A line from Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer” is running through my head: “Who-ah, we’re halfway there…” That’s right. This is book 26.  I’m halfway through my goal of reading 52 books this year.  I’m excited to be at this point. But enough about that… on to the book!


Evermore is another young adult book.  I’ve been reading a lot of YA books lately, and while I’m certainly not in the targeted age group, I’m not alone in being the only one not in that age group devouring books in the genre.  Some friends and I were discussing why we’ve been reading so much YA lately. We’ve come to the conclusion that it’s simply because there are some great stories being written for this group. And after all, we once were that age, so we can certainly appreciate the genre. With Evermore, I’m adding Alyson Noel to the ranks of Melissa Maar, Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson, and Richelle Mead- all YA authors in my library.


Evermore is the first of the “Immortals” series.  Ever Bloom has relocated to her aunt’s home in southern California after a car accident claimed the lives of her parents, sister, and dog. She’s mostly recovered from her injuries, save a scar on her forehead and, oh, yes, the ability to read the thoughts of everyone around her and see dead people. She’s not sure what to do with this new psychic ability and deals with it by using her iPod to block out as much psychic noise as possible.  Then she meets Damen.  He’s the one person whose aura she can’t see, whose thoughts she can’t read.  And this sets up the rest of the story, so I’m not going to say anything else about what happens. I don’t want to be giving out any spoilers.


Evermore fits in well with the paranormal genre.  It doesn’t try to be a Twilight, Vampire Academy, or Mortal Instruments.  Noel creates her own niche, so I didn’t feel like there was any copycat storytelling going on.  Her characters are well drawn, realistic.  The story is fast paced. I found myself wanting to know the story of Damen- what IS he, and how are he and Ever tied together? What is he playing at with his inconsistent behavior? Why is Ever’s dead sister visiting her?  Noel gives out the details of the story in little nuggets and hints that had me turning the page to see what I’d get to learn next. 


A quick read for me, entertaining.  Anyone who likes this genre would like this book. And I’ll be checking out more from Alyson Noel.


http://www.amazon.com/Evermore-Immortals-Alyson-Noel/dp/031253275X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273416555&sr=8-1