Immortal Beloved Book

2016: Isn't it utterly marvelous, when a favorite aces the re-reading experience with flying colors after almost five years?

2011: I can't really comprehend that I am sitting here pressing determinedly the five-star-button - in spite of the first chapters, which obviously have been patched together rather sloppily and almost caused me to switch books with one click on my Kindle, ... and in spite of the undeniable cliffy. Yet - here I am am doing precisely that and feeling completely comfortable with it.

Really, at the beginning I had the fleeting, horrible impression my paranormal "favorite" Infinite Days would manage to catch up with me. The cruel, excitement-addicted, immortal heroine - unable to feel for mere mortals - and her gang of equally shiny, but worthless companions, who break a taxi driver's spine for fun. I got very angry about repetitive sentences that should have been edited away and I moaned about unbelievable scenarios like an immortal girl hiding a burn-mark from her best friend under a scarf for over a hundred years - in spite of drunken and drugged party nights, shared hotel rooms and beach holidays, or like the same girl being shocked about said best-friend's pleasure at causing someone deadly pain. As if it would be possible to hide a personality this rotten for over a century from someone that close to you.

I held out and was rewarded with 180-degrees-style improvement. From the moment Natasya boarded the plane in order to leave her old life behind, the nasty crinkles smoothed out and the story enfolded beautifully in front of my eyes. And Natasya/Lilja "magickally" wormed herself into a cosy nook of my heart - the one reserved for heroines, who are prickly and nasty and damaged on the outside, but hurt and helpless and lovable deep within.

"Immortal Beloved" could probably be described as a cross between Rachel's Holiday, Secrets of Truth and Beauty and maybe Succubus Blues. It is the story of a girl whose long, long life has made her unable to feel attachment, unable to sleep without "self-medication", unable to decide for herself what she really wants. It is a story of a girl at the point of no return. A girl who turns herself in at a rehabilitation center for wayward immortals, because she vaguely remembers a woman inviting her 50 years ago to come and stay with her should she hit the bottom end of things and change her mind. The rehab plot unexpectedly uncovered some very interesting strings of thought about the burdens of immortality, but also about a fulfilled life in general. That might have easliy turned into something preachy-soppy, but Natasya's own snarky, sceptical attitude and her ongoing inner monologue fueled by exaggeration lightens the mood and gives her stay at "River's Edge" a pretty hilarious note.

I was really relieved not to have to read about the hot-hot-hot love-interest without reprieve. He is of the - in my opinion - hot sort and I began to look forward to Natasya's encounters with him (nothing like enemies falling for each other hard, isn't there), but I was glad that the romance was not taking over the already interesting story as soon as the potential supernatural heartbreaker made his first entrance.

I have to say, I not only guessed the connection between Natasya and Reyn, I really knew when she implied that his face looked familiar. But at that point I did not mind anymore. I was too much enamoured already to care.

So. Same as with Die for Me for instance, falling in love with this book has been an entirely individual process that cannot be easily explained by check-marking off its shining points. Thus it makes recommending it to all my friends a tricky thing. I won't do it to be on the safe side. I certainly do not want to be lynched. But realize that maybe you are missing out on something rather satisfying and heart-cuddling.

I, for my part, crave to read the sequel now. But ... I, too, know what a sequel can do to a lovely story (exasperated sigh).