ARC Review: Almost To Die For by Tate Hallaway

Title: Almost To Die For
Author: Tate Hallaway
Series: Vampire Princess of St. Paul #1
Genre: YA
Release Date: August 3, 2010
Edition: Paperback
Blurb:
On her sixteenth birthday, Anastasija Parker's present winds up being the shock of a lifetime. When her mom referred to her absentee dad as a deadbeat it was actually half true -- he's a vampire. And a king, no less. A king who wants his daughter to assume her rightful position at his side. But, thanks to Ana's mother, the blood of a witch also runs through her veins....

Too bad vampires and witches are mortal enemies.

With her parents gearing up for an all out brawl over her destiny, Ana's about ready to scream. But things get even crazier when a male witch and a brooding bad boy vampire start vying for her affection. Then the barely leashed tension between the vampires and the witches starts to boil over, and Ana has to figure out once and for all if she wants to become heir to her dad's throne. And deciding your eternal destiny is a pretty big deal for a girl who just wants to get through high school.


Ana has always been a little more weird than normal, and that's counting the True Witches she knows. On her 16th birthday she has to go through a coven Initiation ritual that requires for her to do magic, the only problem is, she's never been able to do any! The problems escalate when her father appears in her life and she discovers she's a dhampir: a half vampire.

Ana was a very interesting character. She's close to her mom but at the same time you can see a distance between them that gets bigger when Ana discovers her vampire heritage and how her mother lied to her. Her friendship with Bea, her "best friend", was very unique and I liked that the relationship between them is so different from other YA novels.

There was a love interest and a possible love interest. Both of them were very different from each other and I can't wait to read the next book to see how that evolves, although I didn't like a decision Ana made at the end ( you'll know what I'm talking about when you read the book).

One thing I didn't like was how Ana doesn't step up to defend the vampires and how, even though she's a half breed, she doesn't ask more questions or wants to know more about the vampire lifestyle. Also, I really disliked Ana's mom. I don't understand how after everything she's done, nobody asks for explanations and how Ana seems to forgive her even though she's done some pretty awful stuff (and she didn't even apologize).

I read the book in one sitting and I couldn't tear my gaze away for very long. It had a nice pace, and even though the ending is not what I expected and I was a little disappointed that it didn't solve most of the issues, I can't wait to read the next book.



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