Yay! I found a new YA series to get into! Evermore is the first book in The Immortals series. Sixteen year old Ever goes to live with her aunt in Southern California after her parent’s little sister and family dog are killed in a horrendous car accident. Ever, the sole survivor suffers more than just survivor’s guilt…ever since her near death experience, she has gained psychic powers. Now, she is forced to endure the constant thoughts of the people around her. She also sees auras, glimpses of the future and the ghost of her little sister who is her closest companion.
When the girls at school (and half of the boys) go into a tizzy over a hot new guy, Ever is most intrigued by his lack of an aura and her inability to read his thoughts. In fact, when the boy, Damen, touches her, all of the voices are blocked out, sending her into a blissful silence. Ever is confused by Damen. Some days he seems to pursue her aggressively; others he ignores her completely. Then, there are the flowers. Even though it is completely the wrong time of year for tulips, Damen keeps doing these magic tricks where he makes red tulips appear from behind her ear, in her lunch bag, in her locker, etc.
I don’t want to give too much of the story away in my summary. Let’s just say that I really liked how you didn’t know whether Damen was good or bad. The author did a great job at making him beautiful and dangerous at the same time. I also liked how Ever didn’t chase after him. When Damen would act like a jerk, Ever didn’t pander to his crap like a lot of teen girls might. Fair or not, some readers criticized Bella Swan in Twilight for being too passive with Edward. (I didn’t think she was that bad…) No one will say those things about Ever. She is a great role model for females. Even when she does bad things (like a typical teen), she gets punished and learns from her mistakes.
I also enjoyed how Noel handled the emotional trauma of Ever’s story. Ever is a severely damaged girl. She hides from the other kids under hoodies and sunglasses. She maintains a selfish and co-dependent relationship with her ghostly sister. She blames herself for living when her family died. I’m glad that Noel didn’t try to sugar coat anything that Ever experienced. It made her seem like a real person. I’m excited to see where her journey will go in the next books.
Overall, I give Evermore…
Plot – 3 ½ bookmarks
Character Development – 4 ½ bookmarks
Love Story – 4 ½ bookmarks (The scene at the end of chapter twenty-six about broke my heart!)
Age Appropriateness – A strict, Puritanical parent might find issue with some alcohol use and mention of teen sex, but for the most part, I found it realistic and appropriate for most kids thirteen and older.
Dream Cast (otherwise known as who I pictured while reading) – Anastasia Baranova (Ever), a less pale Rob Pattinson from the first Twilight movie (Damen), Kelsey Batelaan (Riley), Christian Siriano (Miles), Deborah Ann Woll (Drina), Malese Jow (Haven)
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