Sarah Beth Durst

Stand-alone novels

Ice — (2009) Young adult. Publisher: When Cassie was a little girl, her grandmother told her a fairy tale about her mother, who made a deal with the Polar Bear King and was swept away to the ends of the earth. Now that Cassie is older, she knows the story was a nice way of saying her mother had died. Cassie lives with her father at an Arctic research station, is determined to become a scientist, and has no time for make-believe. Then, on her eighteenth birthday, Cassie comes face-to-face with a polar bear who speaks to her. He tells her that her mother is alive, imprisoned at the ends of the earth. And he can bring her back — if Cassie will agree to be his bride. That is the beginning of Cassie's own real-life fairy tale, one that sends her on an unbelievable journey across the brutal Arctic, through the Canadian boreal forest, and on the back of the North Wind to the land east of the sun and west of the moon. Before it is over, the world she knows will be swept away, and everything she holds dear will be taken from her — until she discovers the true meaning of love and family in the magical realm of Ice.

Ice

Cassie doesn’t believe in fairy tales. Sure, Gram used to tell her that bedtime story about how Cassie’s mother was stolen away by the North Wind and imprisoned by trolls. But Cassie, who lives with her scientist father at a research station in the Arctic, has every intention of following in Dad’s logical, analytical footsteps. She has no time for fantasy. And besides, as she grew older, she realized that “stolen by the North Wind” was just a euphemism for “died.”

Or was it?

On her eighteenth birthday, Cassie tracks a polar bear into the icy wastes, intending to tag it for research. When it escapes by walking through a wall of ice, she realizes it’s no ordinary bear — and when she describes it to Dad, he panics. Turns out the story was true, and now Cassie is fated to become the polar bear’s bride.

She doesn’t go passively, instead striking a deal with the bear. She’ll go with him if he will rescue her mother from the trolls. He agrees. Soon, the girl who doesn’t believe in fairy tales is living one of her own, carried away by Bear to his enchanted castle. Cassie and Bear develop an unlikely friendship that later leads to romance, and I love what a great team they make. Bear is a munaqsri, whose task it is to collect the souls of dying polar bears and ensure that they are reincarnated into newborn bears. Cassie uses her scientific knowledge to improve the odds. The two are colleagues as much as they are romantic partners.

This being a retelling of “East of the Sun, West of the Moon,” eventually Cassie breaks a taboo and loses Bear to the trolls. She sets out on an impossible journey to rescue him.

Cassie is a fierce heroine who practically jumps off the page. She’s smart, brave, and resourceful. She isn’t always likable, but she’s always dynamic. She strikes bargains, takes death-defying risks, tells lies, tricks people, and never gives up. In YA fantasy, there have been a lot of passive heroines lately. This is NOT one of them. —Kelly Lasiter

Enchanted Ivy — (2010) Publisher: What Lily Carter wants most in the world is to attend Princeton University just like her grandfather. When she finally visits the campus, Grandpa surprises her: She has been selected to take the top-secret Legacy Test. Passing means automatic acceptance to Princeton. Sweet! Lily's test is to find the Ivy Key. But what is she looking for? Where does she start? As she searches, Lily is joined by Tye, a cute college boy with orange and black hair who says he's her guard. That's weird. But things get seriously strange when a gargoyle talks to her. He tells her that there are two Princetons — the ordinary one and a magical one — and the Key opens the gate between them. But there are moresecrets that surround Lily. Worse secrets. When Lily enters the magical Princeton, she uncovers old betrayals and new dangers, and a chance at her dream becomes a fight for her life. Soon Lily is caught in a power struggle between two worlds, with her family at its center. In a place where Knights slay monsters, boys are were-tigers, and dragons might be out for blood, Lily will need all of her ingenuity and courage — and a little magic — to unite the worlds and unlock the secrets of her past and her future.

Enchanted Ivy

My copy of Enchanted Ivy by Sarah Beth Durst came with a note about the inspiration for this story. I’m not certain how much that affected my reading of the book (though it certainly charmed me) but it does mean I’m about to throw one of my really bad jokes your way; Enchanted Ivy was truly an enchanting read. (Sorry. I’m actually much funnier than this in person, I swear.)

One problem I often have with contemporary fantasy is its tendency to ignore the magic of the world around us in its longing for something Other. Enchanted Ivy avoids this problem by striking a nice balance. There’s certainly a great deal of otherworldly magic, as evidenced by the dragons and faeries and talking gargoyles and cute were-tiger boys. Yet I got a real sense that all this magic was inspired by the feelings the campus of Princeton genuinely evoked in Durst. I can actually picture the author looking at the great old buildings and the gargoyles and imagining they could come to life at any second. Otherworldly magic inspired by a place that is, to the author, already magical. So to speak.

Although Enchanted Ivy’s cast of characters don’t entirely jump off the page, they’re still strongly written and easy to like (or, in a couple cases, hate). As a main character Lily isn’t quite as interesting as I might like — she’s a bit too much of an everyday girl for that — but she’s likable, she doesn’t sit around whining and moping all the time, and she believes in the importance of college, unlike so many YA heroines these days. And she’s pretty tough, too. At one point Jake and Tye (the love interest and the red-herring triangle corner, won’t tell you which one is which) get into a pissing contest. Lily tries to get them to knock it off; when they won’t, she puts them in their place right fast, because she has a quest to attend to, thank you very much. I am so behind that.

Jake is the nice guy and Tye is the bad boy, but Durst never overdoes it. Jake isn’t perfect and Tye never stalks anyone or sneaks into their bedroom at night. And both of them treat Lily with respect, for the most part. There is one small incident, but I’d rather not spoil what happens. A lot of other characters aren’t on scene enough to make a very strong impression, but they do still come to life nicely when the story calls on them.

The plot is a bit predictable and most of the twists I saw coming. But even so, as adventure/quest stories go, Enchanted Ivy is a lot of fun. In particular, a college campus is a rather unusual setting for this sort of book, which really makes it stand out from the crowd (as does, you know, the whole lack of whiny, boy-obsessed heroine thing. Just saying.).

If I had any problems with Enchanted Ivy, the pacing would probably be one of them. It takes place over a span of only two days. Normally this annoys me in books because it is, all too often, two days of nothing happening. In this case, a bit too much happens. There’s so much packed in that I really can’t believe only two days go by. This is not exactly a terrible thing, mind you, as there’s always something happening and the book never drags. But it did occasionally mess with my suspension of disbelief.

The other thing would be Tye talking about how he and Lily are soul mates. The issue isn’t addressed or brought up very much, and overall I could mostly ignore the idea. It’s never really confirmed one way or another, as well. But even so, the phrase “soul mate” is like nails down a chalkboard for me. And in a book where these two characters (Tye and Lily) managed to have good chemistry together and a believable relationship even though only two days pass, it seemed kind of jarring. It was unnecessary and didn’t really fit in with the style of the rest of the book. It bugged me, but at least it wasn’t mentioned very much.

Enchanted Ivy promises magic, adventure, mystery, romance, and humor, and delivers on all accounts. I could easily see Sarah Beth Durst becoming a favorite author, and I look forward to more of her work in the future. —Beth Johnson

Drink, Slay, Love — (2011) Young adult. Publisher: Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire... fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil... until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops. Her family thinks she was attacked by a vampire hunter (because, obviously, unicorns don’t exist), and they’re shocked she survived. They’re even more shocked when Pearl discovers she can now withstand the sun. But they quickly find a way to make use of her new talent. The Vampire King of New England has chosen Pearl’s family to host his feast. If Pearl enrolls in high school, she can make lots of human friends and lure them to the King’s feast — as the entrées.The only problem? Pearl’s starting to feel the twinges of a conscience. How can she serve up her new friends — especially the cute guy who makes her fangs ache — to be slaughtered? Then again, she’s definitely dead if she lets down her family. What’s a sunlight-loving vamp to do?

Drink, Slay, Love

Drink, Slay, Love is a good example of what young adult urban fantasy can be. It's funny, it's light, it doesn't take itself too seriously, and most importantly, there is actually more to the story than just how handsome everyone is. Sarah Beth Durst strikes a good balance between adventure and emotional angst.

Pearl is a young vampire. Sounds kind of funny to think that someone who is undead could be young, but in the world of Drink, Slay, Love the possibility to be born as a vampire exists. Pearl is living the young vampire life, hunting for humans to feed on, keeping up her combat skills to defend herself, flirting with the uber-hot male vampire and learning how to live within the rules of her race.

Then Pearl is almost killed by a unicorn. She survives, and begins to undergo traumatic changes. For example, now she can abide daylight, which is normally deadly to her race. Adding to the challenge, her family quickly takes advantage of Pearl’s newfound ability to hunt for prey during the day.

Sarah Beth Durst presents a fun and not overwhelming vision of a young vampire forced to evolve. Drink, Slay, Love is not deep and profound, but Durst includes occasional thought-provoking scenes. In truth, my one real complaint with the story is the way that some of the supporting characters react to events that take place. I don't want to give the story away, but there was a lack of shock and horror that seemed unlikely.

Drink, Slay, Love is a fast read. Durst keeps the story moving and gives us a balance between social interaction and plot events. This is not dark urban fantasy, and it works because it doesn’t try to take itself too seriously. On the whole I was very amused by Drink, Slay, Love and surprised at how fast it flew by. It’s a solid addition to YA urban fantasy, and clean enough that I would let my teenager read it.
—John Hulet