Publisher: William Morrow (June 8, 2010)
Hardcover: 464 pages
Summary: from {goodreads}
Sick of vampires?
So is Meena Harper.
But her boss is making her write about them anyway, even though Meena doesn’t believe in them.
Not that Meena isn’t familiar with the supernatural. See, Meena Harper knows how you’re going to die (not that you’re going to believe her; no one ever does).
But not even Meena’s precognition can prepare her for what happens when she meets—then makes the mistake of falling in love with—Lucien Antonescu, a modern-day prince with a bit of a dark side . . . a dark side a lot of people, like an ancient society of vampire-hunters, ould prefer to see him dead for.
The problem is, he already is dead. Maybe that’s why he’s the first guy Meena’s ever met that she could see herself having a future with. See, while Meena’s always been able to see everyone else’s future, she’s never been able look into her own.
And while Lucien seems like everything Meena has ever dreamed of in a boyfriend, he might turn out to be more like a nightmare.
Now might be a good time for Meena to start learning to predict her own future . . .
If she even has one.
Rating: View my rating system.
My Thoughts: I'm only doing a mini-review of this one because, technically, it's an adult book. I was surprised by this one a couple weeks ago, and it was a good, if unexpected, surprise. I'll easily admit I've read (and own a couple!) a number of Meg Cabot's young adult novels, and enjoyed them, and having accidentally read one of her more adult books last year (link to my review of Ransom My Heart, which I just realized is a very HARSH review -- ouch), I was intrigued by Insatiable.
To keep this review short, I'm going to try and analyze the fundamental parts of the book as quickly as possible: I first thought Insatiable as promising and a step up on the maturity level from Meg Cabot's usually frivolous chick-lit (hey, that can be a good thing), but the ending quickly had me backtracking. The characters were okay, if stereotypical, and I could see myself sympathizing with Meena to some extent. Sympathy is different from esteem though, and I didn't really hold the three main characters (Meena, Lucien, and Alaric) in very high regard. The reason was that they all fell in and out of love extremely fast to the point where it seemed appearance-based and shallow, though they all claimed they had some "deep feeling." Right -- lust, maybe...? I can see promise in their backgrounds though, and I would definitely categorize each of the characters as "interesting." The redeeming point that made me see potential was the spatterings of truly enjoyable, intense action, which would ocasionally become confusing and anti-climactic, but overall revealed that perhaps Meg Cabot has a path in action-romance after all...
The two main points that I felt most strongly about are: 1) the whole concept of "this is not your average vampire read. vampires are sooo 19th century," and 2) Meena. At the beginning, I thought Meena was a strong, firmly grounded woman that truly was immune to the stereotypes of vampires, so kudos to Meg Cabot on that. But when she adds Lucien to the equation, my opinion of Meena quickly disintegrated. Because, yep, turns out Meena isn't as oblivious to the cold, brooding, mysterious combination (aka VAMPIRE) as she thought. She quickly consents to what could potentially be a one-night stand with Lucien, despite her repeated denials that she isn't "that" kind of woman and the fact that she really doesn't know Lucien -- well, besides that he smells good, looks good, is a gentleman, etc. Shallow stuff right there. However, when Lucien and Meena actually admitted they had feelings for each other and got together, I cheered for them. They just worked together: their personalities, their thoughts, their feelings. I can't say much without spoiling it, so I'll just say that I HATED THE ENDING. The end made me hate Meena, and I hate what happened. The ending seemed like Meg Cabot realizing that, opps, we actually have a vampire-human romance going on here and we need to make it different, but without considering the characters and plot line. UGH.
If you don't mind SPOILERS, here's my ranting (it's in white, highlight to read): Meena leaves Lucien. ASDASDJHAKSJDSD!!! Just because he turns into a dragon and she's scared of him now. For being a vampire, what she knows he is from early on. After he risked his life for hers and, thus, turned into a dragon....!! I'm tired of vampire relationships, but I still rooted for Meena and Lucien. *sigh* Meena falls out of "love" so fast that it's questionable whether it was ever really a feeling of love. Perhaps admiration or obsession would be closer to it.
Bottom Line: Despite my ranting, Insatiable was actually a decently enjoyable book. The romances felt insubstantial, but the interesting plot made up for it. The only part that really ruined it for me was the ending, which I absolutely hated, so I deducted .5 stars for that. Other than that, Insatiable shows Meg Cabot's potential in more serious subjects and definitely her development in writing over the years, from a very YA chick-lit writer to a reasonable adult writer. I'm intrigued to see futher development in Meg Cabot's future adult books, though, personally, I preferred her sticking to YA.
Read It? If you're a fan of Meg Cabot's more adult titles, you might like this one, or just like it more. If you're looking for a borderline chick-lit/action vampire book, this one will make for a quick, entertaining read, especially with summer just starting. But if you're just looking for a "different" vampire book, I don't think you've found it in Insatiable, sorry.
Thank you to Pamela from HarperCollins for the book!
**Side note: Please keep in mind I am a teenager, so I may have an idealist perspective. *shrug* Sorry.
