Release Date: September 13th, 2011
Finished Date: May 25th, 2012
Publishers: McElderry Books
Source: Birthday Gift
Format: Hardcover
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?
The Review: "You're a teenage boy. I have boobs. What part of the equation is missing?" -Pearl
<
Where do I start? This book is pretty cool. It started out a little slow, but it picked up and I ended up having the greatest time reading it. Pearl is a 16 year old born vampire, and she's a lethal hunter who enjoys the taste of fresh blood from her local source....the ice cream server, Brad. At some point during her usual hunt, she gets stabbed by a unicorn (yep, that's right...a unicorn). She then later wakes up and realises she can now walk in the sunlight.
<
I enjoyed the concept of this vampire story. It was new and I'd never read anything with unicorns before. This book was funny in a lot of places. Pearl although has a HUGE superiority complex at the beginning which annoyed me, she later begins to have a conscience and her superiority complex dies out and she becomes totally badass. This book pretty much reads like a vampire comedy. For once we see the hot bad boy (named Jadrien), get kicked aside for the cute, smart boy Evan. Most of the characters were pretty awesome, I liked all the humans including Chubby and Tall (also known as Zeke and Matt), they all bought real humour to the story and I found myself laughing out loud for the most part. Pearl's 'Family' is made up of her mother and father, her uncles and aunts, her cousins etc etc...they're al vampires living under one roof (or one catacomb if you will). I didn't like any other them. Not a single one. I just hated the way they decided to use Pearl for their own gain after finding out that she can now walk in the sunlight. This will help them gain 'food' for the Fealty Ceremony that they have been asked to host for the vampire King of New England. I felt such strong hate towards the Family, that I wanted them all to DIE!!
<
The book in the end ended up being nicely paced, and full of action and laughter, and love. I enjoyed it more than I did to begin with, and the ending was great. This is a stand alone book, however Sarah Durst, has managed to leave it kinda open for a sequel, and to be honest, I would be totally happy to revisit Pearl and her friends.
<
Drink, Slay, Love is brilliantly thought and a new and interesting concept to vampires and possibly I believe may have opened up something new to were-unicorns. Let's see.
<
I most definitely recommend you pick this up. It is a wonderful story, told by a good writer. It's fun and whacky, and totally out there, but Sarah Durst pulls it off just right to leave you wanting more.
<
