Eternal: Cynthia Leitich Smith

If I could give it 1 and 1/2 stars I would. I am not really even tempted to try Tantalize. I didn’t hate it – because it had potential. But potential was really all it had. It was interesting to see a character accept the “evil” associated with being a vampire – and I mean real evil – killing and not feeling any remorse about it, all the blood and gore and horrors story vampire stuff. But Miranda’s redemption felt – rushed, forced, not deserved, I don’t know… wrong? I didn’t feel like I learned enough about Miranda’s acceptance to feel like her later redemption (which, came from where, really?) was “realistic” (I mean that in the context of the reality set out in the book). There wasn’t enough interaction between her and her guardian angel to feel like he could have any influence over her. And was her eternal “father” supposed to feel like such a characature? He felt more like someone you’d come across as the comedic relief – and yet he wasn’t funny. The angel mythology was totally unexplored. I was supposed to believe that after waking up an “eternal”, but remembering her family and friends, which wasn’t a terrible life, a character would just be ok with it? The whole thing felt silly to me when I was done reading. I mean really, a “death day gala”? Planning that was the big problem for the main character? Where was the conflict to keep things interesting? I read this quickly since it’s not exactly hard reading, but I was tempted to pick up various alternative choices numerous times before finishing. I think I would have preferred to watch a Blade movie.