Monday, July 23, 2012

Review: Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst

Sarah Beth Durst
September 13th, 2011
386 pages (hardcover)
Margaret K. McElderry
Source:  Author + Purchased (gave away review copy)
"Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire...fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil...until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops.

Her family thinks she was attacked by a vampire hunter (because, obviously, unicorns don't exist), and they're shocked she survived. They're even more shocked when Pearl discovers she can now withstand the sun. But they quickly find a way to make use of her new talent. The Vampire King of New England has chosen Pearl's family to host his feast. If Pearl enrolls in high school, she can make lots of human friends and lure them to the King's feast -- as the entrees.

The only problem? Pearl's starting to feel the twinges of a conscience. How can she serve up her new friends—especially the cute guy who makes her fangs ache—to be slaughtered? Then again, she's definitely dead if she lets down her family. What's a sunlight-loving vamp to do?"
Being stabbed by a mythical unicorn is just the beginning of Pearl's problems. After the unpleasant stabbing incident, she gains the ability to venture out into the sunlight unharmed. So, when it's up to Pearl to please her vampire Family by figuring out a way to serve up the local high school students as entrees at the Fealty Ceremony, things quickly go from easy to catastrophe as Pearl starts having a change of heart. But when it comes to the Family, you don't say "no" and get away without any consequences.

Within the first two chapters, Durst made me a fan of her tough, zero-mercy vampires. Durst's vampires are fierce and only loyal to one another to a certain extent. No matter any kindness they show, they still wear a sharp edge of cruelty wrapped firmly around their shoulders, which made for a very fascinating story as Pearl began to change and veer away from her Family's ways. For Pearl, betrayal is imminent: betraying her family or the humans she starting to relate with. All in all, Drink, Slay, Love is humorous, exciting, and full of surprises. It is so much more than your typical vampire story. 

Highlights: The lore is nicely explained. Pearl's slow transformation from a courageous, cruel vampire to a little more caring was believable and engaging. The characters1 made this book spectacular, especially Pearl. Whether it was Pearl's first day of school or her intense interactions with her scary Family, I enjoyed it all. Sharp and witty humor, great fight scenes, fabulous description, a budding romance, excellent characters, unicorns and plenty of bloodthirsty vampires -- what's not to love? Drink, Slay, Love is simply extraordinary.

Lowlights: Jadrien (both him and his name). Evan was almost too nice and too perfect. There were a couple predictable moments, and while the ending wrapped up everything important, it did leave me with one lingering question.

Rating:  

1 Zeke and Matt - love those two! I wish they'd had more page-time


16 comments:

  1. I like the idea of brutally scary vampires. No sparkling allowed.
    Nice review!

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  2. I keep hoping and wishing this one is released on audio.

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  3. Loved this book and really glad you liked it too! And totally agree on Zeke and Matt. Loved those two and would have loved some more page time for them.

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  4. Lol. I actually adore the name Jadrien. lol. :) Okay, I don't adore it, but I do think it's nice. Haha. Haven't read a book with vampires in it for a while, going to get this book asap. :) Great review.

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  5. I actually have not read anything by Sarah Beth Durst yet, but this one sounds really unique! I've been a bit off vampires lately, but this seems like an interesting twist. Nice review!

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  6. I don't like the sound of Jadrien (his name is annoying enough :P). I haven't read many reviews on this one, but you have me excited to pick up a copy!

    Asma @ IceyBooks

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  7. I have not heard of this one but like the sound of it. Nice review!! Loved the footnote. :)

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  8. Great review! I've had this on my too-read shelf for a while but I've been shying away from vampire stories lately because of a few bad experiences. But this sounds like a fun, interesting book! I'm seriously tempted to put this on hold at the library now lol.

    Kaitlin @ Read. Write. Love.

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  9. I felt the same way about this book so I'm very happy that you liked it!

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  10. I love good characters in a book and it sounds like she nailed it.
    Thanks for review,
    Brandi from Blkosiner’s Book Blog

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  11. I love funny books! :) Especially vampire ones. Usually they are so dark and it gets hard to read them. But omigosh Jadrien is an actual name in the book? That would drive me crazy! That's almost as bad as Renesmee!

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  12. Sounds like a wonderful twist on vamps, and four stars sure has me curious enough to add it to my TBR list. Thanks for sharing.

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  13. I had this book checked out from the library months ago but never got around to reading it. I may have to give it another try. I loved Kimberly Pauley's Sucks To Be Me and Still Sucks To Be Me and this sounds like it could be similar with the humorous writing.

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  14. I was so surprised that people seemed to really love this one. I don't know, it doesn't exactly sound like my kind of read but I can appreciate that it doesn't take itself too seriously. I think I should definitely give it a go - introduce some variety into my reading! The concept is pretty cool, after all. Thanks for this review, Lea!

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  15. I was so surprised that people seemed to really love this one. I don't know, it doesn't exactly sound like my kind of read but I can appreciate that it doesn't take itself too seriously. I think I should definitely give it a go - introduce some variety into my reading! The concept is pretty cool, after all. Thanks for this review, Lea!

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  16. You had me at "Being stabbed by a mythical unicorn is just the beginning of Pearl's problems." UNICORNS! *laughs* It's too bad that a couple of the boys were at bit off, but you have me intrigued with all the good things. I'll have to check this one out.

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