Review: Evermore, by Alyson Noel

Title: Evermore (Book #1, The Immortals)
Author: Alyson Noel (alysonnoel.com)
Pages: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: February 03, 2009

Genre: Young Adult
Themes: high school, teenage love, immortals, reincarnation, tragedy

Synopsis: (From GoodReads) 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.

Additional Information: To read Chapter One and Two of Evermore on Alyson Noel's website, click here. Book trailer follows below.

My Review: Ever (original name, no?) survives a tragic accident that claims the lives of her father, mother, pet dog and twelve-year old sister, Riley. Unfortunately, Riley didn't actually cross over like the rest of her family (save Ever), so now she spends most of her time around Ever, or catching up on old neighbors and their gossip. Ever, now orphaned, is taken in by her father's twin sister - who is a lawyer and immediately gives Ever all that she could need to make herself feel more at home - tv, jacuzzi, stereo, the works. However, Ever would give it all back to have her family back. Not only does she have to start her life over in a new place, but she seems to have received psychic powers from her near-death experience. She can see auras, read people with just a touch and, worse of all, she hears everyone's thoughts. It's too much for Ever. She used to be popular at her old school and now - armed with her iPod on full blast to drown out the thoughts and hooded sweatshirts to conceal her mp3 player - she's considered a freak, only finding solace in her attention-craved, now goth, friend Haven and token gay friend Miles. That is, until she meets Damen. She's already heard about him, but she avoided eye contact with him when he sat beside of her in class. Then, there was the silence. Anytime Damen touched her, all she heard was silence. Damen has taken an interest in Ever - but who is this new girl, Drina, that she's seen him out with? And why is this new girl trying to take her best friend away from her? Ever didn't think it could get any worse ... until she found out that Damen is an immortal, and Drina's trying to kill her in order to get Damen back.

This is one of those books that I got a while back in order to get over my vampire obsession. I figured I could still do paranormal, but I needed to expand my horizons. The cover attracted me and I had heard a lot of things about it, but nothing overly great. I still picked it up, but I didn't get around to it until now. Thanks to my friend, I got a little hooked on the Harper Connelly Mysteries series by Charlaine Harris. Whoops. However, I'm hearing wonderful things about Shadowland and I really want to read it - so, what better place to start than the first in the series? It's just something I absolutely have to do - if I start a series, I start from the very beginning. Now, the story starts out okay. It drags out a little, and you have to read a while for some of the good stuff to happen. However, the filler that really kept me reading was Riley - Ever's sister that didn't cross over. She's a wonderful character. I just wish I could say the same about the others. I found the secondary characters not all that well developed. To be honest, Haven got on my last nerve with her attention-whoring ways. Of course, I never really did like anyone who changed who they were to get someone's attention. And Miles ... he's gay ... his character could have been wonderful in so many ways! But instead, he just came around in the story to add his two cents here and there, and he really felt like a filler to be ... but a filler in a bad way, not good like Riley. Ever could have been a little better as a main character. She just seemed so indecisive about everything and sometimes so needy when it came to Damen and her sister. The plot was good. I did like the story. Overall, the story was well-written, I just wish the characters were fleshed out a little better.

Rating: - Don't get me wrong, this is a good story and it's worth the read. But the characters held me back from four stars. However, I do plan on reading the sequel as well as the third installment that's come out recently.

Summary: The story starts out as a tragedy, but quickly turns into a love story between a girl and an immortal. As the story continues, you learn a lot more about why Ever has her powers as well as why she's being stalked by Drina, who claims to be married to Ever's boyfriend. It's a story that tells you it's definitely not the beginning of this love story - nor is it the ending.

Target Audience: Teenagers and older that loves the fantasy stories. If you like reading about crazy exes, you may like this story as well. ;)

Source of Book: Purchased with my own money.

Other Books By Author: The sequel to Evermore, Blue Moon, and now the third installment, Shadowland. Alyson Noel also has several other YA books that are non-paranormal, including Cruel Summer, Laguna Cove, and several others. For a full list, visit her website or click here.

Review: Fallen, by Lauren Kate

Title: Fallen (Book #1, Fallen series)
Author: Lauren Kate (laurenkatebooks.net)
Pages: 464
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: December 08, 2009

Genre: Young Adult
Themes: boarding school, fallen angels, forbidden love, reincarnation

Synopsis: (From GoodReads) There's something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price's attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He's the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.

Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce--and goes out of his way to make that very clear--she can't let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.

Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, Fallen is a page turning thriller and the ultimate love story.

Additional Information: Amazon.com's book trailer for Fallen is below.

My Review: The story starts out with Luce being late for the tour of the new boarding school she is attending, Sword & Cross. You're introduced to a few of the characters that become a big part of the story, such as Gabbe, Cam, and Arriane. Instantly, Cam takes a liking to Luce and so does Arriane, volunteering to show her around the grounds then demanding that Luce cut her hair like her own. Soon after, Luce spots Daniel Grigori, who she is immediately attracted to. More odd than that, she feels as though this isn't her first time seeing him. When Daniel spots Luce, he gets wide-eyed right before smiling and gallantly flipping her off. Even though he was rude to her, Luce continually finds herself thinking about him and looking for him. That is until she has a run-in with Molly, who quickly welcomes her to school with a big plate of meatloaf over her head. However, thanks to Molly, Luce is introduced to Penn - the late school caretaker's daughter who decides to stay at Sword & Cross because that's where her father is buried. Although a little eccentric, Penn turns out to be a good information source for Luce. Luce and Daniel talk every once in a while, but each time she's left even more confused than before. A little less than a hundred pages into the novel, you have your first big scene of action that kind of puts the whole novel into swing - before then, it's just a bunch of introductions, Cam flirting with Luce, and you sort of get an idea of why Luce is in Sword & Cross. However, it's never really fully fleshed out in the story, which either may be a hole in the plot or something the author plans on telling in the next book. Either way, you know enough to know there was a tragic accident, she was blamed for it, and now she's in a boarding school with other "troubled teens". I'm going to stop with the play-by-play, but I will say that as the story unravels, you figure out that a lot of people are not what they seem. You also get the whole story on why Daniel seems so familiar to Luce, as well as a big back story on why they may never be able to be together.

Alright, I'll admit ... I judged a book by its cover - bad. Reading the blurb on the back, I didn't really think there would be anything all that intriguing in the book. Why? I thought it would just be a book where you follow a girl who drools over some really hot guy the whole time and that's about it. I have to say that I was definitely wrong. The story is pretty wonderful. As I said in my review for Evernight, the cover would fit better on that. However, not every book has a cover that fits well with the story itself. So, I'll say that, as just a cover, it's an attention-grabber and it's very beautiful. And really, what's better than being a proud owner of a good book with a gorgeous cover? The prologue to the story is actually a flashback, with unnamed characters, but you quickly understand it as the story goes along - and it does it's job as a prologue by catching your attention, making you want to read more. The plot? As mentioned, it does have some holes and you will have some questions after you read the novel. Since it is a part of a series, I am hoping the author will fix that by answering the questions later on in the series. So, I'm going to be lenient on that until I read more of the series. I loved the characters and they fit their persona well - though I do think that Arriane lost a little of her spark as the story went along. I think she faded back a little too much and didn't keep her spunkiness that she originally started out with. There IS an epilogue that goes with the story. After you read it, you'll have a "Whhhhaaaat?!" moment, but it's a good one! It really gets your blood pumping for the next book. The writing is wonderful, as well as the point of view ... which follows Luce in third person, but you do get a grip on the surroundings too. I forgot to mention that the ending is a little heart-wrenching, but it's necessary and gets your hopes up for the sequel.

Rating: - It was a tough decision between three stars and four, but ultimately I do think this book is more of a four star read than three. It has a good plot, good characters, and it's a great read. There are some holes, but not enough holes to question the overall story itself or the characters. At the end of the book, you have a great grip on the story, the backstory, the characters, and a small hint of things to come. It's definitely a book that I would recommend to buy.

Summary: You could say that Fallen is about a girl who starts a new school and instantly falls for one of the hot guys there. However, it's much deeper than that. Fallen is on a whole new level about a girl who is basically re-introduced to someone that she loves, but is really forbidden to love. Once her past is revealed to her, it quickly turns into two forces fighting for the girl and the girl desperately trying to find a way to stay with the one she loves.

Target Audience: Again, this is another paranormal romance novel in the young adult genre. It's not about vampires, but another supernatural force. If you want a book that deals with some biblical themes (don't worry, it's not a Christian book - obviously!) mixed with a little horror and romance, then you'll like this book.

Source of Book: This book was a purchase I made for myself during one of my many bookstore raids.

Other Books By Author: Lauren Kate has another young adult book out called The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove. However, you won't find any paranormal in this one - it's more of the mystery/suspense types. There will also be a sequel to Fallen, it's called Torment - though I don't think it has a release date yet.