At http://www.literaryescapism.com/28886/the-forever-girl-by-rebecca-hamilton

The Forever Girl by Rebecca Hamilton

Posted by: Nikki on 7 August 2012 in Alternate History, Magic, Mythology, Paranormal, Reviews, Shapeshifters, Vampires


Before you think that you know all there is to know about vampires or shape shifters, think again my friends.  Rebecca Hamilton puts a crazy twist on these legends in her book The Forever Girl that will have you viewing them in a totally new way.  I was lucky enough to see Ms. Hamilton offering free copies on twitter and grabbed one.  (My early apologies for such a long review.)

A Cult. A Murder. A Curse.

Sophia's family has skeletons, but they aren't in their graves…

At twenty-two, practicing Wiccan Sophia Parsons is scratching out a living waiting tables in her Rocky Mountain hometown, living under religious prejudice, the shadow of her bi-polar mother, and an unsolved murder.

Sophia can imagine lots of ways to improve her life, but she'd settle for just getting rid of the buzzing noise in her head. When the spell she casts goes wrong, the static turns into voices. Her personal demons get company, and the newcomers are dangerous.

One of them is a man named Charles, a centuries-old shape-shifter who Sophia falls for despite her better judgment. He has connections that can help her unveil the mystery surrounding her ancestor's hanging, but she gets more than she bargains for when she finally decides to trust him. Survival in his world, she learns, means not asking questions and staying out of the immortal council's way. It's a line she crossed long ago.

If Sophia wants to survive the council and save the people she loves, she must accept who she is, perform dark magic, and fight to the death for her freedom.

Let me quickly set up the supernatural world in The Forever Girl.   The Universe is actually made up of several entities that need positive energy to survive, since humans are very flawed and there wasn't enough positive energy to sustain them.  To survive, the Universe created elementals representing the elements:

• Earth – Cruor, the source of the vampire legend, were created to protect the humans at night, but good intentions can often be corrupted.
• Water – Strigoi, or shapeshifters, were created to hunt down the corrupted Cruor.
• Air – Ankou were created to be the grim reapers of deceased immortals as well as fighting the evil Strigoi.
• Fire – Chibolds, other than being told they disguise themselves as small children, not much is known yet.

I really like the idea of vampires and shapeshifters having a purpose rather than showing up one day.  There's a reason for why they fight each other, why they behave the way the do, etc.  Not that not having a purpose is a bad thing, it just makes things different and not so 'been there done that'.  The whole element idea is rather clever, one I haven't ran across before.  I've always been drawn to the magical side of things, so this was right up my alley.  You still have the element of surprise as most don't know or believe that these creatures exist.   If a human does find out about their existence, as long as they keep their mouth shut they are safe, but if they aren't careful and say too much, the Council hunts them down.

Onto the characters, shall we.  Sophia is Wiccan, and very strong in her belief without being hypocritical or a zealot.  She's very patient with those against her, including her mother and Mrs. Franklin, a crazy religious nut who's trying to threaten her off her... ( more at http://www.literaryescapism.com/28886/the-forever-girl-by-rebecca-hamilton )