Insatiable by M. Cabot

I have to say, I’ve heard of Meg Cabot before, but I’ve bypassed her novels for something else. They just never seemed like they would be something I would be interested in; however, when I was sent a copy of Cabot’s newest novel, Insatiable, I was willing to give it a shot – especially considering the characters involved.

Sick of hearing about vampires? So is Meena Harper.

But her bosses are 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. It’s a dark side a lot of people, like an ancient society of vampire hunters, would prefer to see him dead for.

The problem is, Lucien’s already dead. Maybe that’s why he’s the first guy Meena’s ever met whom 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.

Now, I’ll be honest, I’m not a huge fan of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.  I love the various movie versions, but I’m not really crazy about the journal style of writing.  So, when I saw that Meena and Jonathan Harper were back in action for Insatiable, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I can say for sure that I wasn’t expecting a modern retelling of the actual story Dracula.  Well, it’s not an exact retelling, but I could totally see Insatiable being today’s version of Dracula, without the crappy journal style of writing.

Much like Dracula, Insatiable is told through different POVs and for once that wasn’t a turn off for me.  Most of the story is told by Meena, who has the extraordinary talent of knowing when people are going to die.  It’s strange, of all the clairvoyant skills out there, that’s one I really haven’t seen before.  Some may have that ability, but it’s not their main skill as they have others that are generally more useful.  However, that’s all Meena can do – tell when a person will die – and she reacts to meeting Lucien pretty much the same way Sookie reacted when she met Bill for the first time:

She had no bad feelings about this man.  Not a single twinge about how or when he was going to die.  Amazingly enough she felt nothing…

…nothing at all about him.

This particular talent does have an important impact on the conflict, but I like how it didn’t overshadow the story as a whole.  It was simply a part of who Meena was and that’s how it was treated.  That was one thing that I did really enjoy about Meena.  Never once was she portrayed as something other than who she was.  She was this average woman, working the 9-5 grind, who was suddenly thrust into this situation and she didn’t let it define her.  It never changed who she was or what she believed in, she simply dealt with it the best she could.  Yes it influenced her to some degree, but she made choices based on her own perceptions and not on a collective thought.

Meena wasn’t the only one who stood out for me.  Even Lucien, the prince of darkness, was enigmatic in his own way.  He wasn’t depicted as this evil monster, but as a prince who was trying to protect a way of life.  He knew what he was and never apologized for it, but he knew that his kind needed to assimilate with the humans.  I never felt like I was suppose to hate him at all and I actually was rooting for him towards the end.

Even the Palatine Guard were more real as vampire hunters than any others I’ve read lately.  They never swayed from their objective of killing the prince.  He was a vampire and to them, and it didn’t matter what he did, he still deserved to die.  They were really fanatical in their belief and that just seemed more authentic to me.  The one person in the Guard I’m not sure about is Alaric.  I see the potential in his character, but he was one that I was never really moved to care about.

As for the plot, I have to say that it was really well done.  The story kept moving at a fabulous pace and there was never a moment where I got bored. There were a couple of explosions, but never once was it out of place.  Everything worked well together and the character development totally blended with the conflict.  I wouldn’t say it was obvious on who the villain ended up being, but I knew who was pulling the strings.

Overall, I really enjoyed Insatiable.  I had a really hard time putting it down and it stayed on my mind when I wasn’t reading it.  The characters were interesting to read and the plot flowed at a really good pace.  This was the first time I’ve read Meg Cabot and now I’m thinking I’ll have to check out some of her other titles.

Also reviewed by:
Reading Angel
The Book Spot
Girls in the Stacks
My Overstuffed Bookshelf
Bookalicious