N's Reviews > Evermore

** spoiler alert ** You know, I thought only books like Twilight, Fallen and Marked were a select few to be considered a real abomination to the YA literature scene at the moment. But alas, I found another contestant - and it definitely a shoo-in to be up there with Twilight in just God-awful terrible.



In a Nutshell: New kid Damen is a dream come true to the whole school, and especially to Ever. Compared to the clutter of thoughts and auras, its a kind of silence that Ever welcomes. They soon fall inevitably in love, for reasons we can only speculate. But she soon finds out secrets about him, their relationship and the creepy stalker lady who has her talons on Damen - and is not so willing to let him go just yet.

What I liked:
Secondary Character: Miles
Yeah, that's right - the stereotypical gay high school kid. Unfortunately, just like Damien from Marked, and not Kurt from Glee -- Miles is slightly entertaining, but lacks any kind of real depth to his character. Although, maybe it's I just feel more pity for him for putting up with annoying prats like Haven and Ever.

What I didn't like:
My God, where do I start with this book...

Plot and Prose
It's basically like Fallen -- in which an actual, substantial plot is absent, and what we are left with is pages and pages and pages about Ever and the rest of the universe swooning on about how perfect Damen is.



I know I'm just nitpicking now - but I read/watch a lot of reviews where people liked the 'aura chart' at the beginning of the book. Maybe it's just a personal preference of mine - but other than maps (i.e. for sci-fi/fantasy books) and dedications - the chart was just a plain nuisance. I honestly thought Noel could have integrated and inferred what each other auras meant through her novel. But no, that would've required effort; and so, I had to constantly flick back and forth to figure out what someone's aura meant. Lazy writing, if you ask me.

Now although the prose itself was your usual combination of: telling rather than showing us, generic/basic sentence and word structures and flat prose -- I just disillusioned myself into believing that what I was really reading an fanfic written and published on the internet by some pubescent 14-year-old, as opposed to an adult female author. It made more sense in my head, believe me.

Protagonists: Ever and Damen
Ever's a Mary Sue. There, I have stated it and that is all you really need to know. No really, I kid you not. She's got the conventional good looks, the tragic past and all these magical powers that clearly show us how 'special she is'. Having a power was not what annoyed me about her, it was the fact that she had a million of them, and it made life so much more convenient for her - but she does nothing with it. And it just amplified the 'perfect' factor for me, much to my disgust.

You know, the whole back story about how Ever used to be one of the 'popular' kids was interesting -- and I wished that Noel had used this to her advantage. You know, to flesh out Ever's character so she wasn't just another version of pre-Breaking Dawn Bella Swan. But that needs thought and effort - and who needs that? We need more hot, smoldering men to ogle for a good 200+ pages or so!



Meanwhile, Damen is our male equivalent -- the epitome of Gary Stu. No, I'm serious. I wish I could kid about this. But I'm not. If Ever isn't having monologues about how gorgeous and perfect he is, someone else is. Like, don't these people have lives or something? He has unnaturally good looks/physique, considerate , smart, artistic (apparently on par with Pablo Picasso himself *gags*), athletic, well read (apparently he was chums with both Shakespeare and the Bronte sisters *hisses*) and just overall so magnificent a creature, he's just good to be true. If the constant name-dropping wasn't annoying was, HE certainly was.



So you have this beautiful and magical couple, who could not possibly have any flaws (especially on Damen's part, because objectifying and idealizing our romantic interest is the way to go!) -- and therefore, are one-dimensional at its best.

Main Romance: Ever and Damen
It was basically a retelling similar to Bella and Edward's romance in Twilight. However, I was pretty grateful that the abuse factor was not in this. However, there was that lack of chemistry or anything between them, if you ask me. Sure, he was a comfort for Ever - but that was pretty much it. Common interest? Mutual trust and respect? More like Ever followed him around like some lost puppy. Honestly, if a guy constantly ditched me and then popped out of nowhere like everything was alright, I'd have dropped him like a bunch of hot pot-stickers!

Least when she showed *some* concern/spark when it was required when she thought Damen killed Haven. Yay for the sisterhood?

There was also the whole 'reincarnations' and repeated tragic love story going on. God - and I thought I would had only need to read it from Fallen. Indeed, I was mistaken. Believe me, Noel - it does not make the romance any more stronger nor heartfelt. I personally felt it was just an excuse for the lack of real love and connection between the characters.

Secondary Character: Haven and Riley
God these two were shallow and annoying, it grated me to no end. My God, Haven was so bitchy and whiny -- she made Ever look like a sympathetic and likable person. Yeah, and believe me - that's saying a lot. Riley just made me glad that I never had a younger sister. That is all I'm saying.

Antagonist: Drina
She was just as boring as everyone else in the book. You'd think you could be happy for someone who wanted to kill off the oh so amazing perfect couple, and God forbid - its protagonist! But alas, all she wanted to do was get back into Damen's pants, and eliminate the competition.

Although there was something rather hilarious that happened towards the end of the book. For books I don't like/care much about - I do not want to spoil this one for you guys. This is something for you to find out yourselves. All I can is... well... let's just say, Voldemort would definitely get a good crack out of this because you know, literally dying from the POWERS OF LOVE - as opposed to something more realistic and probable - is a good way to kick the bucket.