Review: Evermore by Alyson Noel

Book Description 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.

My Thoughts:

At first Impression, Evermore looked just like another YA book in the evergrowing YA genre. I actually thought it was about vampires or faeries because of the "immortals" thing. And I was quite surprised and delighted when I found out that their being immortal rooted from an old science - alchemy. Immortality is usually caused by a curse, damnation and things that are related to devilry. It was a fresh concept. And it was believable since when it comes to the field of alchemy, two things are always sought: gold and/or immortality.

I got a strong main strong character. Ever had changed dramatically since the accident. And with guilt weighing her down, she was convinced that she was destined for a life of misery and that her gift was a curse, some kind of punishment for what she did. But that all changed the moment Damen appeared. He was like her salvation in her dark and miserable life.

Damen was hard to figure out while I was reading about him. I never really could get and see what his intentions were. He was both hot and cold, which was a little frustrating. Ever saw what he does, but she never got inside his head, never got a reading. Damen could only be judged through his actions and words of the moment. No aura and no buzzing thoughts. He was like a forbidden drug to her. Her off switch that she believed she didn't deserve. However, his name was such a dead give away it was old like hell.

The plot was simple which was fairly common for series starters, with a few small twists. The real defining thing about her writing was the way she wrote the pace. It was smooth and free flowing. There weren't much slow moments. She really knew how to tell a story where the readers would not be bored. Sadly there were times when I just wanted to put the book down and watch TV. It was not that interesting and gripping to capture our attentions in an intense manner. The unfolding of the connection between Ever and Damen was a bit slow. It took quite a while for the story to reach its peak and for things to get into action.

When it came to other characters, Miles seemed fake in the sense that nothing stood out from his character very 2d-ish plus its like the story will still be the same with or without him. I wish I could have gotten more background of him and that he was given a role in the unravelling. Riley on the other hand, Ever’s dead sister was such a great character. She was a wonderful depiction of a lost soul on earth. She reminded me of the sweetness of childhood and the bitterness of death with her forever 12-year old self and shattered dream of experiencing adolescence.

Just a few comments. Noel kept using light language throughout the story. And given the fact that most of the readers would be teenagers, we thought that she needed to use deeper words to match the level of intellect of the readers. And the events were a bit predictable, a bit cliché such as the whole new-mysterious-guy concept. It would have been much more fun if the events were surprising and unexpected.

On the brighter side of things, I enjoyed several scenes in the novel. One of which was the scene where Ever was alone in the parking lot, surrounded by thousands of tulips. It seemed a symbolical and dramatic way of leaving – leaving but professing something at the same time.

Evermore is not your typical YA novel. It is the story of how Ever struggled in the sea of guilt and depression and how she swam up to the shore of normality through accepting her psychic abilities and her destiny as an immortal. This is also a story of forgiveness and of letting go. I recommend this to those who are looking for a fast read and basically, just want to enjoy a book and not overthink it. It's a step up from all this passive heroines that keep popping up in the YA world.

Rating: