BOOK REVIEW:
Immortal Hearts
This review was a
long time coming. Frankly I didn’t think I’d be writing this until the end of
the year, especially since I kinda went on a dry spell reading-wise last month.
But with CampNaNo
revising going bust and picking up a reading challenge I managed to squeeze the
final books of the Vampire Kisses
series in my schedule. And voila, the conclusion to the series after nearly a
decade with these books…
RECAP. In a former
post I mentioned I stumbled across Ellen Screiber’s YA PNR series in 2005. Back
then I didn’t know Twilight existed
(that came at the close of 2007) and I got to that point in the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series were
I wanted to burn all the then-existing books (I think Micah was slated for a release then.)
I broke away from the
VK series purely because I hate
waiting. I’m not a patient person when it comes to the traditional book
schedule of a year. I just can’t do it. So usually I’m a late band wagoner
waiting until the final book in a series’ releases before I dive in and rush to
catch up by that final publication date.
Case in point with Immortal Hearts: this 9th and
final installment of the Vampire Kisses
series released in May 2012. Holy crud! More than 2 years ago, and I remember
stalking Ms. Schreiber’s twitter to catch the title reveal. Also learned back
then that there was to be a book 10 called Stormy
Nights, but I think it was pulled and Immortal
Hearts was announced to be the final book. Fun fact! Although there is no
book 10 (and to be honest, I don’t even know whether to be sad or happy about
this) Stormy Nights made it as a
chapter title in Immortal Hearts.
So here we are with
the review. What can I say after this long-ass journey?
Yay! First of all to
me for getting through these books—
You see Immortal Hearts follows the same
trajectory as every one of its eight predecessors. There’s a mini recap. Night
life seems swell until Raven begins pestering
Alexander to bite her AGAIN. Alexander—and we’re reminded he’s a gentleman
vampire unlike that ruffian Jagger who’ll stick his fangs anywhere—denies his
instinct for blood and mating (yeah…apparently he really wants to make Raven
his vampire-mate which sounds like a sophisticated form of healthy teenage curiosity
to me). Some family member (or acquaintance), in this case family, from
Alexander’s world makes a cross-Atlantic trip to drop in on Dullsville, U.S.A. This
visitor is Alexander’s little sister, Athena Sterling, also affectionately
known as Stormy. Visitor causes indirect (and/or direct) problems to Raven and
Alexander’s nocturnal love and there is a recapitalization of the series’
overarching internal conflict in which Raven doubts her wish to become a
vampire and Alexander confesses his desire to bite Raven and make her wishes
come true despite totally thinking he’s going to ruin her life as a human.
Now that doesn’t
sound like I like this book? Well although that’s true, it’s kinda half true.
Overall the series is like average. Decent. I didn’t come away thinking I
wasted my time, but I sure as hell will never read these books again if I can
help it.
What I liked:
1) Athena “Stormy” Sterling – I’ve realized I like most of the
visitors to Dullsville, because they give me a break from Raven + Alexander
action. Athena makes it on both my lists, but right here I’ll mention what I
did like about her. I liked that she wasn’t all over Raven immediately. And
even when she was it wasn’t solely a Raven thing. She was friendly to
everybody.
2) The sibling scenes – there are more scenes with Raven and
her little brother, Billy/Billy Boy/Nerd Boy. And I usually find the author
does exceptionally well capturing the sibling rivalry. Also learned author had
two brothers and that she might be drawing from her own experiences possibly?
Mhm. That would be interesting to confirm. But Billy plays more of a role in
this novel. His name pops up a lot and not just in casual mention. Like he’s
there again since he kinda took a back seat after a large mention in book 4, Dance with a Vampire.
3) Not everyone get a HEA! What? Why am I excited about that?
Mostly because I was steeling myself to a really sickening happily-ever-after
where all teen lovers in the book get together and spin yarn about how they’ll
spend their mortality or immortality together.
What I disliked:
1) Athena “Stormy” Sterling – told you she makes it on my other
list. What I disliked about Stormy was how she came off. She’s a wish-washy
character and, though she’s much stronger at the beginning, by the end she is a
caricature. There’s a scene where she confronts Jagger and the rest of the
Maxwell siblings about something (I won’t say what due to spoilers) and she
manages to tidy up what appears to be an eternal feud between the Maxwell and
Sterling dynasties. I mean, wth. She’s twelve. C’mon. Was I to believe that all
it took was a wrist-slap for everyone to get along?
2) The cheesy dialogue and constructed actions of the
characters. I was jarred out of the story so much times. Particularly every
time Raven says something I wouldn’t expect came out of the mouth of a
seventeen-year-old. And then there’s the back-and-forth ping-pong debate about
turning Raven into a vampire were excuses to inject the novel with thematic
messages. Like they felt like lectures amounting into vast pages.
3) Usually I’m not complaining about a book’s pace, but MAHGAH
this book was fast. As in nothing-happened-but-everything-fell-into-place fast.
I already mentioned the backstory to Immortal
Hearts and the Vampire Kisses
series and how there was to be a book 10, but I guess the contract came in for
only one more book and not two. So this final installment also happens to be
the longest book in the series at 58K. Books 1-7 averaged at 36-40K so there’s
a pretty big word leap. My theory is, and this is because it felt like this
reading the book, this story is an amalgam of a would-be other story in the
series. Like books 9 and 10 were mashed up and the mash-up result is Immortal Hearts. I say this because
there seems to be two plots going on. You have the Stormy-arriving and vampire-secret
discovery thing and then the Raven-wanting-to-get-bitten plot.
Just read the book and you’ll understand what I mean. It
feels very disjointed and comes off as a helter-skelter read.
Okay. So it’s obvious I’m pretty divided with the series’
concluding novel, but also with the
series as a whole. I started and continued reading the books because I enjoyed
Ellen Schreiber’s humorous approach to the whole teen paranormal wangst. Which BTW
was pre-Twilight folks!
But by the end I’m no longer seeing this as a comedy (maybe
even a satire) on YA PNR and romantic comedy film genre. Like suddenly the
author took herself way too seriously and got sucked in by the whole crappy
romance.
Speaking of romantic
comedies, there’s actually a rain scene, too.
You know the reunion
scene after the black moment in romantic comedies. Lovers chase after each
other in the rain and confess their wrongdoings and proclaim their eternal love
for one another, hug and kiss in the rain yadda yadda blah bleck!
Yet I still can’t
find that regret in me. I don’t hate the books, and I don’t love them. But I DO
recommend them as a great summer/leisure read. They’re light-hearted at the
very least and escapism when the plot gets good, which is rare… And if you’re
not much of a YA PNR reader, use the Vampire
Kisses series to test the waters as it will do either of two things: 1) have
you running for the hills from all PNR things, or 2) ease you through to more
mature writing—not to say the immaturity of these books were a bad thing. I
enjoyed them whenever I enjoyed them.
And that's why with sincerity I say, thanks for the read, Vampire Kisses, I'll miss you.
And that's why with sincerity I say, thanks for the read, Vampire Kisses, I'll miss you.
My verdict:
✮✮✮
(3 stars)
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