Review : Evermore

Posted by kay on June 3, 2009 9:59 pm in 2.5 stars reads | 1 comment

Evermore by Alyson Noël
Pages : 301
Genre : YA
My Rating :

Let’s be clear: if you didn’t like Twilight, chances are you won’t like Evermore either. It’s basically the same story, with a few name changes and in a sunnier setting. If you did enjoy Twilight though, I’m guessing you will either love it, or be outraged by the similarities in the story. As for myself, who didn’t hate or love Twilight, I had for Evermore similar feelings to those I had when reading Meyer’s vampire story: it was a quick read, which didn’t bore or excited me, and left me with a kind of “empty” feeling.

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.

One of the main problems I had with Evermore was the two-dimensional characters. Ever has two best friends, who could be described in nore more words than “gay gossipy male friend” and “attention seeker, ignored by her parents, emo goth girl friend”. Seriously, that’s about all there is to know about her friends, whose presence in the story could easily be ignored. The book could have been written withouth them, and nothing would be missing. Even Ever’s relationship with them seemed kind of forced.

I also had a hard time to relate to the main character, Ever. Her story should be dramatic, and yet I didn’t feel like she just lost her parents a while ago. Even though the story is written to the first person, I felt some kind of distance from her. She said she felt sad and guilty, but I didn’t feel it; maybe that’s just me, though. I also had a hard time grasping the limits of her powers, but I think that part was intentional from the author; Ever doesn’t know how to control her power either, and we are to learn about those with her.

The writing was okay, light, funny in parts. The romance part of the book is predictable, but still nice (as long as you enjoy the genre. Once again, if you didn’t like Edward and Bella’s mysterious and unavoidable attraction, you probably won’t like Ever and Damen’s either).

As for the story itself, I can hardly judge. I thought it was good, but the book is only the first in a series, so much of the universe is to be explored in the next book. I think it will definitely take a different tangent in Blue Moon (available July 7th); hopefully, this tangent will make a bigger diffenrence between Twilight and Evermore. It appears to focus more on “Summerland”, another dimension where everything seems possible (and which was, I must say, an interesting idea.) But for sure, I’ll be curious enough to read the next book! 🙂