Book Review: Evermore [2009]

In the post-Twilight letdown that has been my reading life for the last month or two, I've been meaning to try a lot of other kinds of books, like maybe some serious nonfiction, or more hard science fiction like Regenesis, in order to create some separation from the Dread Series, and perhaps remind myself that there is life outside of Forks, WA. But when I read a review of Alyson Noël's Evermore which described the book as of potential interest to Twilight fans, of course I put it on hold. I finished it last night after dragging my heels for several weeks, which should be the first indication of my true feelings for the book: it's no Twilight. At best, it has a cover design that capitalizes on the popularity of the other series. Yes, there's a girl, and there's a boy, and they're in high school, and he is mysterious and seems to have supernatural powers, and she falls in love with him almost instantly . . . but I swear, it's a different book! Look, she's psychic! She has a gay friend! Totally different! The main problem is (and I can hardly believe I am saying this--somebody please smack me) it's not as believable as Twilight. The relationship between Ever Bloom (ugh) and Damen Auguste (sigh) develops much too quickly for one acclimated to the agonizingly slow pace of Edward and Bella's courtship. The plot moves in fits and starts, minor characters are only sketchily developed, and Ever's firm belief that she is the cause of her family's death is transparently false. The most believable relationship in the book is actually between Ever and her younger sister--who didn't cross over with the rest of the family and the dog after the car accident--a twelve year old ghost who is alternately irritating and deeply sympathetic. However, I never really bought into the relationship between Ever and Damen, despite an appeal to past-life romance and descriptions of our hero, including: "Damen is undeniably beautiful, with his shiny dark hair that hits just shy of his shoulders and curves around his high-sculpted cheekbones . . . his almond shaped eyes are deep, dark, and strangely familiar, framed by lashes so lush they almost seem fake. And his lips! His lips are ripe and inviting with a perfect Cupid's bow."Evermore is the first of a series, The Immortals, the next of which promises to follow Ever as she seeks to save a declining Damen from a mysterious malady. On the one hand, I am happy that the female character actually seems to have the opportunity to rescue and not be rescued, but on the other hand . . . the names Ever and Damen really irritate me, and I'm not sure I can make it through another book (or two or three more books) being irritated every time I see one or the other on the page.

Grade: B-

Random thoughts:

Number of times Vitamin Water was name-checked in 301 pages: Four. More than twice, and I start to wonder about corporate sponsorship.

Why would you name your series The Immortals if you want to keep any hint of mystery about the "secret" identity of your characters? Spoiler: they aren't vampires, but they drink this weird red liquid all the time, and apparently they can decide to die if they want to? Not to sound like a broken record, but the mythology is not so well developed as in Twilight, either.