Drink Slay Love by Sarah Beth Durst

Pearl is an evil teen vampire with no regard to human life and deeply rooted in her Family. then a unicorn stabs her through the heart changing her world forever. Now, Pearl is an aberration. A vampire who can walk in the sunlight without burning! The Family doesn't believe in unicorns, but jumps at the chance to use her new ability to round up a feast for the centennial celebration with the King that is fast approaching. They send Pearl to school where she must find a way to get the humans to the coronation. Pearl winds up identifying more with her human friends than her vampire Family and falls in love with Evan Karkadann along the way.

Only because I just read Rampant by Diana Peterfreund did I figure out immediately that Evan is the unicorn. Apparently a Karkadann is a type of unicorn.

The story was quite typical of a Young Adult Paranormal Romance plot and the twists and turn were not unexpected. It was still an interesting read as Pearl's emotions and sense of self are constantly shaping and changing on her journey. Although predictable, the ups and downs are pretty drastic. It's a quick, simple read with minimal complexity.

The ending ties up with a pretty little bow leaving little room for a sequel. however, future novels would do well to explore Pearl's commitment to her new life and the consequences of defying her Family. I would read more in this series and from this author. Kudos, Miss Durst.

Rampant by Diana Peterfreund

After 5 pages I grew rather tiresome of the obviously thesaurus-riddled text. I saw every AP English vocab word pop up in paragraphs of otherwise dull sentences. The overall vernacular lacked the sophistication to warrant the strange use of these higher-level words. With that said...

I get it!!! This is a story about unicorns! Here is the novel in a nutshell: 

Astrid reads a bedtime story about unicorns to girls she's babysitting in their unicorn decorated room. Blah blah blah. She reflects on her crazy mom, obsessed with their unicorn hunting legacy. Blah blah. Astrid invites her BF over for some innocent nookie only to be interrupted by a brutal unicorn attack. Blah. Her mom saves her and BF from aforementioned attack with the last drops of an ancient Remedy. You know, from her ancestors unicorn-hunting days. Astrid's mother sends her to a special school in Rome that trains virgins to hunt and kill unicorns. Not just any virgins, but female descendants of Alexander the Great (don't ask, it's a convoluted mess that still makes no sense to me). Then the REAL unicorn talk starts. There is the briefest reprieve on page 178 when Astrid goes on a date with Giovanni. but then that ends in another unicorn attack.

I thought the story was a unique spin on the mystical puritanical unicorn. In Miss Peterfreund's version, the unicorns are vicious man-eaters. but some factions have reached an understanding and can communicate with the hunters. They were thought to be extinct, but **SPOILER ALERT** Astrid discovers her ancestor just came to a compromise where the unicorns go into hiding and the hunters leave them be.

Overall, this was a difficult read. not interesting enough to motivate me to read, but not boring enough to stop. The story-line was a jumbled mess of original-take-on-myth and I-don't-really-care-it-just-sucks. The ending has a scrap of potential for a sequel. I refuse to read any more and am glad I checked this book out from the library instead of wasting any of my money on the hardback.