Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1812 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-07
• Released on: 2009-07-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780312532765
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review

About the Author

Customer Reviews

**Sigh**
I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either. When I was finished reading the book I was left feeling empty handed. I felt that there could have been more romance or positives in Ever and Damen's relationship in this book since it took so much in the last book (not to mention the past six hundred years) for them to get where they are. But no this just went right back to the same struggles of them being torn apart and so on.... it also had so much going on at the end that it kind of built up to not much at all... I started skimming through the pages at the end just trying to get through it to get to the point, and then when I got there I felt disappointed to find the end result.
All and all if you enjoyed Evermore then I do suggest you read Blue Moon, however I do hope that the Author allows Ever and Damen to progress a little more in their current relationship in the next book instead of spending the entire book with them just trying to find a way to be together without actually allowing them be together at all... If that happens again I think I will become bored of the cycle and give up on the series?? But as of now I'm still a fan.

Blue Moon: A disappointing sequel
I read Evermore about three weeks ago and was very excited when I learned Blue Moon, the sequel, was being released in early July of 2009. I liked Evermore, despite the obvious plot-related similarities it shared w/ Meyer's Twilight series. However, when compared to Twilight, I think it falls short of the Twilight standard. Having said that, Noel's Immortals series still has a lot of potential, so I am holding out hope that Shadowland's plot will surpass my mediocre expectations.

I gave Evermore 3.5 stars, but unfortunately, can only give Blue Moon 3 stars, awarding it simply because I found Noel's writing style very good.

Having noted the author's obvious talent, I feel this sequel left much to be desired in regard to the overall plot. Here's what I felt was missing:

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.

For instance, Ever eventually tells Ava that she thinks Damen is being "poisoned" by way of his elixir of immortality. Was the reader supposed to come to the same conclusion, because Ever never had this thought prior to disclosing the info to Ava. Granted, she knew Roman was somehow involved but this was the first she revealed her true thoughts on how Roman was at fault. I found Ever's sudden disclosure rather odd and under-developed.

Also, much was left completely unanswered.

The reader was left wondering how Ever managed to transport herself, or jump around at times, particularly after she chose to go back to her "former life" and then instantaneously ended back in the current one after seeing Riley in the backseat of her parents' car. It was a total contradiction to the time continuum that was previously implied; no explanation was given.

EVERYTHING revolved around three main characters - and the characters themselves were under-developed in my opinion. The book was just one constant dilemma, from beginning to end, no alternate and/or related events occurred simultaneously. The storyline was very one-dimensional for me throughout.

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!

The entire book read like a soap opera, where as, the endless dilemmas were merely replaced by more dilemmas, all centering around the two main characters and their struggle to be together! Rather than create an entirely new scenario, possibly uniting the two characters in love, the author decides to continue the current struggle: that Ever & Damen simply cannot be together - at least not in the way they desire. One dilemma was replaced by yet another dilemma - all of which prove to be thorns in Ever & Damen's relationship!!! Books that end on a note of frustration don't end very well in my opinion - it leaves the reader very little to look forward to in a sequel. :(

Here's what would have made the story better for me:

1.) Had Damen come in and out of consciousness - had he fought Roman's control and revealed his true self to Ever from time-to-time, and not just in incremental glimpses, I would have enjoyed his character more. The reader realizes Roman was controlling Damen, as well as controlling the rest of the school; however, it just seemed odd that Roman could pull it all off so effortlessly. I thought Roman had too much control given Damen's immortality, not to mention the fact that Damen never saw Roman coming?! That was also odd. This was frustrating to me as a reader. Had Damen been somewhat aware of Roman's motives but struggling to resurface his true self in order to encourage Ever to keep seeking the solution, I would have found the dilemma more interesting. Damen just turned arrogant instantaneously, and that irritated me despite Roman's involvement. It also made the story less realistic, and didn't fully explain Ever's behavior.

2.) Riley just up & disappeared. I realize she "crossed over," but the only mention of her was on the brownie & then from Romy & Rayne. Yet, there were no other signs, and Riley was a pivotal character from the onset of the series. I think the story would have been better had Riley been more involved by leaving more written signs here and there.

3.) Ever fell for Roman's trickery in the end - despite all he did to her? It seemed odd - even under the urgent life-and-death circumstances - that she would choose to trust him after everything he had done and said.

4.) Ava up and disappeared? What? That was unexpected in a negative way - I wanted to see true friendship emerge, as well as trust and loyalty from a handful of characters, not betrayal and distance from everyone. Ava's actions were a huge disappointment. Seems like aside from Ever's deceased sister and a handful of acquaintances in Summerland, she has no one to rely on and trust. Ava's role could have been so much more invaluable and meaningful in the end - Riley could have sent a message through her, for example. I was sad Ava's character fell short of truly positive traits.

5.) Finally, I would have preferred a better ending to the first dilemma. I would have preferred that a new dilemma arise after Ever saves Damen, rather than a slightly different continuation of the old; the new dilemma was just another version of the first one: the inability to physically touch one another. A huge part of the enjoyment of the book is the obvious physical connection between the two of them, & now that this is the new dilemma, I actually kind of dread reading the sequel. I hope the problem is resolved early-on b/c I certainly don't want the next book to be all about resisting their physical attraction for one another!!! Not appealing at all. Surely, there is more substance ahead than this. We can only hope for the best, I suppose.

I press my lips together...
****Some Spoilers****


Well, I think I liked Blue Moon better than Evermore, and that's only marginally. I thought Evermore was too much of a Twilight wannabe and to me, that's not a book you want to emulate (well maybe the books sales and movie deal but that's it). So I was hesitant to get Blue Moon, and then when it started in on all the, "Oh Damen is so perfect..." or "Damen is so beautiful..." I nearly tossed the book out of the window. But then the middle started getting interesting. I liked the parts about manifestations and having the power to bring forth whatever you desire. I believe in that, though not to the extent of instant manifestation, but I think Noel had some pretty deep stuff in there. It made the plot solid and this quest Ever was on more believable.

However...

It seemed to fall short at the end. I felt like the twist with the cure and Ever's blood preventing them from touching at all, was only to ensure a third book. The series could have ended nicely with this book and have them consummate their love and be done with it. I can pretty much tell that the main conflict in book 3 will be finding a way for Ever and Damen to be together in the physical sense.

One of my pet peeves with this book was some of the writing. I didn't think it was as bad as some have said, but I wonder if Noel did a simple ctrl + F to look for all of her repeat phrases. The number one repeated phrase that got on my nerves was "I press my lips together." Ever is constantly doing this and it's SO over done that it stands out like a sore thumb. I noticed it in the first book and thought somehow she would catch it in this one, but alas...it did not happen.

So I'm giving this 2 stars mainly because I thought the beginning was a bit annoying with all the over the top love and gooiness, the middle was good, and the end fell flat. If Amazon allowed, then I'd give it 2 and a half stars.