Eternal

My first time through Eternal I was really disappointed, since I'd really enjoyed Tantalize. Now, though, coming in with somewhat lowered expectations I was, largely, pleasantly surprised. This is not to say that I now think this is the best book ever, but I did think it was an interesting read.

Actually, there definitely was quite a lot frustrating about this book and pretty much all of it can be summed up in one word: Miranda. I hate just about everything about her. After she's turned into a vampire princess against her will, she just rolls with it. She happily eats people and calls the creepy, power-mad vampire who turned her Father, because that helps him fulfill his delusion. Miranda is entirely vapid, conceited and selfish.

Smith show more tries to set her up as an object of pity by showing her friend Lucy's devotion to her, by showing Zachary's love for her, and by suggesting she had a rough home life. The only one of these that's working for me is Lucy. Miranda's fate doesn't sadden me, but her best friend's does, desperately hoping that her friend has not died because of her desire to flirt. Zachary I actually find to be a somewhat interesting character, but his love for her is both creepy (what with the whole guardian angel, watching her grow from a child to a teen, watching her sleep thing) and ridiculous (she sucks [punned!], so why love her?). And, as for her rough home life, her parents got a divorce. Not to say that that is not painful, but her mother still loves her, and her dad, though distant, buys her awesome presents (now who's selfish? haha).

If you like Maggie Stiefvater's books, you may want to give Cynthia Leitich Smith a try. They have a lot of commonalities, I feel. Both have really clever ideas for paranormal YA romances and both write incredibly obnoxious female main characters. With both books I've read so far, I feel like the stories would have been so much more interesting had they focused on the male characters more. show less

A twist on the boy meets girl story: Guardian angel watches over teenage girl and falls in love. Girl is marked for death according to the laws of Heaven. Guardian angel makes big, big mistake in saving girl from her appointed death and loses his wings as punishment. Meanwhile, because of guardian angel�Ûªs screw-up, girl is captured and made into vampire. Fast forward a year. Girl is a vicious, blood-sucking fiend, the daughter of the vampire king, and ex-angel is sent to their estate to save her soul and earn back his wings. Bloody hijinks ensue.

I haven‰Ûªt read Tantalize, the first book set in this alternate world, so I can‰Ûªt compare the two, but Smith‰Ûªs marriage of dark humor and true horror is show more sometimes jarring but always compelling (and sometimes very funny, though you may cringe at the same time). Heaven appears to be a stuffy bureaucratic organization (a memo from the angel Gabriel to another angel, including a request to fill out forms, is very amusing), while the vampire world is reminiscent of excruciatingly polite high-society on the surface, with goth decadence and callus displays of cruelty underneath. That alone make this book worth reading, but Zachary and Miranda, the boy and girl in question, are also intriguing characters throughout. In a triumph of characterization, Miranda remains sympathetic despite her descent into monster-hood. The ending to the love story (because it does become one, though a twisted one) is moving and hopeful in a way you don‰Ûªt expect, as well. show less

I loved Tantalize and was excited to see that Smith had a new novel. But when I read the description, I wasn't so sure I was going to like it. Turns out I was wrong. Really, really wrong. Set in the same world as Tantalize, Eternal is the story of a girl (Miranda), her guardian angel (Zachary) and the underworld of vampires, werewolves and other creatures. Miranda is kidnapped in a graveyard one night, much to the chagrin of Zachary, who is supposed to look out for her, though not necessarily interfere. It's at this point that Smith could have done things different and created a mediocre novel about angels and vampires, but she doesn't. Instead, she draws us into the strange world she's created and takes us on a ride as now-fallen angel show more Zachary must try to find Miranda, who has changed in ways he'd never imagined. Highly, highly recommended. show less

Well--I never read book 1 and didn't even know there was a book 1 until I came onto Goodreads. I think this book can be read as a stand alone.

It seems to be a somewhat Christian answer to Vampire fiction (though there are some werewolf/werebear aspects to the story too). A guardian angel selfishly wants to save his teenage charge from death so instead of being in heaven, Miranda ends up a vampire princess and her guardian angel ends up confined to earth without many of his angelic attributes.

The story looks at free will and salvation. Each being must choose for him or herself. Even the guardian angel can't force Miranda to choose the right path. In the end, God chooses to accept her soul. I've always felt that God is the only one who show more can truly decide where someone stands for eternity. The rest of us are just guessing. My concern though is that it almost seems like Miranda (and maybe Zachary too) thinks that what she does (or doesn't do) is what makes up for her sins. That's not the case. Belief in God and Jesus is the path to salvation--not good works (though yes, we should strive to do good works too, it's just that our salvation is not dependent on whether we do them).

Zachary (the guardian angel) too learns a lesson. He learns that when he's selfishly focusing on his wants, he may not be doing God's will. In the end, though he'd prefer to live on earth with Miranda, he accedes to her wishes and uses his angelic radiance to destroy her vampiric (they prefer the term "eternal" in this book) form. Before that happens, Miranda charges him with trying to redeem those of the vampires/eternals that he can. He correctly points out that he can try, but that each of them will have to choose for themselves (free will).

Overall, I found the story compelling. I read the first half turning pages to see what happened next until it got late and I needed to sleep before work the next day. When I picked it up again after work, it took a bit of time to get back into the story. I didn't notice any glaring grammatical issues or editing issues that pulled me out of the story and the plot seemed rather tight.

I also liked that the author drew on Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities", Stoker's "Dracula" and other works, Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet", and many other literary and entertainment references. I see influences from "Twilight" (though I don't think the author mentions that) and J. K. Rowling (whom she does). show less

Miranda is taken from a grave yard and turned into a vampire by the reigning Dracula. Her guardian angel Zachary is indirectly the cause of this mistake, leading to him being kicked out of heaven. This novel is very character driven. The inner monologues are what make this worth reading.

Miranda gets abducted by the reigning King of the Vampires and is turned into an “Eternal” and becomes his “Princess”. Miranda’s Guardian Angel, Zachary, is kind of the reason Miranda gets abducted. And for his error…Zachary is earth-bound. With the help of another Guardian Angel, Zachary finds Miranda and becomes her Personal Assistant. Together Zachary and Miranda discover that they are not beyond redemption.

I have to say going in that this book confused me because it had NOTHING to do with the previous book and there were NO references to the previous book either. I thought that was kind of strange for a series. By the time I finished Eternal, I could see where the author was probably going to go with the third book.

I was show more surprised by how easily Miranda gave up on her human connections for her new vampire life. Her human life was “normal” but she felt it was boring. She seemed rather shallow and obnoxious for most of the book and only seemed to think about her humanity once Zachary was on the scene and pretty much forced her to.

Zachary was lacking depth as well. I get it that a guardian angel’s charge is their whole reason for being…but I guess I expected more from him.

These are not “kinder, gentler” vampires of “twilight”…these vampires are bloody and will suck you dry, with a definite good versus evil theme. If those are the kind of vampires you prefer than this is the series for you. Personally, I liked the first book much more than this one and have started the third and thankfully we are back with Quincie and Sanguini’s. The series, thus far, is becoming predictable, but it’s still enjoyable. show less

ETERNAL is a dark, intriguing story about falling from grace, and redemption.The book alternates between two POVs – Zachary and Miranda. Even though each chapter is titled with the name of the character who is currently ’speaking’, so you don’t get mixed up, I wouldn’t have needed it. I found it easy to distinguish between Miranda’s and Zachary’s voices. Each of them had their own distinct personality and style of thought, and I really enjoyed getting to see events from both their perspectives.I loved Cynthia Leitich Smith’s style of writing. It dragged me in and made me want to keep reading. She was able to give voice to her characters and her descriptions were precise and informative, while managing to convey numerous show more emotions at the same time. She managed to surprise me at the end of the book, with a revelation I didn’t see coming (but should have).One part at the end of the book seems to go too smoothly, too easily, for Miranda. The action bounced around a bit, so I may have missed some indication of time or what have you, but still. There is a slightly ambiguous happy ending; it's happy, yet still sad. It's happy in that everything turned out well, but sad as it's not the fairy-tale perfect ending that one might want for the characters. It fit the book well, though. show less