Drink, Slay, Love

July 1, 2011

A unicorn gives new life to the now-tired teen supernatural romance—kind of literally.

Being a teenager really sucks. But life is carefree for Pearl, 16 years old, beautiful, a born vampire with a hot boyfriend and tasty pickings at the all-night ice-cream stand. At least it seems carefree...until she's stabbed by a unicorn. Suddenly, she can walk in the sun without burning up.  She can attend school, make friends with kids who used to be prey and maybe even have a life away from her very scary mother. Her vampire kin can't understand it—but they can hardly wait to take advantage of it. With the King of New England coming to initiate new members of the local clans into vampire aristocracy, Pearl's family has been chosen to provide the feast. And what makes a better feast than the junior class?  If only Pearl weren't beginning to develop a conscience. What to do...stay loyal to family or preserve the life of her new BFF? Decisions, decisions. Combining a sense of humor with dark appeal of supernatural romance, this book is funny, scary and thought provoking all at once. Pearl is a feisty heroine who meets her match in the unicorn, who refuses to give up on her.

Even jaded fans of the supernatural will find fun in this one. (Paranormal. 14 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

October 1, 2011

Gr 9 Up-How refreshing to find a stand-alone vampire book with a real twist. Pearl is a typical teen vampire-typical in her world, that is. She is heartless and mostly evil, thinking of humans only as snacks and toys. Then she meets a unicorn, who stakes her with his sparkly horn. When she awakes, she finds that things have changed a bit-for starters, she can now be in sunlight without bursting into flames, and she has started to develop something unthinkable-a conscience. Timing is bad for Pearl-her family has just been chosen to host the fealty ceremony for the king of the New England vampires, and she has been nominated to provide the feast in the form of local high school students. The story has plenty of great setups, and Durst does not disappoint in her follow-through. There's catty and dark humor, romance, blood, danger, and, of course, there's the unicorn, whose secrets are revealed. The story transitions easily between the vampire and human world, creating characters, settings, and situations that are quite believable and often funny while still maintaining a respectable level of darkness. Fans of vampire fiction will be pleased to find this one on the shelf.-Angela J. Reynolds, Annapolis Valley Regional Library, Bridgetown, NS, Canada

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2011
Grades 7-10 Being gored by a unicorn alters 16-year-old vampire Pearl so that she is resistant to daylight andgasp!actually cares about potential victims' feelings. Worse, she is then enrolled in high school in order to attract sufficient prey for the upcoming once-a-century fealty ceremony for the vampire king of Connecticut. A deadly party is set for Pearl's massive mansion on prom night, when the vampires in the basement plan to feast upon the junior class. Durst's vampires are an effectively callous compilation of stereotypes, from blood tears to an aversion to garlic, though the unicorn cure is a nice twist. A dated cultural reference or two interrupts the book's credibility, but the author does a skillful job of creating Pearl, transforming her in believable steps from an arrogant, soulless hunter to a compassionate teen concerned about her friends, including her crush. There are injections of humor, too, particularly in the form of Chubby and Tall, two pimply would-be vampire hunters. These vamps are more Anne Rice than Twilight, minus the heavy humidity.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)