Review: Pretty Fast, Fun Reads
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 1, 2012
I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book when I first started reading. I'm not sure what I had expected & I think I may have mis-read the synopsis before I agreed to review it because it's a vampire story. I know. I don't do those. Ever. But once I got into the story, I found the writing & the characters to be very entertaining.Amber, 18-year-old recently turned vampire & former housekeeper, is stuck in a large house in Scotland while her hunky 500-year-old vampire soulmate does his bounty hunting thing in other parts of the universe. She hasn't been particularly clued in to what vampires do or much of their history so she's a little out of her depth when she's alone. Enter the dangerous ex & the mysterious disappearance of a good friend, not to mention the strange, hardcore door to the basement guarding only a rusty pile of chains. Then there's the strange apparitions of blood, whispers, & a growing blood lust that shouldn't be possible for Amber. All of it makes for a pretty fast, fun read.One of the things that always makes me wary of young human/old vampire pairings is the tendency for the author to forget the hundreds of years of experience & life that the vampire has had. They drag him down to the teenage level as far as maturity & intelligence goes. Or they don't make a good enough case for why someone who does possess a higher maturity level & intellect would be interested in a young human. Ms. Scott avoided this problem very nicely when she gave life to Amber Reed. Not only is the girl feisty, snarky, & alluring, she's also got an excellent head on her shoulders, great self-confidence, & the ability to relate to her centuries-old love on many different levels. She is believable in the role she plays & likeable at the same time.I loved the mystery of this story. Not just in the plot but in the settings. We are treated to the beautiful & eery Scottish countryside as well as the dark & foreboding landscape of Hell. I was impressed with the fact that there was an abundance of ambience in the story which was presented in such a way as to not bog down the fast-paced story but somehow managed to just be there.I wasn't fond of all of the reference to making out, sexual teasing, and the debate on whether or not to have sex. I felt that a lot of it was out of place within the context of the story & sort of left me with the feeling that this is not really positioned correctly in the YA genre. It's more of an urban fantasy with younger adult characters. That said however, Dead and Beyond is a very well-written book with relatable characters against a very moody, beautiful backdrop. I will probably, at some point, go back & read the first 3 books in this series to answer some of the questions I had.