Review: Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst

Drink, Slay, Love

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

Rampant by Diana Peterfreund

Rampant
Diana Peterfreund
August 2009
416 pages (hardcover)
Publisher - HarperTeen
Source - Purchased

Forget everything you ever knew about unicorns.

Real unicorns are venomous, man-eating monsters with huge fangs and razor-sharp horns. Fortunately, they've been extinct for a hundred and fifty years.

OR NOT.

Astrid had always scoffed at her eccentric mother's stories about killer unicorns. But when one of the monsters attacks her boyfriend--thereby ruining any chance of him taking her to the prom--Astrid finds herself headed to Rome to train as a unicorn hunter at the ancient cloisters the hunters have used for centuries.

However, at the cloisters all is not what it seems. Outside, the unicorns wait to attack. And within, Astrid faces other, unexpected threats: from the crumbling, bone-covered walls that vibrate with a terrible power to the hidden agendas of her fellow hunters to--perhaps most dangerously of all--her growing attraction to a handsome art student...and attraction that could jeopardize everything.

Unicorns totally kick butt. I never thought I could actually take "Killer Unicorns" seriously, but Peterfreund makes it all believable. After the first chapter, I was hooked. Astrid was a believable protagonist, and I really felt for the girl when she had to leave her life behind to train to become a hunter. Astrid's roomate, Cornelia or "Cory", was strong and smart. Phil, and all the other girls, are all strong, but have their weaknesses. 

These girls have so many rules binding them to the cloisters, in order to keep them hunters. Despite that, they all work together to reach their goals - killing the unicorns. The story was easy to follow, and had an addictive quality to the writing. There's even a bit of romance, mystery, and by the end you'll be wanting to start all over again. I couldn't put this book down even if I wanted to. 

Highlights: Rampant is exciting, fun, and original. The fight scenes were incredible, and so well described. I felt like I was there, witnessing everything. Even the descriptions of the unicorns were intriguing - I never thought I'd say unicorns were scary, but some of Peterfruend's unicorns were a bit intimidating. The best part had to be that it was that everything was very realistic, and each character was their own unique person. 

Lowlights: I disliked Astrid's attempt at escaping her hunter destiny, but I'd have to say it's pretty realistic. Can't blame a girl for trying, but thank goodness it didn't work out the way she wanted it to.

Rating: