Review--ARC Almost to Die For

SIXTEEN AIN'T SO SWEET.

On her sixteenth birthday, Anastasija Parker's present winds up being the shock of a lifetime. When her mom referred to her absentee dad as a deadbeat, it was actually half true--he's a vampire. And a king, no less. A king who wants his daughter to assume her rightful position at his side. But, thanks to Ana's mother, the blood of a witch also runs through her veins.

Too bad vampires and witches are mortal enemies.

With her parents gearing up for an all-out brawl over her destiny, Ana's about ready to scream. But things are even crazier when a male witch and a brooding bad-boy vampire start vying for her affections. Then the barely leashed tension between the vampires and the witches starts to boil over, and Ana has to figure out once and for all whether she wants to become heir to her dad's throne. And deciding your eternal destiny is a pretty big deal for a girl who just wants to get through high school.

Decided to give Tate Hallaway's YA book a try since I won it in a contest. And it involved vampires, how can I pass that up?

Almost to Die For was rather interesting. I feel like you can really connect with Ana, she already knows she's an oddity what with her different colored eyes. Her mother is a witch and Ana should be too, along with her friend, Bea. But Ana hasn't been able to do spells properly. Her sixteenth birthday on the sixteenth is where the book opens up, a special day, for it's the day she is to be initiated into the Coven. **Man, on my sweet 16 on the 16th I had a cold, fun!**

But Ana's life is only going to get more complicated for before she leaves for the ceremony her father shows up at her door telling her not to do the ceremony. And hence the chaos begins!

Ana is bombarded with too many details, she never gave much thought to her father and now he's at the door and he's a vampire. As she eventually learns, a vampire king, making her a vampire princess.

What makes Ana even more east to relate to was her attitude. I saw a bit of myself in her. She wasn't totally filled with confidence but she wasn't necessary lacking it to make her totally mopey and annoying, she was just unsure of herself in certain situations which I think is more realistic than the totally confident teen.

The romantic tension came from two admirers, one was an older boy from her Coven--who her best friend happens to have a crush on, and the other comes from the vampire side. A crush from each side, how perfect! The BOC describes the vampire as "bad boy" but while I see why it says this, I didn't find him to be a bad boy, he was more secretive, I guess, in his ways. Very intriguing, he's more mysterious than the witch boy, who has his own family secrets that will eventually get in the way of any romance with Ana. Won't dwell further!

The ending was yet another epic ending that we see in any book, the big showdown or whatever you want to call it. For it was quite literally a showdown of sorts. That resulted in some very surprising outcomes.

The characters were all unique, Ana--the slightly unsure teen who doesn't quite fit in at school, her friend--Bea who is more confident in herself and her witchy abilities, Taylor--her other friend who is on the outside--just human but is herself a unique individual. Nikolai--the witch boy Ana likes and who Bea has a crush on, Elias--the vampire who is sworn to protect the Princess Ana and who is also quite attractive and secretive. Ana's parents were the type that they were both controlling in their own ways yet were still colorful in their manners.

I'm having a hard time explaining all this without giving away something, so I think I better stop here. Overall It was a rather interesting read, different and I would likely read the next one when it comes out just to see what other adventures Ana gets into and how the loose ends get tied up, especially the BIG one from the ending!

Almost to Die For releases August 3, 2010. So the wait's not too long. Next up for me is Unholy Magic, for City of Ghosts releases next week and I still have a steady pile of books to read, not even counting the releases of next week!

Until next time! Stay reading!