old, yes, but few seem truly wise.Nastasya is one such immortal. In this first book of the planned triology, she's 449 years old. Old enough to have lost loved ones, to have lived through plagues and dictators, to have pushed back tragic memories from her early years. You see, only two immortals can have an immortal child. So, Nastasya's parents and siblings should still be with her. But they're not. Because they were killed when she was just a little girl. And, try as she might with alcohol and meaningless excess, Nastasya cannot escape the pain and fear of that dark night. The night she lost everyone she truly cared about.Now, Nastasya has left behind her reckless (and potentially evil) best friend and has checked into a sort of rehab for immortals. Here, she'll be expected to practice being "in the now" by doing lots of farming-related chores. Not this city girl's idea of a fun time. But, she'll also have a chance to learn more about her powers--the magick that affects her more than anyone else. She thinks she's just no good at it, but might surprise herself once she hones her skills.As Nastasya opens herself to understanding more about her power and her potential, she starts to remember the details of the worst nights of her life. And, just because Nastasya doesn't understand her powers and her value does not mean that others don't. They might come looking for her.* * *I could not put this book down. It's one of those reads that I wanted to last forever. I kinda felt cheated that it was only a little more than 400 pages--Why couldn't it have gone on and on? I've never read any of Cate Tiernan's work, but am now a huge fan. She has this ease of narration and dialogue that sounds like actual people talking and thinking. Her characters are great, and this plot is absolutely engaging and riveting.Moreover, I could completely picture everything that was happening in this book. Even the scenes where magick was used were crystal clear to me. This is not always the case for me. I cannot wait to continue this story and find out what happens--There are so very many possibilities! Alas, the next book does not come out until September of 2011. At least the New Year has started and I'm that much closer...Not really comforting, but it'll have to do.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a super fun book. I loved it! It read like a young adult, but Nastasya is over 400 years old so a lot of her flashbacks to previous centuries are very gritty and show how Nastasya isn't a teen. She may be a body that looks 17, but her experiences show otherwise. The writing was funny and witty and the characters were great. I love seeing how characters grow throughout a book, and Nasty's a good one to watch. And I got my kissing scenes. I [heart] romantic kissing scenes.Tiernan shows how hard it would be to be immortal, to live so long and go through so much. It explained a lot about Nasty's behavior in the present. And Reyn (rain) is really cool. I like him! I CANNOT wait until the next book. Which will sadly be a while.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What first caught my eye about this book was that Nastasya, the main character, had to make the epic choice between light and darkness. I've always been intrigued by this choice. It's one that all people, both fictional and real of course, end up facing at some point. When it comes right down to it one wrong choice can send you skittering off towards disaster. Since my life seems to be at that point right now, I thought I might find some connection with Nastasya and her journey.As a character, Nastasya was dynamic and vivid. I loved the multiple facets of her personality. She felt pain, regret, anger, lust, and all the other emotions that so often get ignored in favor of more the more pleasurable ones. I also appreciated how much Cate Tiernan focused on the Nastasya's inner thoughts. It was easy to get to know her as a character, and to become invested in her struggle. Truth be told I ended up rooting for her half way through the story and I wouldn't give up on her. The more she struggled, the more I felt connected to her. It isn't often a long book like this can fly by, but this one did, and all too soon it was over.To those you haven't yet read this book, you desperately need to pick up a copy! Everything about Nastasya and her fellow characters is real. Everything about them makes you feel as though you're right there, walking among them. Although they're immortal, they tackle very human emotions and problems. I appreciated the tense relationships between some of the characters so much. I think a lot of times relationships in books are too easily forged. In this book Nastasya has to fight her inner self to do what is good for her. She shows a great amount of perseverance and gives the reader a glimpse into the reality of making a life altering decision.I could go on and on about how passionate I felt about this book, but I won't. I'll leave you with the fact that it was a refreshing change from so many other angst-driven and romance fueled young adult novels that I've read recently. What Nastasya goes through felt real to me, and her journey spoke to me in a way that I haven't felt in a long time. I'm in love with this book friends, and I cannot wait to see what happens next. Thank goodness this is only book one!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Nastasya is immortal. She and her friends spend all their time partying--for Nastasya's part, it's to forget her past. (Because when you've lived for hundreds of years, you've probably been through some pretty awful things--and she has.) One night, her best friend tortures a human just for fun and because he could. The next morning, she runs.She remembers meeting someone 80 years ago, an immortal like her but one who seemed together and happy. So Nastasya goes on a quest to find her and try and get some of that peace for herself.While at River's Edge, she learns to live life differently. There are chores, for example, and she has to get a job. She should hate it, but it feels kind of right.This is the first book in a trilogy, and I really enjoyed it. I feel like a lot of people (myself included) know what it's like to carry our pasts around with us and to give those events more power than maybe we should. This is about the quest for redemption and how a lot of times, it's easier to get than we think.I feel like a lot of times, people may think that what they've done or been through is so dark and so horrible that it can never be overcome. But that's especially true if you never even try.Also, all those musings aside, this is a surprisingly fun and lighthearted book. Of course there are moments of angst but there are also moments of levity. (Nastasya has to gather eggs, for example, and one of the hens is a little bloodthirsty.)I cannot wait to see what happens next with Nastasya.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great story. This was one of the more enjoyable books I've read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Yes!! More!! To be continued... it clearly wasn’t the end.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I love this book it's one of my favorites and the narrator is amazing!!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really enjoyed this book and its take on immortality. The climax is not the most exciting I've ever read, but I did think there was enough to be engaging and leave me wanting more. I especially loved Kelly Lintz's reading of the book. Narration can make such a huge difference and she really brought this to life. I ended up listening to Darkness Falls as well and the only thing that makes me sad is that Eternally Yours is not available on audiobook.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Slow paced, entirely too wordy for me. 8 chapters in, I'm too bored to continue listening. Anne Rice overly descriptive.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Review also posted at The Wandering Fangirl.When I picked this up from the library, I didn't have a real idea of what it involved. I just knew it was an interesting sounding paranormal romance novel, and it's been on my TBR list for a while.Holy cow, I did not expect to be as enraptured by Immortal Beloved as I was in the last day.I didn't expect it to be a complete character journey. Sure, Nastasya is an immortal and lot of what she does is learning to control and use magick, and sure, there's a bit of a romance aspect to it, but none of that compares to the journey of self-discovery Nastasya goes through. There could be no paranormal aspects about it at all and I'd still enjoy every single page.If you were truly immortal, how would it change you? How would the weight of hundreds of years of mistakes, joy, pain and indifference change you? What would you do to change yourself for the better, and would you be strong enough to do it? The work Nastasya does to answer these questions (and many more) and to uncover the emotions she's hidden is so interesting and insightful, and while it felt at times that she went in circles with certain ways of thinking, it all felt true to what she was doing.This was definitely a delightful surprise, and I'm totally grabbing Darkness Falls (book two which just came out last month) as soon as I possibly can.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Lovely book. Great characters and plot.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I was completely absorbed by Tiernan's Sweep series and listened to five or six in a row. So I was somewhat surprised to find that this series started off so slowly I almost thought about giving up on it a few chapters in. I had a hard time finding a reason to care about the main character, and I was annoyed at how often she repeated herself early on, esp. about the situation with the cab driver. But I stuck with it, and once she got to River's Edge and began to uncover the mysteries of her past, I was hooked enough to stay interested through to the end.

    The first book ends with enough questions in the air that I'll likely listen to the second one, as I'm curious about the origins of the immortals. But I do hope something happens to complicate the idealistic setting of what amounts to a commune for immortals who need to rediscover the meaning of life.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    These days I'll read the blurb for a book like this one and think, "Ho hum, another paranormal, whatever." I hit that stage a couple of years ago, I think...which is enough time to learn that, jaded as I am, I can still be pleasantly surprised. Like I was here. IMMORTAL BELOVED is wonderful. I wish I could give it extra stars - maybe six! or seven! - because I was riveted to every page, wished it didn't have to end, wanted desperately to have the sequel magically appear in my hands. Alas, it didn't.

    The best thing about IMMORTAL BELOVED is the first person narrator, Nastasya. She's one of those life-of-the-party types, effortlessly and unselfconsciously charismatic. Because it's all first person, and Nastasya is anything but stuck-up, her charisma only becomes apparent as we see her interact with others. She's blithe and confident, for one - and she takes both qualities for granted. She pays attention to people and makes them feel special. She's not surprised when people like her. She's never shy, and she's not quite serious enough.

    And goodness, has she lived. She's five hundred years old, but she's got enough life experience to comfortably fill a thousand years. The book is full of flashbacks, and Cate Tiernan does a really impressive job with them. She doesn't just relate Nastasya's memories - she makes us feel their weight, or their lightness. Her memories aren't trapped in amber. We see how she's lived with them, how they're colored by the passage of time. Nastasya actually *feels* five hundred. The authenticity of her voice really makes the book extraordinary.

    The book isn't action-packed, since most of it takes place in a sleepy little town in Massachusetts, on a vegetable farm/halfway house. The biggest "event" really is the gradual transformation of Nastasya's character. When she shows up at River's Edge, the lights are on but nobody's home. She's been living a glitzy but empty and ultimately destructive life, and it stopped being fun for her a long time ago. She knows she needs to change, but the wholesome goodness of River's Edge seems laughably beyond the realm of possibility.

    In the midst of all the personal growth, Nastasya has to get along with the other residents. There are four teachers, and eight other students. Most of the drama revolves around Reyn and Nell. Nastasya is hopelessly in lust with Reyn, who's gorgeous and annoyingly perfect and totally hates her guts. Nell is ALSO hopelessly in lust with Reyn, and her #1 goal at River's Edge is to spend as much time with him as possible. Reyn is oblivious, and shows no interest in Nell, but that only heightens her determination to fence him off from other women who Reyn might actually like. Women like, say, Nastasya.

    At this point, the book could devolve into a simple love story - but it doesn't. Reyn and Nastasya have met before, and it takes each of them a long while to remember, and even longer to cope. The book has all the fun of a will-they-won't-they plot, but it's pleasantly spiked with life lessons and painful memories and personal tragedy and a handful of other heart-wrenching emotions besides.

    IMMORTAL BELOVED was a pleasure to read. It's one of those books that reminded me why I like paranormals in the first place, and why I keep trying new ones. The good ones are soooooo worth it.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    So dragging. Goes on and on and on and on.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    (audio)- More adult than a teen read. This YA book really was a joy to read. It was filled with historical fiction, paranormal romance, mysteries, tortures and even humorous moments. A young immortal that has gone through terrible and haunting experiences in her long life, is ready for a change. She travels away from the friends she has known for centuries to a ranch, kind of a 12 step program to learn new magic ways. She is faced with her darkest nightmare. the ranch is filled with other immortals, all with a dark past all there for their own reasons. One she can't stop thinking about, there is something familiar...
    Great Characters, very realistic and visual. Left me wanting more !
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    * Bought in the UK 12 Days of Kindle sale -Xmas 2011.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: Loved this book, mostly because of the narrator, who managed to carry the story even when the plot felt stagnant.Opening Sentence: Last night my whole world came tumbling down.The Review:The novel starts out with Nastasya and her friends in a cab, in the middle of another night of club hopping. To be totally honest, books about hard partiers usually aren’t for me, but Nasty (That’s actually her nickname, by the way. Super weird.) was so funny and casual that I kept reading. Then, suddenly, almost out of the blue, her best friend Innocencio snaps the spine of their angry cab driver. And none of her friends are phased. Nasty is horrified, physically ill, and you know what she does? She walks away. Oh, there are a few token protests and lingering horrors, but Nasty is drunk enough that all she wants to do is forget it ever happened.But as she says in the novel, immortals can’t drink themselves to death, so she wakes up the next morning with a violent hangover and a newspaper that says the cabbie’s paralyzed from the shoulders down for life. She’s horrified — but not just with Incy. The self-hatred that rose from the incident is so raw that I fell completely in love with her character. It’s like she finally sees her life for the first time, her expensive, wastrel world is appalling to her — and she remembers a woman who told her she could have more. So she runs to River’s Edge, part-hippie commune, part-rehab, part-school, and her life gets hard, fast. There’s no quick fix to four hundred years of hideous living, and Nasty has done some truly repulsive things. If she were a real person, and not just a character, I’d never forgive her.Her life at River’s Edge brings stability, structure, and work. Not things Nasty has had in her life for a century or so. The teachers at River’s Edge, her fellow students, all have their own dark stories, but she can’t trust them. Not even the Golden Viking God Reyn, who is hands down the most gorgeous, stunning guy she has ever had the displeasure of knowing. He’s rude, abrasive, and far too familiar for comfort. Of course, they have an almost romance — but it is a SUBplot, that then feeds the main(ish) plot, while the real/big/important plotline seems to be over-arching between books. Their relationship is complicated, to be overly simplistic, and crowded with a past neither one of them wants to really remember. At least, Nasty doesn’t. She’s made a point of avoiding her less-than-pleasant memories for about 459 years now.I absolutely loved the world-building around the immortals. People who never die, all around relatively human, but with the ability to use magic. Most immortals pull their power from the earth, killing whatever they draw from and feeding the darkness that’s born inside them. River teaches Nasty a new kind of magick, called Tähti, that draws from oneself and an immortal’s inherent magick. Immortals are everywhere and always have been. They mix with humans, recognizing other immortals when they see them, but honestly, it’s so simple that Tiernan’s world is completely believable.The plot is almost sedate in Immortal Beloved, while there’s always an undercurrent of dark tension as the reader remembers what Nasty’s hiding from. Honestly, she’s such an entertaining narrator that I almost didn’t notice the plot was slow until the novel ended. The writing is fiercely casual and totally unique to this narrator. There were so many parts where I laughed out loud, or realized that was totally something I’d say or think. It’s a fun, fast book that definitely gets my recommendation.Notable Scene:I let out a theatrical sigh. “So I bet him that I could disappear, successfully, so he couldn’t find me. It’s stupid, I know. I have to stay lost for at least two months.”Beatrice laughed. “That sounds like Incy. But two months! What did you bet?”I grimaced. “If he finds me, I have to get his name tattooed on my ass.”Beatrice roared with laughter, throwing her head back. She smacked the bar lightly with one hand. She positively whooped. Yep, Incy was a scamp, all right.“Oh, my God!” She wheezed, trying to catch her breath. “And does he have to get yours tattooed on his if he can’t find you?”I nodded. “Inside a heart. You know how long tattoos last on us.”Beatrice laughed again. “Oh, God, too funny! You guys are crazy! So I guess you want me to keep seeing you a secret?”I tried to make puppy eyes at her and probably ended up with more of a rabid squirrel vibe. “Unless you want his name on my ass on your conscience.”Beatrice whooped again. “Oh, God, no! I can’t have that! I won’t say a word!”Immortal Beloved Series:1. Immortal Beloved2. Darkness Falls3. Eternally YoursFTC Advisory: Little, Brown/Hachette Book Group provided me with a copy of Immortal Beloved. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Nastasya was a stay out all night party girl. That is until her best friend for the last century broke their caby's back. After that she started questioning her life with him. The next day she decided to leave her frivolous party girl life behind ... to go live on a farm! She had gone in search of a woman who promised her a better life, a life with out evil. Only problem she promised that back in the 1920s, but nastasya thought she would give it a try. Once she finally arrived, she started having second thoughts. So she stopped in the middle of the empty road trying to figure out if she wanted to go throught with this. After a while there was a knock on her window, The Viking god, as she called him. He turned out to be an immortal, too, whom, for some reason looked really familiar. So she decided to go throught with it and she went to, River's Edge, a rehab for wayword immortals. She did a lot of self discovering and a lot of emotional cleaning( meaning she let out a lot of emotions, something she hadn't done in about four hundred years.) She also discovered why The Viking god, Reyn( pronouced rain), he was the butcher of winter. Him and his family had killed all of her family and everyone else inn the House of Úlfur( The immortals are seperated into eight main houses, the House of Úlfur being one of the main ones. Also thought to have been completely vanquished in 1561 where she grew up in Iceland. She was only ten years old when it happened. What sucks even more was that she watched everyone in her family get killed exept her after. Plus Reyn almost killed her son several years later. Reyn did not kill him, but he ended up dying a year later from a flu epidenic that swept the lands where she was living. Her son's name was Bjørn, which means bear. Anyway she was now sleepng two doors down from they guy who was responsable for her families death yet she was also falling for him.I loved the book because in it had all my favorite aspects in a book action, mystery, suprise, and a little romance. My kind of romance such as him and her being in love and finding out that each of them was respensable for someone they love's death. Nastasya's mother skinned Reyn's brothers alive then choped them to peices. While Reyn and his brothers and father killed everyone in her family and town at least all the immortals there. This book was a five star book to me because it was a book that i could read again and again. I can't do that with many books, but that is not the onl reason. Another reaso was that it kept me on my toes. At night while trying to go to sleep i thought of ways that each senario could happen. It was never what i guessed though. It was a really amazing book and i still am guessing of things that could happen in the next book and probably will be until it comes out in November.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    What do you live for when you live forever? We have heard that tag line in many stories before. This one is different, however. Nastasya, aka Nasty or Nas, is an immortal. It starts out telling you about her and her friends, Incy, Boz, Sratton, Cicely and Katy were partying in London. This wasn't different than any other night for them. Something happened that night that woke Nas up. She realized that things that were happening scared her. So, she did what any rational person would do – she ran. She knew right where she was going to go. She had previously met River, who had a compound in West Lowing, Massachusetts for wayward immortals. When Nas arrives, she cannot find it because it is cloaked. At first, she doesn't think that anyone could help her on her journey to become a better person and wants to leave. She has it set in her mind even before she spent the night that she was going to leave in the morning. She meets other immortals at River Edge. Namely, Reyn, Jess, Asher, River, Solis and Nell, among others. Nas learns things at Rivers Edge that she wasn't planning on. Could this be the thing that she is looking for?Even though I thought that this book was a slow read, it kept me captivated. It wasn't one of those books which were like a rollercoaster where they have climax after climax, problem after problem. Immortal Beloved was more subtle. There were parts of the book that were downright funny and out of place at the same time. Nas is the narrator and throughout the whole book, except for a few instances, she isn't talking with an audience, but rather relating a story that includes flashbacks into her previous experiences. It is in those instances that you really get the sense that you are reliving not only her experiences, but her her thoughts as well. "Hey, I'm just reporting it how it is, people." is what she says in one part of the book. Cover: The cover shows a woman, whom I presume to be Nas, with a flowing dress. The words Immortal Beloved are down the middle of the cover and it has the color red on it. I think this cover really works for this book. It just shows you a picture of her, so you don’t get a real sense of who she is, but I like this cover nonetheless. On the back cover, the tag line reads “New name, new town, new life.” This is representative of the life that Nas lives as an immortal.I like:•Nas. She goes through an enlightening period when she is at Rivers Edge. She understands things and has new experiences and feelings. It is at Rivers Edge where she learns what is important.•Reyn. He is trying to make his life better. That is the reason that he is at Rivers Edge. Yes, he has problem, both in the present and the past, but he is working through them. •River. She lets wayward immortals come to her place in West Lowing, Massachusetts, where she teaches them how to be better and appreciate the things in life. She keeps asking Nas what she wants and works toward that goal. •The teachers at Rivers Edge. They really help Nas and the other immortals learn. I Did Not Like •Nell. She has some serious issues. •Incy, Boz and her other immortal group. In the first chapter, Nas calls them her "gang." They want and do things that are separate from what Nas is learning at Rivers Edge
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    When her friend kills someone,k immortal Nasty goes on a journey of self-discovery and redemption. The reader is immediately thrust into action—and then pulled out and taken on a slow buildup, with occasional spikes, back to it. The contemplative reader will learn along with Nasty and will want to set the book aside on occasion in order to think more deeply about the lessons in the book. Other readers, though, will demand more action. Even these readers will stick with the book, though, as the suspense is there even when the action isn’t—will Incy find Nasty? What is happening to her at River’s Edge? Who is this “Viking god?” They will also enjoy her wit—her struggle to be good could be saccharine, but the fact that she does mess up and realizes it, sometimes even enjoying it, makes her an immensely likeable and relatable character readers will feel an investment in. They will also relate to her search for herself and what she really wants, something all teens can identify with.