Everlasting - Immortals #6

***AGE ADVISEMENT***
FOR AGES 16+
***THIS IS A SERIES BOOK***

PLEASE READ DARK FLAME FIRST!

Overview:
Author:  Alyson Nöel

Their epic love story has captured the hearts of millions and enchanted readers across the world.  In this beautiful finale, their journey draws to a spectacular conclusion—where all will be revealed.

Their darkest enemies now defeated, Damen and Ever are free to embark upon their final quest—to free Damen from the poison lingering in his body.  If they can just find the antidote, they’ll finally be able to feel each other’s touch—and experience the passionate night they’ve been longing for.  But their fight to be together will lead them into the most formidable terrain yet…into the dark heart of Summerland.

Here in a land of scorched earth and endless rain, Ever and Damen will discover their relationship’s hidden origins, expose a secret history they never imagined…and come face to face with the true reason fate keeps tearing them apart.  Only then, when the final mystery is unraveled and the last secret revealed, Ever and Damen’s future will hinge on one ultimate decision that will put everything at stake….even eternity.

Review:
I must say that I am sad to see the series end. This is one series that even before I was a book blogger that I was hooked on. Let me be the first to tell you that as a long time reader of Alyson Noel's and a big fan of The Immortal series that this book ended nicely. All loose ends were tied. All questions, were answered. And the first chapter was so dynamic and strong that I sat reading this book in my office while at work! I know, bad Savannah!

The first chapter was just wow. I knew once I started "glancing" at the book that I was in deep trouble. The first chapter has a very strong beginning, the reader sees Ever and Damen struggling in Summerland to find answers. What I like about this is the pacing and the plot line. The pacing was right on. I really liked that the reader got to go back to certain points in their history and re-connect with the present. It answers a whole lot of questions that I have always wondered, plus then some. It gave the reader a much broader history on Ever and Damen's relationship.

What also grabbed my attention in this book, is the lives they had in the past. Through out the series, we see several past lives, but this one, it was a SHOCKER! I was like,"OMG!" Gasping at my desk and looking by my office door to make sure no one heard me. Hehe. Ms. Noel did a fine job in bringing this element to life in the book. I felt every emotion, excitement, hurt, and anger while reading this. Simply fantastic!

The characters were more developed. In this book, you finally see them learn and grow. At times through out the series like books 4/5, I got frustrated that they weren't going anywhere. They were being stagnate. I was hoping for a change. Everlasting is the change of all changes. The characters finally develop in who they need to be in order to grasp their future!

If you haven't pick up this series you most definitely should! Not only will you fall in love with it, but it will give you an everlasting read worth reading. Am I happy with the way it ended? Yes. I think Ms. Noel did a mighty find job on clearing everything she needed to clear up in order to finish the series.
*There was some implied sex, kissing, few cursing*


Thanks for listening to my opinion!

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Night Star - Immortals Series #5

***AGE ADVISEMENT***
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!

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Dark Flame - Immortals #4

***AGE ADVISEMENT***
FOR AGES 16+
***THIS IS A SERIES BOOK***

PLEASE READ SHADOWLAND FIRST!

Overview:
Author:  Alyson Nöel

In Alyson Noel’s most darkly seductive Immortals novel yet, Ever fights for control of her body, her soul—and the timeless true love she’s been chasing for centuries.
Ever is trying to help Haven transition into life as an immortal.  But with Haven drunk on her new powers and acting recklessly, she poses the ultimate threat—exposing their secret world to the outside.  As Ever struggles to keep the Immortals hidden, it only propels Haven closer to the enemy—Roman and his evil companions
At the same time, Ever delves deeper into dark magick to free Damen from Roman’s power. But when her spell backfires, it binds her to the one guy who’s hell-bent on her destruction. Now there’s a strange, foreign pulse coursing through her, and no matter what she does, she can’t stop thinking about Roman—and longing for his touch.  As she struggles to resist the fiery attraction threatening to consume her, Roman is more than willing to take advantage of her weakened state…and Ever edges closer and closer to surrender.
Frantic to break the spell before its too late, Ever turns to Jude for help, risking everything she knows and loves to save herself—and her future with Damen …

Review: 
Just had this downloaded to my Kindle today. Finished it today. Quick read. Dark Flame picks up where the last book in the series left off. It begins with Ever explaining to her best friend Haven, that she is now immortal. Ever basically spends the whole book feuding with Haven about her new found immortality, and about Roman. Haven does not believe that Roman tried to kill her. And of course, Ever is still trying to get Roman to give her the antidote, while trying to fight a binding spell gone wrong which accidently binds her to Roman instead of the reverse. She becomes obsessed with Roman as a result and can't even be in proximity of him without freaking out. Oh, and then there is Jude who learns who he was in his past lives, learns about the immortals, and screws things up in a big way.

I have loved the series so far and was anxiously awaiting this book in the series in hopes of getting some resolution to the whole Damen and Ever "curse". If your expecting a resolution to that particular dilemma in this book, you will be disappointed. I was very hopeful as I was nearing the end of the book as to how it looked like things were going to be resolved, but sadly, it didn't turn out as I expected. It did not care for how things were left between Ever and Haven, or how things were "resolved??" with Roman for that matter. I think having Ever and Damen not be able to be "together" through now the 4th book has drawn it out a little too long. By the time the series draws to an end, will we ever get to see them happy together? Will Ever ever catch a break??? I felt very depressed at the end of the book. Ever lost her best friend in a manner of speaking and was so close to having it all to just have it ripped from her in the end....again. I will still read the next one, but I really hope things end on a happier note.

Thanks for listening to my opinion!

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Shaddowland - Immortals Series #3

***AGE ADVISEMENT***
FOR AGES 16+
***THIS IS A SERIES BOOK***

PLEASE DO NOT READ UNTIL AFTER BLUE MOON!

Overview:
Author: Alyson Noël
Just as Ever is learning everything she can about her new abilities as an immortal, initiated into the dark, seductive world by her beloved Damen, something terrible is happening to him.  As Ever’s powers are increasing, Damen’s are fading—stricken by a mysterious illness that threatens his memory, his identity, his life.

Desperate to save him, Ever travels to the mystical dimension of Summerland, uncovering not only the secrets of Damen’s past—the brutal, tortured history he hoped to keep hidden—but also an ancient text revealing the workings of time. With the approaching blue moon heralding her only window for travel, Ever is forced to decide between turning back the clock and saving her family from the accident that claimed them—or staying in the present and saving Damen, who grows weaker each day...

Review:
The storyline was very short-sighted. Two-thirds of the book revolved around one major event - and the "problematic" event became very dull and blase after a while. I found myself speed reading just to finish the book, not really paying much attention to the minimal details, but more so trying to get to the underlying point of it all. Noel writes very well for the most part, but I felt too many sentences began with "And..." which became quite redundant.

Also, Ever's character was under-developed and important details surrounding her psychic abilities left the reader wondering how she managed to do a variety of things. On a handful of other occasions, Ever's thoughts just pop out, without warning, which was odd since the book is written from her perspective (It was written in first-person so the reader should have been privy to everything Ever was thinking). First-person writing is far more revealing - the reader is usually fully disclosed by the narrating character.
Also, much was left completely unanswered.

Finally, the biggest blunder of all, the one that sealed the deal for me and made me cringe and dislike several aspects of the book altogether, was the frustrating ending. The entire book read like a never-ending soap opera and it ended on the same depressing note!

Thanks for listening to my opinion!

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Evermore - Immortals Series #1 By Alyson Noël

***AGE ADVISMENT***

FOR AGES 16+

Overview:
Seventeen-year-old Ever is the sole survivor of a car crash that killed her entire family. Living with her aunt in Southern California, she's plagued by the ability to hear the thoughts of those around her, and haunted by the ghost of her little sister. She tries to tune everyone out, shunning her old lifestyle as the pretty, popular cheerleader, but somehow she can't hide from Damen, the new guy at school. Stunningly handsome, clever and not a little bit intimidating, there's something about him that doesn't quite add up. Ever realizes he's hiding something, but nothing could prepare her for the truth - especially when the truth involves past lives, murderous enemies, everlasting love and the secret to eternal youth.

Review:
Evermore is a highly a recommended novel, at least according to most reviews of this book. So I decided to try it. The plot is something new -  about a girl with the power to see the aura of others after an accident that took away the rest of her family. It is an interesting read, but to tell the truth, I don't like it very much. I know Ever had been through a traumatic experience of losing her family and all that, but she is sooooo whiny, she gets to my nerves and it makes the middle of the novel real dreary. Ever is sometimes quite selfish, only considering her own feelings and ignoring what others feel when seeing her with her emotional turmoil. I also don't like Damen because in many occasions, he knew Ever was in trouble, but he waited till the last minute when Ever wanted his help. And he flirts with other girls to gauge Ever's feelings towards him, which is what pushes Ever away from him and creates all these emotional turmoil of Ever that I hated so much.

This book gets four hearts, because while I didn't like the characters a lot, I also couldn't put it down due to the amount of drama loaded down. In addition, all the truth is only revealed at the end of the novel, which makes the other parts of the novel confusing to read sometimes. Damen also made a habit of conjuring loads of flowers wherever he goes, yet he seemed pretty adamant that he didn't want anyone really knowing the truth about his age and abilities. Now he's just asking to be exposed. I don't know if he is really that dumb for a guy who had lived for hundreds of years or it is the author's flimsy attempt to find a way for Ever to discover his secret.


Thanks for listening to my opinion!