Waiting on Wednesday #67

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Expected Publication: September 11th, 2012
Format: Hardcover, eBook
Pages: 320

Goodreads Summary:

In a desert world of sandstorms and sand-wolves, a teen girl must defy the gods to save her tribe in this mystical, atmospheric tale from the author of Drink, Slay, Love."Liyana has trained her entire life to be the vessel of a goddess. The goddess will inhabit Liyana's body and use magic to bring rain to the desert. But Liyana's goddess never comes. Abandoned by her angry tribe, Liyana expects to die in the desert. Until a boy walks out of the dust in search of her.

Korbyn is a god inside his vessel, and a trickster god at that. He tells Liyana that five other gods are missing, and they set off across the desert in search of the other vessels. For the desert tribes cannot survive without the magic of their gods. But the journey is dangerous, even with a god's help. And not everyone is willing to believe the trickster god's tale.

The closer she grows to Korbyn, the less Liyana wants to disappear to make way for her goddess. But she has no choice: She must die for her tribe to live. Unless a trickster god can help her to trick fate--or a human girl can muster some magic of her own.

Vessel makes the cover whore in me very happy. This cover could be enough reason to pre-order this book, but in combination with this über-awesome summary, I can't wait to get my greedy little fingers on a copy of this. I really liked Sarah's Drink, Slay, Love which was already very unique, but Vessel seems to take uniqueness to a whole new level. Is it September yet?

Which book are you waiting for this Wednesday?

Carina

Review: Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst

Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Expected Publication: September 13th, 2011
Source: GalleyGrab
Pages: 320

Goodreads Summary:

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 entrees.

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? 

My Rating: 4.0 / 5

What I thought about it:

Drink, Slay, Love is a vampire novel that is completely different than any other I've read before. These vampires are different - they are not the ones that try to be good and not endanger humanity. No, these are evil and they're proud of it. And while it took a while to get used to this other kind of vampires, it turned out to be what I enjoyed most about this book.

Our main character Pearl, who is one of the above-mentioned vampires, is very self-confident, witty and an incredibly refreshing person to read about. The story is told by a third person narrator from her point of view and it was lovely to see how she changed during the novel. While she survived her life-threatening encounter a unicorn, it seems to have turned her life upside down.

I also loved reading about the secondary characters. While the vampire aunts, uncles and cousins never failed to amuse me, I really started to care about the humans Pearl met. The people she's befriending in high school are amazing and while all of them are completely different characters, I loved that each of them had their own impact on Pearl's developing conscience (especially the very hot Evan).

But I also have to admit that I struggled with the beginning a little bit. I think I just had a hard time adjusting to the new kind of vampires, because once I read a few chapters, I started to love this novel and its very refreshing way of narration. So, if you might have the same problem in the beginning, don't give up on this, because the more I read, the more I liked it.

All in all, Drink, Slay, Love was a fantastic story with a wonderful new take on vampires. I don't know whether there will ever be a sequel, but I'm definitely hoping for it. The way this novel ended leaves room for a new story set in this world and I'd love to see more of those characters. 

---

Have you read Drink, Slay, Love? What did you think about it?
Carina