Review: Evermore

Book Description:
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.

My Opinion:

I've been seeing Evermore around for a couple of months and been meaning to read it for ages. So when I saw that shiny, lovely $5.99 price sticker, I was powerless to resist. I was immediately intrigued by the mention of Ever's pyschic powers, and the aura color chart in the front of the book sealed the deal.

You know that tingly feeling you get when you buy a book and you're pretty sure it's going to be amazing? Well, I had it.

The first few pages were promising--the premise of Ever dealing with the death of her family and the advent of new powers certainly has potential. Unfortunately, that's where the interesting part ends. What follows is little better than a regurgitated retelling of Twlight, minus the sparkling.

Bella Ever moves to a new town, doesn't quite fit in, and has a somewhat awkward relationship with her dad her aunt. In her biology English class, she meets Edward Damen, who is she is forced to sit next to and who wants to eat her like a chocolate chip cookie. He is the oh-so-mysterious brooding boy that every single girl in the school immediately falls in love with after one glimpse, because he is "so gorgeous and sexy and hot and smoldering." Damen is definitely Ever's soulmate, because he makes her feel like she's touching a cold perfect marble statue warm and electric inside, and they have nothing in common. In short, they're a match made in heaven.

What can I say about Damen? The Edward-wannabe, the abusive bad boy, the subject of this entire book? I feel like I know every inch of what he looks like, but nothing about him. But who cares about character development, plot, or any of that stuff in a novel? Of course, the only thing a good young adult book needs is an idiotic, spineless female main character and a hot, significantly older and abusive love interest. Add in some obnoxious minor characters and a lackluster storyline, and we'll just watch the trainwreck unfold from there.

As a narrator, Ever started off as tolerable, progressed to brainless, and by the 200th page, was so annoying and loathsome that I couldn't take it anymore.

This, in essence, is Ever:

DAMEN IS SOOO AMAZING. I mean, what can you not like about this guy who is so hot that he is a model and has pictures on himself on the internet modeling and has a cool car (but still wears motorcycle boots) and and sunglasses and dark shiny hair and white teeth and Cupid's lips and OMG OMG OMG I can't stop staring at him and I can't even speak in his presence and I think he likes me but he's being a real jerk but whatever I still want to go out with him because he is SOOO HOT!!!!! And everything is ALL my fault.

Delightful sort of person, isn't she?

When Edward Damen leaves Bella Ever for a short period of time, Bellver can't deal. Bellver turns to alcohol as a way to ease the pain of separation. Because real life certainly isn't worth living if your boyfriend breaks up with you. You should get suspended from school, mope around, and drink vodka. Or jump of a cliff--either one is an acceptable way of coping.

I don't know, I just don't. Evermore's similarities to Twilight are so striking that I would expect lawsuits, not New York Bestselling status. But perhaps I've been reading too much paranormal romance lately with the same tired premise. I enjoyed reading Shiver, but the more I think about these sorts of books, the less tolerance I have. They're almost like guilty reads--when I'm reading, I get sucked into the story, which I suppose is a good thing. Once I stop reading and take a break, and once I really reflect on the components of these kinds of novels and their inherent message, I can't understand why I even enjoy reading any of these books. Evermore is the book that finally made me snap--and perhaps I am being unfair by taking out my dissatisfaction with the girl falls in love with [insert paranormal creature] trend with this review.

I think I'll stop now, before this gets out of hand. I know a lot of you really enjoyed this book, and I don't want to a take a negative review too far. I really could say much more on this matter, but I won't.

And I won't rate it either.

I'll end on a positive note; I did like the cover. I love the idea of seeing auras for people's emotions, I mean, just LOVE. And the writing is very accessible. If you're a twi-hard, you'll probably love Evermore--but this book just wasn't right for me.