REVIEW: Drink, Slay, Love By Sarah Beth Durst

Title: Drink, Slay, Love
Author: Sarah Beth Durst
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Date of Release: September 13th 2011
Pages: 395

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 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-be slaughtered? Then again, she's definitely dead if she lets down her family. What's a sunlight-loving vamp to do?

Now, the first aspect I must express with you all, is the cover. Oh the cover! When I first set my eyes on this book it immediately screamed 'blood-loving-vampire-with-a-big-bad-attitude' and man, was I on the money.

Pearl Rose Sange is a little bit of a sterotyped vampire, she wears dark gothic clothes, LOVES blood and has a thing for violence. And lo and behold, she is stunningly beautiful. She is a greatly portrayed character! She has the attitude of a lion and the dominance of a Queen within the halls of Greenbridge high and a demanding thirst for the townspeople. She has a bad-boy of a boyfriend called Jadrien, oh-my-gosh now he is a vampire to remember!(meaning that I will not spoil his secrets for you.) and 'The Family' whom of which consist of a variety of cousins, aunts and uncles, who might I pronounce, have either a very sarcastic OR non-sarcastic attitude... you can easily see where Pearl gets hers from.

She prances around her life with no care in the world and for her victims... well,  lonely Brad is her daily ice-cream blood supplier to keep her appetites for-filled with no memory of the lives he has potentially saved, and the happiness he has brought to a mint chocolate chip ice-cream loving vamp.  And what other drama occurs in Pearls life? Well, she gets stabbed (with the family thinking she is crazy and so categorises her accusations as attention seeking or a little blood drunk) immediately goes on a hunt for a white, sparkling and sweet unicorn... wait what? Yes, believe your eyes and ears my lovely bookworms for Pearl was attacked by a unicorn (a unicorn... I really liked this added touch due to the fact that they are not very common in stories at the moment, and Pearl made some very funny comments involving it) and immediately caught up with the effects of this situation. She was able to see her own reflection (thats got to be a little weird if you never dreamt you would ever see it for all eternity) and she could pounce on unexpecting mortals in the broad daylight... and not burn (and as she stated many-a-times, she doesn't sparkle either!)

When 'The Family' finds out her mind boggling abilities, she is immediately assigned with a 'mission', to go and search out as many humans as she possibly can for 'His Majesty's' feast. Not wanting to disappoint her frighteningly powerful mother and equally powerful but more subdued Daddy, Pearl agrees with distaste to attend high school. She meets Brittany of whom 'public speaking terrifies', 'authority figures intimidate' her and is 'an obsessive perfectionist who cares too much about grades'. She is a lovely character who cares a lot about others and will always help those in need. There is also Evan... now I am definitely going to keep you in the dark about him! Lets just say he is perfect and has the need to search and help a damsel in distress at all times of which this has officially been named by Pearl as 'Evan's hero complex'. Catchy, I know.

The outline and originality of the plot was extremelly well written and so flowed flawlessly. I could easily imagine the scenes due to the brilliant descriptive wording and had some very humorous and sarcastic moments to be highly enjoyed. Sarah's approach to the immortal world was very inspiring and gave some new ideas to the concept of a vampire's life.

This book is full of mystery, a little suspense and a mass of twists and turns to keep your mind ticking. You see the process of Pearl's transition from a blood sucking fiend to a vampire with a soul, heart and conscience, (she didn't particularly adjust to this with open arms) and you come to realise what may potentially be lurking under your floorboards.

I enjoyed this book very much and highly recommend it.