Ramblings of a Bibliophile

Genre: Fiction, Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Edition: Softcover
Page Count: 301
Pub. Date: February 3, 2009
Series: The Immortals, Book 1

My Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Amazon.com: 3.5 stars
Goodreads: 3.78 (Average)

Recommended For: Teens, Fans of Paranormal Romance novels, Those tired of vampires and/or werewolves who like a fresh outlook on a different type of supernatural being

Book Summary:

Since a horrible accident claimed the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever can see auras, hear people’s thoughts, and know a person’s life story by touch. Going out of her way to shield herself from human contact to suppress her abilities has branded her as a freak at her new high school—but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste…

Ever sees Damen and feels an instant recognition. He is gorgeous, exotic and wealthy, and he holds many secrets. Damen is able to make things appear and disappear, he always seems to know what she’s thinking—and he’s the only one who can silence the noise and the random energy in her head. She doesn’t know who he really is—or what he is. Damen equal parts light and darkness, and he belongs to an enchanted new world where no one ever dies.

My thoughts:

This one is a bit of a hit or miss. The main reason being is that, while I enjoyed it enough, it just didn't stick with me.

To start off, I liked Alyson Noel's writing style; presenting the reader with fun and engaging dialogue. It was easy to follow and painted a picture of the scenery and the characters from the get-go. But the more I read along, the more events seemed to go in a kind of merry-go-round. For instance, it seems that all throughout the story we were caught in a web consisting of an endless cycle of highs and lows - and what I mean that is, whenever something good happens, something bad inevitably follows right after...over...and over again.

And the characters - well, the characters were rather meek. I didn't dislike them, mind you, but I was just expecting a bit more.

Damen - I'll admit, the image Alyson portrayed is smoking hot. But where is...everything else? At first he didn't really have a presence that screamed at my attention. He's more mysterious than anything, what with the weird surprises and the constant disappearing act. The turn-a-round was when we finally got to delve a little more into his life. It made him more interesting (although that could have something to do with the immortal thing), yet it still wasn't enough to sway my opinion. I still believe he lacked a strong personality. I'm curious to see how he develops in the following books.

Ever - She is a fairly solid character. I felt her pain, her guilt, and got a good sense of who she was and why she shielded herself from the outside world. She is a girl who has lost everything and blames herself for a situation she couldn't control. As the story progresses, so does her character, taking her from a lost, sullen girl to someone beginning to accept help from others and finding her place in a vast world. New doors open and she begins to understand the depth of her unique ability. I'm also curious to see how her talents develop.

Riley - She was an unexpected character for me. Annoying as any little sister would be, especially so since she is a ghost (you can't kick her butt if need be), but I really enjoyed the scenes between Riley and Ever. I totally felt the connection, the sadness, and the sisterly affections.

Miles & Haven - The stereo-typical gay guy friend (humor included) and the eccentric, attention seeking goth girl-slash-vampire wanna be. Needless to say, I felt no connection to them. They provided some interesting dialogue between the characters, but no more than that.

I didn't relate to the characters as much as I'd like. The only one who redeemed the story for me was Ever. She was very dynamic with her feelings and her guilt, you could feel her emotion from the pages. I also would have liked to have seen Damen and Ever's relationship develop into something more than it was. But hey, that's what book 2 and 3 are there for.

Another thing I wasn't too keen about was the ending. I felt it was rather anticlimactic. I don't know, maybe I was expecting more since there was so much involved leading up to the finale, but whatever the reason, I felt it did not do the book justice. Though, being that this is a series, I am hoping that the following books expand upon my unanswered questions and unresolved feelings.

My little nitpicking aside, Evermore did have some redeeming qualities, the first one being the concept of The Immortals. I found the idea quite fascinating and original; a fresh take on a different type of supernatural being. And it was nice to be surprised by a story for once, considering I had no idea what was going to happen or what I was getting myself into. Secondly, I enjoyed the well versed descriptions. I felt they gave me a good idea of the story from a visual perspective.

Overall consensus, I felt this book started off with a bang, but ended with a bit of a dud. So hence the 3 star rating. I found myself reading not out of need or fondness, but more for the sake of my own curiosity. But being that curiosity did get the better of me, I do want to know what happens next. I'll definitely be continuing on with the Immortals series in the near future.