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.
It sounds like it should be interesting but it's rather boring and I didn't feel anything but disgust for Miranda. I definitely will not be reading a sequel to this series.
MY THOUGHTS
Technically, this book is a companion to another book, [book:Tantalize|353016], but there is hardly anything connecting the two books. To be honest, I wasn't that big of a fan of Tantalize, but I already had a copy of this book, so I decided to read it anyway.
This book has two points of view: Miranda and Zachary. Zachary is a guardian angel and Miranda is his charge. When Miranda ends up being turned into a vampire princess, Zachary loses his wings and becomes a fallen angel. While Miranda is discovering what it's like to be a vampire, Zachary is trying to find a way to save her soul.
I had issues with Zachary from the beginning. I know that he is her guardian angel, but it was annoying that he would call her "my girl", when she didn't know he existed. He was also in love with her. The romance isn't even in the book for a majority of the time. Then they kiss once, near the end, and suddenly they are soulmates. This was very unbelievable.
I was, honestly, okay with the story in the beginning, but it went downhill when the "romance" was introduced. Though, the book is very slow-going. I didn't feel like anything was really happening until the end. The characters are also flat and the dialogue is awkward.
IN CONCLUSION
I wasn't a big fan of this book. Yeah, it wasn't my kind of book to begin with, but the characters, romance, and overall writing didn't help.
The next book is supposed to combine Tantalize and this one, but I do not feel inclined to continue the series.
