Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith

At last, Miranda is the life of the party: all she had to do was die. Elevated and adopted by none other than the reigning King of the Mantle of Dracul, Miranda goes from high-school theater wannabe to glamorous royal fiend overnight. Meanwhile, her reckless and adoring guardian angel, Zachary, demoted to human guise as the princess's personal assistant, has his work cut out for him trying to save his girl's soul and plan the Master's fast-approaching Death Day gala. In alternating points of view, Miranda and Zachary navigate a cut-throat eternal aristocracy as they play out a dangerous and darkly hilarious love story for the ages. (from Goodreads)

I just finished reading "Eternal" last night.  It took me a while to sort out how I felt about it.  It was intriguing in many ways, but I didn't really love it.  The beginning was very good, full of mystery and foreboding, but as the story progressed, I found that I couldn't relate to Miranda's voice any longer.  I suppose that is what the author was trying to do, but I found it hard to remain interested at first.  I did like the way that the POV changed back and forth and I eventually became comfortable with Miranda's voice and found myself becoming totally engaged in the story.  The story was quite thrilling, actually.  So, I suppose the thing that I really didn't like and the thing that kept me from loving the book is the ending.  I was extremely disappointed in the turn of events at the end of the book.  Everything that took place leading up to the ending was fabulous, but the decision made by Zachary and Miranda at the end just seemed too dark and too depressing for me.  I just can't agree with their decision and, for that reason, I can't love the book.  I really enjoyed the story, but those last few pages just ruined it for me.

My grade:  B-
Based on the ending alone, it would probably be a C-, but the book up until that point was a solid B or B+.