Book Review of Insatiable by Meg Cabot

Title: Insatiable

Author: Meg Cabot

Release Date: June 8th, 2010

Sick of vampires? So is Meena Harper.

But her boss is making her write about them anyway, even though Meena doesn’t believe in them.

Not that Meena isn’t familiar with the supernatural. See, Meena Harper knows how you’re going to die (not that you’re going to believe her; no one ever does).

But not even Meena’s precognition can prepare her for what happens when she meets—then makes the mistake of falling in love with—Lucien Antonescu, a modern-day prince with a bit of a dark side . . . a dark side a lot of people, like an ancient society of vampire-hunters, would prefer to see him dead for.

The problem is, he already is dead. Maybe that’s why he’s the first guy Meena’s ever met that she could see herself having a future with. See, while Meena’s always been able to see everyone else’s future, she’s never been able look into her own.

And while Lucien seems like everything Meena has ever dreamed of in a boyfriend, he might turn out to be more like a nightmare.

Now might be a good time for Meena to start learning to predict her own future . . .

If she even has one.

Summary from Goodreads.com

My Review: I got my copy of Insatiable in the mail from the publisher and when it came it was a hardback cover too so I was really thrilled!  I have been a little behind on books since returning from BEA and I was in the middle of another book when this came in the mail, therefore I had to wait to finish one book before I could start this one.  When I finally did get to start this book on Tuesday afternoon I kinda blocked everything else out and when I finally got up to go to sleep that night I was already on page 300!  The book is 450 pages so I still had a little ways to go, but I literally could not keep my eyes open anymore so I called it a night.  When I work up Wednesday the first thing I did (after taking a shower and eating breakfast) was finish this book.  I had to know what was going to happen at the end!

In the beginning of the book as a reader you are taken into the lives of multiple perspectives:  Meena, Lucian, Jon, Mary-Lou and Emil and finally Alaric.  I love this style of writing, when you are getting multiple perspectives of the story and then eventually they all intertwine, but I know not everyone does because it can get confusing if you do not pay attention.  There is a dinner party that takes place around chapter 22 (I know that sounds like it is really far in, but the chapters move quickly) that brings the plot lines together so you are reading one story that flows really well.  I enjoyed watching all the characters lives come together, because by the time they all finally meet you know them well as individuals so they way the react with each other makes sense.

Meena, being the main focus of the story, is a vampire hater.  Well, she does not really think they exist, but she is tired of seeing them laced throughout society today.  To top it off her boss wants her to write about them for the soap opera she works for to try and compete with another show.  With her prejudice already in place we get quite a few jabs at modern day vampires, aka Twilight, True Blood and a couple other references thrown in there.  Which I found quite humorous and was laughing out loud at a couple of the references.  I also found it interesting that many Bram Stroker references were in this book.  The most obvious being the names of some of the characters: Dracula, Meena (the original spelling it Mina) and Jon who all played prominent roles in Bram Stoker’s novel.  The origins of the novel are also discussed in this book, which I think adds another layer to the story.  I love reading books where there is some legend already in place and the author gets play with the details or build on the current knowledge.  That is the feeling I get from Insatiable and I liked what Meg Cabot did with the storyline in that respect.

I also like Meena as a character and I have to admit Lucian, even if he is “the prince of darkness”  can’t help but be drawn to those guys right?  One characteristic that distinguishes Meena is that she see how people are going to die once she has met them. This is a secret she has been living with her whole life and one that she does not like to reveal to others.  It is also a secret that makes her feel bonded to St. Joan of Arc, who is said to have heard the voice of God guiding her in life.  Meena feels like Joan was misunderstood in her time and persecuted for it, much like Meena was harassed relentlessly as a child.  The reason I bring this is up is because I think there is more to Meena just admiring Joan, I am not sure what it is yet, but there is something there.  Maybe that will come to the forefront in the next book, or maybe I am just way off base, who knows.

Anyways, Meg does a lovely job of describing things in the book, for instance ” He’d felt her fear…it had been sharp and as tightly wound as a garrote.”  I love when descriptions are used in surprising ways, it makes the story richer in my opinion.  This story takes the reader on a journey that was not quite expected and left the ending open ended so the story may continue.  I read on Meg’s site that there is a second book scheduled out sometime in 2011, which I am looking forward to.  If you want more information on Insatiable Meg has a special page on her site just for this book with lots of fun stuff on it so go check that out here.