Nastasya is living at River's Edge, a sort of half-way house for naughty immortals. Nas has done her share of bad things, and things she's not proud of but she's finally seen the error of her ways and tryin to do right now. She doesn't quite fit in with her happy, apparently adjusting fellows, but things are much better for her than in the first book of the series. Reyn is still there, and he, unlike Nas, is finally willing to recognize his emotions and he's pushing Nas hard to admit to her own feelings. The problem is bad, dark things start happening to Nas and in the end she runs away from it all, only to end back up with Incy and the old gang. She doesn't exactly fall into her old ways, and her eyes have definitely been opened, especially when it comes to the darkness surrounding her friends.

Overall this book is a decent read. It's very angsty. There's less action and more emotion and past unraveling than anything. It seems to follow the same vein as the original book, although honestly I remember the first book having more action. The book is slow as well. It's at least half way through the book before the tension actually builds and Nas even ends up leaving Rivers Edge. As I said, it's lots of angst and emotion without a lot of plot.

Most of the characters are fairly one dimensional outside of Reyn and Nas and even they're a little shallow, or rather a lot shallow on Nas's part from time to time. Even Nas's old bad friends are fairly boring. None of the characters outside of Nas show any development. The bad guy is predictable from page 1 and Nas's naivety is frustrating at times.

I'll read the next book. I enjoy them for some reason I can't quite fathom. Mostly I think Reyn's sweet, reformed ways won me over and Nas is a sympathetic character and showing actual growth, even is she is childish. ( )

Darkness Falls by Cate Tiernan. Nastasya is everyone little dream girl. She’s immortal (aside from her head being cut off) and she has power but she’s not a little goodie two shoes; she can be reckless and loved partying. It’s like having all the perks and none of the downside. Well, that’s how she started and now she wants to embrace the power she’s ignored for so long; the power that is her destiny as her father’s heir and she’s starting to straighten out. Working on a farm at River’s Edge will do that to help unbend four hundred and fifty years of bad habits.
But then there’s Reyn, the Viking from the family that killed hers. Of course in revenge, the amulet they stole from her mother’s dead body vaporized everything within half a mile except him when they tried to use it. No matter how much Nastasya claims she doesn’t like him, she just can’t stay away and for someone that is that persistence to avoid a man, she sure does get jealous often; like, whenever another woman looks at him. Then there is Incy, her best friend she ran from in the first place; he’s addicted to her and will do whatever to bring her back. She knows he’s no good, it’s just a feeling, no proof but he’s to be avoided. Bad things happen with no explanation other than it being Nastasya’s power; dark like that of her parents.
I personally loved this book and series because this is the second book. The first is Immortal Beloved. I think it’s because she has an opinion about everything and tends to earn the title of Queen of Sarcasm. Not to mention, there are some randomly funny lines, such as talking seriously about new year’s then her thinking in her head “No, Officer, I have no idea why I’m wearing this Possum costume. I called you what? Oh. My bad.” (82). Tiernan just adds humor where it is unexpected and it created these random “What the…?” ideas in my head. It’s impossible to be bored from those.
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At first, i had a hard time getting into this one. I sped through the first book and was so glad to have the second one on hand; but I got a little let down when I started and realized that it was literally only the next or same day from when the last book ended. I had trouble wading through all the non essential info in the book, until it started to get into the good part more than halfway through. Incy makes his appearance and while I knew something was off about him, I never thought it would turn out as bad as it was! ( )

CATE TIERNAN IS AMAZING. I WILL NEVER STOP LOVING HER. ( )

I enjoyed this book, but wasn't as into it as the first! I feel like some of the scenes were drawn out a bit too long in between the exciting stuff. Also the slow-moving romance is driving me nuts. :P But maybe that's the point? XD ( )