Review: Almost Final Curtain by Tate Hallaway

Title: Almost Final Curtain
Author: Tate Hallaway
Series: Vampire Princess #2
Genre: Paranormal Young Adult
Release Date: 05/03/11
But the Book:

Summary:

Craving the spotlight is in her blood.

Ever since high school student Anastasija Parker discovered she was vampire royalty, her life has been sort of crazy. The half-vampire- half-witch just wants some normalcy, and trying out for the spring musical seems like the perfect fix.

But when the ancient talisman that stands between vampire freedom and slavery to witches is stolen, Ana has to skip rehersal and track down the dangerous artifact before someone uses it to make this year's curtain call her last...

Plot: 3 Stars
I was drawn back to this series due to the unlikely fued between witches and vampires. Normally, it's werewolves and vampires that don't get along, so this fued is very interesting. Although a bit more history about the fued was introduced in this novel, there is still so much about the two races and their dislike for each other that needs to be explained. There were some unexpected twists and turns in this novel, both in Ana's school life and her supernatural personal life.

Pace: 3.5 Stars
This novel mostly flowed at a great pace, which worked out for me because I only ended up with two days to read it once I picked it up (due to someone else having it on hold at the library). There was a point around three quarters of the way through in which I was wondering what all of these scenes were leading up to. Some of the scenes didn't seem to make sense. But everything came together at the end with a bang.

Characters: 2.5 Stars
The characters were a bit of a disappointment in this novel. I felt like none of them really grew or evolved throughout the novel. Some even seemed to move backwards a bit, act less mature than they did in the first novel. Bea, in particular, confused me throughout the novel. She was supposed to be Ana's friend, but many of her actions said otherwise. She seemed to be working against Ana at some points, but without being privy to her motivations, it just left me wondering what happened to the Bea I met in the first novel. Both sides, witches and vampires, seemed to be tug-o-warring with Ana throughout the novel, but keeping her in the dark as they did so.

Cover: 3 Stars
The white background with such a pale cover model just washes her out even more. I understand that the main character is a half-vampire, half-witch, but the white background makes her look pale enough to be a ghost. I also wish that her hair wasn't covering one of her eyes, because the two different colors (one blue eye, one brown eye) really drew my attention to the first novel's cover. On any other cover, the hair would really work, but I really wanted to see the quirky eyes. It made you want to know more about this character, because you knew she would be different. I did like the use of the red on this cover though. It works well with the blue used on the first cover.

Overall: 3 Stars

Disclosure: I borrowed this novel from the local library.