***AGE ADVISEMENT***
FOR AGES 16+
***THIS IS A SERIES BOOK***
FOR AGES 16+
***THIS IS A SERIES BOOK***
PLEASE READ DARK FLAME FIRST!
Overview:
Author: Alyson Nöel
After fighting for centuries to be together, Ever and
Damen’s future hinges on one final showdown that will leave readers
gasping for breath. Don’t miss this explosive new installment of the #1
bestselling series that’s enchanted millions across the world!
Haven still blames Ever for the death of her boyfriend Roman, no matter how hard Ever’s tried to convince her it was an accident. Now she’s determined to take Ever down…and destroy Damen and Jude along the way. Her first step is to tear Ever and Damen apart—and she has just the ammunition to do it.
Hidden in one of Ever’s past lives is a terrible secret about Damen—a secret that illuminates new facts about her relationship with Jude, but that’s so dark and brutal it might be enough to drive her and Damen apart once and for all. As Ever faces her greatest fears about the guy she wants to spend eternity with, she’s thrust into a deadly clash with Haven that could destroy them all.
Now it’ll take everything she’s got—and bring out powers she never knew she had—to face down her most formidable enemy. But in order to win, she must first ask herself: is her own survival worth dooming Haven to an eternity of darkness in the Shadowland? And will learning the truth about Damen’s past hold the key to their future?
Review:
The ramp up on this particular book is a little slow. On more than a few occasions I found myself sighing and wondering when I might stumble on the actual plot. Oddly there's minimal catch up time dedicated to the start of the novel and it mostly focuses on a bunch of unimportant, left over plot threads. But eventually the central plot emerges and the pacing picks up and levels out from there. Certainly there are flaws with this novel, as with any, and they're mostly character based, which I got into in more depth below. But altogether this is a pretty good book, certainly one of the better ones in this series, and I have to admit that I liked it quite a bit. Finally Ever seems to be evolving as a character, though I'm not all that impressed since it's taken five books to arrive at. I do appreciate that she's being more analytical and less rash. It was interesting to see her perspective on things change, her acceptance that an easy out or quick fix wasn't the way to effect change. The desire to help Stacia, her in-school arch-nemesis was a refreshing twist. What did get under my skin, however, was Ever's need to empathize with Haven, who, as I've already mentioned, is beyond empathizing with as far as I'm concerned.
I think, for the most part, the plot was linear and concise, this book lacked a bit of the action seen in the previous titles but where plot was concerned it evolved nicely. However, I am disappointed that the "antidote to the antidote" situation is still lurking about and there is now some question about whether or not it's Jude's purpose in life to be the hurdle as he's yet again responsible for it slipping from Ever and Damen's hands. This is, I'm certain, something that will be tied up in the last book, Everlasting, due out in summer 2011. I truly hope that it's tied up appropriately. Another lingering subplot is the expanding "gloomy" part of Summerland which seems to be, in at least some small way, tethered to Ever. There's also a possible connection to Shadowland. The concept, of course, leaves the door wide open for the badies who've been banished there to return in some way so I'm actually eager to see where that goes. There are a lot of loose ends to bring together and I'm not certain if the author has the chops to do it, but we'll see...
Thanks for listening to my opinion!
Related Posts:
Haven still blames Ever for the death of her boyfriend Roman, no matter how hard Ever’s tried to convince her it was an accident. Now she’s determined to take Ever down…and destroy Damen and Jude along the way. Her first step is to tear Ever and Damen apart—and she has just the ammunition to do it.
Hidden in one of Ever’s past lives is a terrible secret about Damen—a secret that illuminates new facts about her relationship with Jude, but that’s so dark and brutal it might be enough to drive her and Damen apart once and for all. As Ever faces her greatest fears about the guy she wants to spend eternity with, she’s thrust into a deadly clash with Haven that could destroy them all.
Now it’ll take everything she’s got—and bring out powers she never knew she had—to face down her most formidable enemy. But in order to win, she must first ask herself: is her own survival worth dooming Haven to an eternity of darkness in the Shadowland? And will learning the truth about Damen’s past hold the key to their future?
Review:
The ramp up on this particular book is a little slow. On more than a few occasions I found myself sighing and wondering when I might stumble on the actual plot. Oddly there's minimal catch up time dedicated to the start of the novel and it mostly focuses on a bunch of unimportant, left over plot threads. But eventually the central plot emerges and the pacing picks up and levels out from there. Certainly there are flaws with this novel, as with any, and they're mostly character based, which I got into in more depth below. But altogether this is a pretty good book, certainly one of the better ones in this series, and I have to admit that I liked it quite a bit. Finally Ever seems to be evolving as a character, though I'm not all that impressed since it's taken five books to arrive at. I do appreciate that she's being more analytical and less rash. It was interesting to see her perspective on things change, her acceptance that an easy out or quick fix wasn't the way to effect change. The desire to help Stacia, her in-school arch-nemesis was a refreshing twist. What did get under my skin, however, was Ever's need to empathize with Haven, who, as I've already mentioned, is beyond empathizing with as far as I'm concerned.
I think, for the most part, the plot was linear and concise, this book lacked a bit of the action seen in the previous titles but where plot was concerned it evolved nicely. However, I am disappointed that the "antidote to the antidote" situation is still lurking about and there is now some question about whether or not it's Jude's purpose in life to be the hurdle as he's yet again responsible for it slipping from Ever and Damen's hands. This is, I'm certain, something that will be tied up in the last book, Everlasting, due out in summer 2011. I truly hope that it's tied up appropriately. Another lingering subplot is the expanding "gloomy" part of Summerland which seems to be, in at least some small way, tethered to Ever. There's also a possible connection to Shadowland. The concept, of course, leaves the door wide open for the badies who've been banished there to return in some way so I'm actually eager to see where that goes. There are a lot of loose ends to bring together and I'm not certain if the author has the chops to do it, but we'll see...
Thanks for listening to my opinion!
Related Posts:
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