Eternally Yours: review

Title: Eternally Yours (Immortal Beloved #3)
Author: Cate Tiernan
Genres: magical, laugh-out-loud (because that's so a genre)
Source: an ARC from Changing Hands
Rating: Five stars!!!
Summary: After 450 years of living, Nastasya Crowe should have more of a handle on this whole immortal thing.... After a deadly confrontation at the end of Darkness Falls, the second Immortal Beloved novel, Nastasya Crowe is, as she would put it, so over the drama. She fights back against the dark immortals with her own brand of kick-butt magick...but can she fight against true love? In the satisfying finale to the Immortal Beloved trilogy, ex-party-girl immortal Nastasya ends a 450-year-old feud and learns what "eternally yours" really means. Laced with historical flashbacks and laugh-out-loud dialogue, the Immortal Beloved trilogy is a fascinating and unique take on what it would mean to live forever.


*Minor spoilers for Immortal Beloved and Darkness Falls* (So, go catch up really quick and read them!)

I want to start with Reyn. He is so cool. And deserves to be the start of my review.

All right, I guess i should describe Nastasya's (questionable/weird/love-hate) relationship with Reyn as "lust at first sight", which is now, to her surprise and confusion, turning into actually something serious. In this conclusion to the trilogy, the romance you've been waiting for is finally here! *dances* Though, Nastasya is pretty stupid when it comes to this serious stuff. At least she recognizes it, but still, you remember why she is staying at River's Edge in the first place, and I felt like smacking her sometimes. Often. Reyn on the other hand, is being the adult there, and falls for Nastasya quite faster and harder than she does for him. Going more for love than lust. Wow, that's a spin on YA lit, right? Major kudos.

~

As the last book of series go, lots of my questions are answered and everything is tied up nicely. Here are a few points I liked:

Aha! I was right, Immortals can only be killed by beheading. In the other books, it was hinted as the only way, and encouraged? But here it is said directly, which I liked.

You get to know more of Nasty’s "friends" stories, which helps round off the personality of River’s Edge as a whole. Nastasya isn't the only screw up there, she is just the most recent one. And the loudest, as usual. I really liked meeting all River's brothers, imagining them as scary, powerful, nice-looking Italian dudes-oh wait, that's just how Nastasya describes the four. I concur.

Dray and Merriweather aren't in here as much as I'd have liked, but Cate Tiernan did give them both nice endings, in their own way. I do wish they had more, um, screen time? in Nasasya's story.

  

Tea. It's like a small motif. Got a broken arm? Have a cuppa! Your friend is missing and you think you ruined one of the most important spells of the week? Mint or chamomile? I'm a total tea person, so Nastasya's annoyance with it makes me laugh every time.

The parts that are sappy/uncharacteristic/cliché are recognized by Nastasya in the kind of Deadpool manner. I just realized why sometimes her inner-dialogue remarks are so funny; it's because she is usually (okay maybe half the time) breaking the fourth wall. I think it’s more noticeable in this book, than the previous two. For those non-nerds out there, click on Deadpool's name above and you'll be taken to a magical land called Wikipedia. But anyway, I just wanted to point that out, because there are so many laugh-out-loud lines in here I wanted to list them all on Teaser Tuesday. But alas, you'll just have to read Eternally Yours to read them. (November 6th isn't that far away, I promise!)

As you've probably noticed, Nastasya is a pretty strong character. She has a witty retort to every single thing thrown at her, and has a sarcastic remark about everything else, even when it's not wanted. Usually when it's not wanted. But have you noticed (like I just did in the middle of this book) that she is sort of a wimp otherwise? Like physically? Nastasya is a five-foot-two (wow I just thought of a song there...) uh, yes 5' 2", whitish blonde, Scandinavian, material girl who doesn't think too highly of herself. Her dialogue is her front and shield obviously, but finally in Eternally Yours Nastasya gets some sword lessons from Reyn, which you really can't help but laugh at, because she totally sucks at it. But: character growth!

Unlike this entire trilogy, where there isn't really any action, there is quite an action packed ending! That's all I'll say. Also, these books could read as contemporary, just laced with a little magick, which I find interesting. Because the fantasy part really isn't fleshed out as much as most are. Totally okay, just unusual. One last thing, I hope Tiernan writes another series in this same world.

~

And I'll admit. It's taken me so long to get through Eternally Yours, almost a week and a half, partly because of my busy schedule, but also because (subconsciously!) I kept reading a little, and setting it down because I realized after I finish it, there is no more...and I'll be in that end-of-series depression mode. :P No one likes that end-of-series depression mode.

Good news: I'm in that end-of-series bittersweet mode now. :) I, like, hugged the book when I finished the last page. Don't worry, it's one of my favorite series-endings!

I don't know that many people who have read the Immortal Beloved books, but if you have, what do you think of them? Excited for the third and last? :)

-Jane