The Immortals: Evermore by Alyson Noel

Sixteen-year-old Ever used to be normal, popular even. She had a best friend, a cute boyfriend, and her whole future ahead of her. Then a tragic car accident claimed the lives of her family – her parents and her little sister Riley. Ever survived, but not unscathed.

Ever can hear people's thoughts, see their auras and know their life stories through a single touch. It doesn't make surviving high school any easier, and Ever finds herself a social outcast in her new school, always hiding behind her hoodies, iPod in ear to keep all the unwanted voices out. Besides Haven and Miles, fellow misfits, Ever's only real friend is Riley, who's been haunting her since the crash.

Then she meets Damen Auguste. Beautiful and wealthy, Damen is attractive in many ways, but its his ability to silence the noise in her head that Ever is drawn to. Every time he speaks to her, it's like there's no space in her mind for anyone but him. Ever quickly becomes infatuated, but Damen is mysterious – she can't read his mind, and he's often absent from school. Who is he? Or, more importantly, what is he? …

Stop me if this is sounding familiar.

To do this review without mentioning the 'T' word is going to be nigh on impossible, because the similarities are many. But I'm going to try.

Evermore has all the hallmarks of a teen supernatural romance classic – unattainable love interest of some unknown supernatural race, troubled heroine struggling to make sense of her life, antagonist character determined to keep the destined pair apart, copious physical description of all the aforementioned characters and emotional first person narrator. All it's missing is a love rival, but hey, what else are parts two and three for?

But, despite all this, it doesn't quite manage to be great. Okay, maybe, but I'm not sure it even climbs high enough up the ladder to be comfortably 'good'. I've spent the better part of a day trying to work out why.

I think the main issue is the pace. It's slow, and while I don't mind taking a languid ride through a few hundred pages if the writing is exquisite and the eventual end is worth the wait, in Evermore it just isn't. The plot appears about three quarters of the way through, most of it happening to Haven, who, for various reasons stops talking to Ever for a good proportion of the book so we don't even see much of the results of it. And the end is expected at best.

That's not to say it doesn't have its moments. Ever drowning herself in alcohol because it numbs her psychic gift was a great idea, but the repercussions are far too slight and brushed over for it to really carry any weight. There are some great characters too. Though I wasn't enamoured with Damen, or particularly fond of Ever either, Riley was fab, and Haven's eccentric attention seeking should have afforded her centre stage a few more times.

Evermore is an okay read. It wasn't terrible, and I'm not clamouring for the few hours it took me to read it back, but then, but mostly it just left me with an urge to go and re-read Twilight. And I was doing so well…

My thanks to the publishers for sending a copy.

Check out the Morganville Vampires, Strange Angels, Darke Academy and House of Night for more supernatural, romantic fun.

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You can read more book reviews or buy The Immortals: Evermore by Alyson Noel at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
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