fantasy book reviews science fiction book reviewsfantasy book reviews Sarah Beth Durst Drink, Slay, LoveDrink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst

Drink, Slay, Love is a good example of what young adult urban fantasy can be. It’s funny, it’s light, it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and most importantly, there is actually more to the story than just how handsome everyone is. Sarah Beth Durst strikes a good balance between adventure and emotional angst.

Pearl is a young vampire. Sounds kind of funny to think that someone who is undead could be young, but in the world of Drink, Slay, Love the possibility to be born as a vampire exists. Pearl is living the young vampire life, hunting for humans to feed on, keeping up her combat skills to defend herself, flirting with the uber-hot male vampire and learning how to live within the rules of her race.

Then Pearl is almost killed by a unicorn. She survives, and begins to undergo traumatic changes. For example, now she can abide daylight, which is normally deadly to her race. Adding to the challenge, her family quickly takes advantage of Pearl’s newfound ability to hunt for prey during the day.

Sarah Beth Durst presents a fun and not overwhelming vision of a young vampire forced to evolve. Drink, Slay, Love is not deep and profound, but Durst includes occasional thought-provoking scenes. In truth, my one real complaint with the story is the way that some of the supporting characters react to events that take place. I don’t want to give the story away, but there was a lack of shock and horror that seemed unlikely.

Drink, Slay, Love is a fast read. Durst keeps the story moving and gives us a balance between social interaction and plot events. This is not dark urban fantasy, and it works because it doesn’t try to take itself too seriously. On the whole I was very amused by Drink, Slay, Love and surprised at how fast it flew by. It’s a solid addition to YA urban fantasy, and clean enough that I would let my teenager read it.

Drink, Slay, Love — (2011) Young adult. Publisher: Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire… fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil… until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops. Her family thinks she was attacked by a vampire hunter (because, obviously, unicorns don’t exist), and they’re shocked she survived. They’re even more shocked when Pearl discovers she can now withstand the sun. But they quickly find a way to make use of her new talent. The Vampire King of New England has chosen Pearl’s family to host his feast. If Pearl enrolls in high school, she can make lots of human friends and lure them to the King’s feast — as the entrées.The only problem? Pearl’s starting to feel the twinges of a conscience. How can she serve up her new friends — especially the cute guy who makes her fangs ache — to be slaughtered? Then again, she’s definitely dead if she lets down her family. What’s a sunlight-loving vamp to do?

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  • JOHN HULET is a member of the Utah Army National Guard. John’s experiences have often left a great void that has been filled by countless hours spent between the pages of a book lost in the words and images of the authors he admires. During a 12 month tour of Iraq, he spent well over $1000 on books and found sanity in the process. John lives in Utah and works slavishly to prepare soldiers to serve their country with the honor and distinction that Sturm Brightblade or Arithon s’Ffalenn would be proud of. John retired from FanLit in March 2015 after being with us for nearly 8 years. We still hear from him every once in a while.

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