DRINK SLAY LOVE by Sarah Beth Durst
Publication Date: September 13th 2011 by Margaret K. McElderry
Rating: 
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Summary: 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 new 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—to be slaughtered? Then again, she’s definitely dead if she lets down her family. What’s a sunlight-loving vamp to do?
Review Overview:
- Plot seems silly, but it’s so entertaining. Durst is not afraid to poke fun at vampire cliches.
- Giggle-worthy; I laughed out loud reading this.
- Fantastic secondary characters but I do wish the romance was upped just a bit.
The whole novel seems really silly when you think about it, but it was so silly that it was entertaining. Pearl, a fierce vampire, gets suddenly staked by a rainbow-pooping, oh-so-mythological unicorn one night and she can suddenly walk in sunlight. There are a ton of vampire books in the market and it’s pretty much safe to say that this one is nothing like what’s out there. And can I just say title love?
What I love most about DRINK SLAY LOVE is that it really doesn’t take itself too seriously. Though a vampire novel, it makes fun of typical stereotypes and even pokes fun of Twilight (hah, which really amused me). I’m not that into paranormal and vampire books in general. If you know me, the only vampire series that I really love are the Sookie Stackhouse books (guilty pleasure adult series that the True Blood show is based off of) and Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy series. This one was just so refreshing and the summary was just so inviting. I wanted to see how Durst would take what is now such a cliche and turn it something into her own.
To be honest, I was a bit wary of the execution at first. When I started reading, I think I had to put it down after a chapter or two, read a historical romance novel, and then come back to it. I am so glad that I did. It was fun to read from Pearl’s perspective. I loved how she described humans as snacks, but not in a weird, gross, and creepy way. She was funny and the humor of the novel overall makes this such a delightful paranormal book to read. It isn’t dark. Based on the play on the title (Eat, Pray, Love), you can just tell that this will be a fun, light-hearted book.
Surprises? Yeah there were a few. I thought I can usually see things coming, but this time, I was mistaken. Things definitely got interesting when a big surprise was dropped on Pearl. I gasped out loud and started giggling. Yeah, it was that bad but it was really giggle-worthy. The fact that Sarah Beth Durst was able to thrust me into Pearl’s perspective so much that I also got blind-sided needs to be applauded. This rarely happens to me.
Evan and the secondary characters are just to die for. This definitely gets a four-star rating based on the fun characters alone. I’d hate to spoil anything about the book so you’d just have to read it for yourself to see the vast array of different characters and what roles they play in the novel.
There is a tad bit of romance in DRINK SLAY LOVE but I wished that it was upped a bit more. The ending was satisfying, but I craved for just a little more romance-wise. The chemistry between Pearl and Evan was super fun so the ending was a bit anti-climactic. Definitely don’t make this a deal-breaker for you. It’s a really slight complaint to an overall fun read. Furthermore, Pearl and Evan’s relationship was a great contrast to Pearl and Jadrien’s. Human vs. the arrogant self-centered bad-boy vampire. Fun times.
DRINK SLAY LOVE is a fun, light-hearted vampire novel that would be a great read for reluctant paranormal readers such as myself. And yes, I can’t believe that I actually put fun and light-hearted in the same sentence with vampire, but you better believe it. This is not your stereotypical vampire novel. Don’t pick this up expecting that.
About the Author
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Sarah Beth Durst is the author of young adult novels 
Hmmm. I had to put it down after the first chapter or so, too. It seemed TOO silly.
But if the characters are that good, I think I may give it another shot.
Durst is one of my favorite authors. She can write about ANYTHING and I will read it. I even named my cat after her latest book.
Wow! I think I need to read her other books now.
Completely agree with everything. I loved that the whole book was kinda just poking fun at itself. Nice break from the oh so dramatic paranormal romances being pumped out lately. Great review!
Thank you!
Loved this book because of the fun humor and story! When the surprise came around I couldn’t help but giggle too!
This is on my reading list for this week, I need a laugh so I am looking forward to it now
Shelleyrae
I have this galley and I’m really looking forward to reading it! It’s good to hear that you liked it.
I hope you enjoy!