Customer Reviews

Eternal

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Being an avid Twilight/L.J.Smith fan, I thought Eternal was going to be a love story between an angel and a human. I was surely wrong. The book was completely diffrent to what I had in mind.

The book basically follows a young girl named Miranda and her transformation into a vampire, due to her guardian angel's interference. Miranda is transformed into a vampire and lives in a castle with the man who changed her, known as "Father." Her guardian angel Zachary has had his wings clipped due to his personal interest in Miranda's life. As Miranda adapts to her new life of royalty, she engages in acts that are not like her old self. Later on an angel gives Zachary the task of redemming his wings again by saving Miranda's soul. The story goes on to Zachary getting a job in her castle, and leading a revolt.

Do not read this book expecting to be swept up in a love story. This book is far from a love story. As 307 pages it lacked charachter relationships, and plot. I would not recommend this book for those who are seeking a love story. I really do not know who to recommend this book to....

I nearly died (pun intended) when I saw this in the store. I enjoyed her first book "Tantalize" and couldn't WAIT to read "Eternal" to help ease my "surely-this-can't-be-the-ending" reaction to "Tantalize." This book is a departure from Smith's first book - not a bad road to take, but not exactly the direction I was intending to travel.

In this book, a teenaged girl (Miranda) is unwittingly turned into a member of the undead despite the well-intentioned actions of her guardian angel, Zachary. Her unsavory exploits as a new member of the undead were wicked, though I would have enjoyed a bit more character insight. Events and details that should have brought me to tears hardly registered a lump in my throat. I felt as if I was being told a story rather than experiencing it.

"Eternal" was a good, quick read. I was disappointed that I didn't feel invested in Miranda's outcome, though I was interested in Zachary's fate. Smith makes an excellent choice of narration, alternating between Miranda's and Zachary's points of view, though Zachary's voice was more poignant and effective.

This is one of those "Great plot concept, but I bet I could tell it better" kind of books. Kind of like I imagine JK Rowling (of the famed Harry Potter series) would have said about Jane Yolen's "Wizard's Hall."

After reading some reviews of this, I thought I'd give it a shot thinking maybe I'd enjoy it. I didn't. It was a nice effort but it just wasn't one of those great reads. I didn't like the main characters. I wanted to like Zachary but he fell somewhat flat. I wouldn't recommend this.

Angels are everywhere, especially those who guard human beings.

Zachary is Miranda's guardian angel, or GA within the heavenly realm. He has watched and protected Miranda since she was a child. He is forbidden from revealing his heavenly presence to Miranda, but can secretly guide, suggest, and influence the course of her life.

Zach thought he was doing a great job, until Miranda falls into the hands of an eternal - or vampire, as they are more commonly known. Zachary is immediately stripped of his wings and powers, and is forced to find redemption on terra firma.

Zach may not have been able to save Miranda from a vampire, but there may be a chance of saving her soul from eternal damnation.

ETERNAL was an excellent read! I enjoyed how Cynthia Leitich Smith alternated the narrative between Zachary and Miranda. It was refreshing to see and hear the perspectives of both characters. Smith has also cleverly woven bits of Stoker's Dracula, Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet into the plot. As an English teacher, it thrills me to see contemporary authors alluding to classic pieces of literature.

This novel is definitely a page-turner. It is filled with danger, deception, humor, love, sadness, and hope. I think that I was most surprised with the ending. Readers, including myself, will be saddened by what happens between Zachary and Miranda, but Smith also leaves us with a glimmer of hope.

That idea of hope is what will bring readers back again and again to Smith's work.

Reviewed by: LadyJay

Eternal is the second book in a series of three. Eternal is a book following a girl who has been turned into a Vampire and her guardian angel who is worried about her "lost" soul, or if she still has one. Miranda had everything going for her, but that all changed in one single moment in time and she lost everything it was to be human and fell off of her guardian angel's radar. In one night Miranda's world is changed and she is turned into a vampire. Is her soul lost forever? Can her guardian angel rescue her? Or is she doomed to an immortal life with consequences? I recommend this to any fan of Twilight or other Vampire series. Along with this I also recommend Cynthia's first book in this series, Tantalize.

I couldn't put it down. I love the plot and the characters. This book kept me on the edge of my seat until the very last page. This book is a great addition for anyone who likes vampires and angels.

Maranda is a normal Texas girl ,who lives with her mother and pet gerbil. Nothing important seems to happen in her life that's interesting or fun. But when she meets a mysterious boy who tells her to meet him in the graveyard, she jumps at the chance of adventure. But what she gets is way more than she bargains for,and so does her guardian angel, who is intent on keeping her safe. This is a real page turner!

In Cynthia Leitich Smith's Eternal, guardian angel Zachary loses his charge, Miranda, to a vampire bite and falls from grace in the process. Following his punishment, Zachary finds himself indulging in a life of earthly pleasures until another angel shows up and gives him a chance to redeem himself. His former charge and love interest, Miranda, is now a vampire princess who has committed all types of horrors against humans and vampires alike. When she needs a new assistant for her gruesome life, Zachary jumps at the chance, hoping to save them both.

After my experience with Smith's Tantalize, I was skeptical about reading ETERNAL. However, I'm glad that I did. In this book, Smith shows a vast improvement in her writing in form, plotting, and structure. As characters, Zachary is likeable as an angel with sarcastic wit and Miranda is relatable before her change. Smith's use of blog posts, help wanted ads, and cultural references worked well, both to add humor and the perspective of unobserved characters. Unlike other current vampire titles, these vampires are also decidedly bad and cruel; Smith does not shy away from the horror of them and their power. To illustrate this, she employs creative, campy ways to depict their brutality, and in doing so addresses significant themes like class and the abuse of others for one's own desires. The book then closes with an ending that made sense and provided closure, even if it won't satisfy those looking for a happily-ever-after.

On the negative side, the writing in the beginning was not as smooth as one would hope for, and it was hard initially to figure out what had happened to both Zachary and Miranda. Through the middle of the book, pacing drags. Though the narration alternates between Miranda and Zachary, Zachary's voice is much stronger and more interesting. When we do learn important things about Miranda, we're told them (instead of shown) through Zachary's eyes. As a character, Miranda is inconsistent, and there is little change or development among the cast. For those looking for a romance, it is limited in this book. Some elements of the angel mythology were also unclear.

If you came looking for a sequel to TANTALIZE, you will not find it here as there is no overlap in characters or storyline. However, in its place, you will find something much better. With its darker mood, ETERNAL will appeal to fans of dark urban fantasy like Holly Black's Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale series. I'm looking forward to Smith's return to this universe in BLESSED, which will bring together characters from both TANTALIZE and ETERNAL.

I thought this would be another paranormal romance with vampires. There are similarities to other vampire novels: Vampires (they're "eternals" in this book), check! Shifters, check! Fallen angels, fallen angels? Check!

Miranda is a teenage girl who has been elevated by being at the wrong place at the wrong time. As the story unfolds, you learn how it is that she was chosen to be elevated after all. The story moves along quickly. A whole year of her adjusting to being an eternal takes place behind the written lines.

As an eternal, and a royal one at that, Miranda gets to have a Personal Assistant (PA) and she ends up with Zachary. Too beautiful for words, and in love with Miranda.

Their relationship develops with the fallen angel Zachary believing he can save Miranda from her damned soul and trip to hell. The ending is not what I would have expected. Neither happy nor sad in my opinion. It just, is.

Complicated, fast-paced story. Smartly written, clever dialogue. An enjoyable read.

I read Eternal yesterday. I couldn't sleep afterward. Not because it was so scary (although I found the idea of being ogled in the shower by a guardian angel disturbing, and as a vegetarian, the scene where the vampire was eating pumpkin bread dipped in blood made me gag). I couldn't sleep because it was deeply thought provoking and I couldn't turn my brain off. On the surface, it is a campy tale of boy-meets-girl-boy-loses-girl, where the boy is an angel and the girl is a vampire. Ms. Smith cleverly uses "blog posts," the internet and newspaper ads to make the world feel just like our everyday modern life. But there are much deeper layers. The book asks questions about the nature of life and death. It makes social commentary about the haves vs. the have-nots (princess Miranda doesn't have to pay for her crimes because she is über-rich and ultra-privileged and yet the hired help pays dearly for any infraction, real or perceived). The castle "blood-stock" consists of throwaway people (runaways, illegal aliens, trafficked girls), and at first Miranda doesn't question her right as a superior being to use and abuse them as she sees fit. As she learns more about their misery and degradation, she starts to question her lifestyle and what she's become. I don't know if it was intended to be an analogue to factory farming, but I saw parallels (maybe Ms. Smith was just writing about compassion in general). In the end, the story is about redemption and hope. Its conclusion, like Tantalize, is bittersweet. All of this was done with humor and by the juxtaposition of incongruous things. It was never preachy or heavy handed. It will be a long wait for the next book, Blessed (2011!! Aaargh!).

After reading Smith's novel Tantalize(which I feel was much better than this one), I couldn't wait to get Eternal. But this novel fell short of my expectations! The plot was good but lacked character development, and the book seemed too short to actually fashion an interesting novel. In short, Eternal was good but not great, and left me slightly disappointed.