Review: Immortal Hearts

Immortal Hearts

Vampire Kisses #9by Ellen Schreiber
Published by: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication Date: May 15, 2012
Formats Available: Hardcover, eBook
~260 pages

Synopsis:
Athena "Stormy" Sterling is coming to Dullsville, and Raven is both excited and panicked in anticipation of Alexander's little sister's visit. Alexander tells Raven that she and his sister have a lot in common, but can the mini-Raven be everything she hopes for? Alexander calls her Stormy for a reason.
Stormy's visit stirs up the perfect immortal whirlwind. Raven is forced to take a good look at what it would really mean to be a vampire in the Sterling family, aside from some of the things she already loves, like shunning the sun and sleeping in a coffin with Alexander. When Raven compares her life with Stormy's, she can see that it's not all starry skies and black roses. But Raven knows she's always wanted to be a vampire.
Alexander is as romantic and dreamy as ever, and though he keeps showing Raven how much he loves her, will she ultimately be able to convince him that it's the right thing to turn her?
This final chapter of Vampire Kisses' nocturnal romance will keep all mortal and immortal hearts racing. -from Goodreads

The Cover: I have to say that even though this is a beautiful cover it isn’t how I picture Raven. The last few covers, well actually all the revamped covers, have been so similar and have been following the trend of pale, ethereal girls which I admit I usually fall for. I personally have a fondness for the original covers where you see a Goth girl meandering through a row of headstones or holding a lace parasol, not a girl with half her face cut off.

My Thoughts: I am sad that this is the final novel in the Vampire Kisses series. I picked up the first one on a whim while I was browsing Barnes and Noble. I have always felt a kinship to Raven and have been called macabre myself more times than I can count. I loved the fact that she was an odd duck in the center of a conformist town and refused to change for anyone.

I would label the series as lower young adult, maybe even middle grade. The writing isn’t very mature and the vocabulary is geared towards a younger audience.  There are abundant clichés that are used to describe the vampires: the sexy broody one, the sexy-but-evil one, the Goth one, the pixy-like one etc…

The entire series spans one year’s time in Dullsville. Immortal Hearts begins just before Halloween and everyone is excited about the Haunted House that Jagger has organized for The Crypt. Alexander’s younger sister Stormy is visiting from Romania and Raven wants to make a good impression. I like Stormy, she acts just like a tween and has the mood swings and braces to boot. Actually, she reminds me a lot of my 12 year old cousin. And, gasp, she has a crush on Raven’s younger brother Billy. Stormy even goes as far as choosing a Princess Leia costume to go trick-or-treating in and coincidentally Billy dresses as Luke Skywalker. Yup, really. That aside, Billy is a good kid and Raven finally starts to fully realize what a cool little brother she has.

The focus of Immortal Hearts is, and what has always been in the series, Raven’s dream of being turned into a Vampire. Although in this book now it is no longer good enough to just be a vampire, she wants to be turned by Alexander. The pressure and manipulation tactics she uses to try and sway him were a little much, especially considering that by turning her and performing the Covenant Ceremony he is essentially marrying her. And unlike other (sparkly) vampires we know, Alexander has not been 17 for a hundred years; he really is just a teenager.

The only real conflict is the semi-redundant storyline of Jagger and Luna’s evil plots. This time, their big plan was to get Raven to agree to be turned by Jagger. We get it, they are bad. The only other thing that could have been played up was that Billy was finally beginning to figure out why the Sterlings were different. This could have turned the plot in the story, but it just fizzled. I think I will miss Trevor the most, though. He is the epitome of the boy you love to hate, but you can’t help but feel sorry for him.  Unlike Jagger, he really had feelings for Raven.

While I will not give away the ending, I will say that it could have just been more. Everything seemed to be wrapped up in three pages. Nothing is explained in any great detail and it was really frustrating to read and know that this is it, the end, no more books. I realize I just spent the whole time griping about the book, but I really do love the Vampire Kisses series; I even had tears in my eyes at the end. They are one of my guilty pleasure reads and will probably read them over and over.
Farewell Vampire Kisses, you will be missed.

Favorite Quote: "I'll be seventy and still be wearing miniskirts and combat boots and wanting to be a vampire."

★ ★ ★ ★

 If you like silly, girly books about vampires this series is a must read.

FTC Advisory: I borrowed this book from my local library.

Where to Buy:Amazon

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Stalk the Author:Website

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