Almost to Die For by Tate Hallaway

Is it too much to ask for a nice, somewhat uneventful sixteenth birthday? Well, for Anastasija Parker, it is. And it’s not just the having to eat lunch by herself or the being bullied by Matt Thompson. Nope. In addition to that, Ana is freaking out about her Initiation as a True Witch since she’s pretty sure she doesn’t have a lick of magic in her. Plus her estranged father just showed up, which is kind of exciting but also may explain why Ana’s magic is so weird, because while Ana’s mother is a True Witch, her father is a vampire. So now, Ana becomes the beginnings of a rekindled feud between witches and vampires. What a birthday.

Almost to Die For is a fun and amusing paranormal read. Hallaway’s versions of her paranormal beings, witches and vampires, are somewhat traditional, but she also creates some history for each, making them more unique. This background really helps the reader understand the depth of the conflict between witches and vampires, the conflict of which Ana is the center. The vampire-witch tensions are very real and potentially dangerous in this story, but Hallaway lightens this by placing Ana in the middle of it all. Ana is funny and easy to relate to; her insecurities and her determination make her very realistic. Overall, Almost to Die For doesn’t stand out spectacularly, but it still is a very satisfactory read.

This novel will be enjoyed by fans of Marked by Kristin Cast and P.C. Cast and the Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Caine.

Rating: 3.75

Review copy from publisher Penguin