Tag «annoying leads»

Series Review: The Arcana Chronicles by Kresley Cole

Series Review: Is this series worth your time? Does it get better as the novels progress? Or does it get worse? Find out below:

Synopsis for Poison Princess (from Goodreads):
She could save the world—or destroy it.

Sixteen-year-old Evangeline “Evie” Greene leads a charmed life, until she begins experiencing horrifying hallucinations. When an apocalyptic event decimates her Louisiana hometown, Evie realizes her hallucinations were actually visions of the future—and they’re still happening. Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she must turn to her wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux.

But she can’t do either alone.

With his mile-long rap sheet, wicked grin, and bad attitude, Jack is like no boy Evie has ever known. Even though he once scorned her and everything she represented, he agrees to protect Evie on her quest. She knows she can’t totally depend on Jack. If he ever cast that wicked grin her way, could she possibly resist him?

Who can Evie trust?

As Jack and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have gotten the same call. An ancient prophesy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of twenty-two teens has been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it’s not always clear who is on which side.

Series: Arcana Chronicles
Author: Kresley Cole
# of Books: 6 (Full Reading Order)
Book Order: Chronological
Complete?: No, The Dark Calling will be published in Spring 2018
Genre: Young Adult, Post Apocalyptic, Romance, Supernatural, Urban Fantasy
Heat Rating: really warm *spicy YA*
Point of View: First Person, Single
Source & Format: public library–hardcopies & eBook

My Expectations:

In the same vein of bestselling adult romance author Gena Showalter writing a Young Adult Series (White Rabbit Chronicles), Kresley Cole has done the same thing with the Arcana Chronicles. And like Showalter, I had never read a book by Cole until I picked up this YA series.

The Concept:

I wanted to read Poison Princess because the premise really interested me. It sounded like it was going to be like the White Rabbit Chronicles meets The Scorch Trials–two of my favourite apocalyptic themed books–but with a Tarot Card theme (instead of zombies or science fiction) so I just had to read it! Once I started reading it though it also reminded me of a lot of other novels. Not in the sense that it is a carbon copy of these other books but that it incorporates elements that I have come across in other series. For example: Evie’s character reminds me a lot of Isobel from Nevermore; and the post-apocalyptic world and book delivery reminds me of The Blood of Eden Trilogy. (Endless Knight also had some Cruel Beauty vibes coming from it as well).

But the whole tarot card aspect is definitely a unique feature of this story and its best feature for sure.

The Plot:

Unfortunately, Poison Princess (to me) falls prey to the same issue The Eternity Cure (Blood of Eden #2) did: it’s boring until the very end. I didn’t mind the beginning so much (before the apocalypse) because it had some character development, but there is a solid 100 pages where nothing of importance happens. I’m not lying. I honestly don’t think anything happened to progress the plot forward other than days passing. The last 50 pages definitely improve with the addition of a few new characters and the actual progression of the supernatural plotline.

I could probably rant for a few days on why I didn’t like Poison Princess, but I’ll just keep it short here:

The supernatural elements really don’t come into play near the very end which sucks! I feel like Poison Princess simply served as a really long prequel novella because it didn’t do much to set up the Arcana Game in the slightest, rather it just introduced you to Evie and her life before the apocalypse.
The romance just fizzled for me! I really didn’t see the connection besides the physical lust. Jackson isn’t anything to write home about in my books so I was disappointed in that aspect as well.
Evie is just plain annoying! She is not the kick-ass heroine I wanted. She is a petty, immature girl who isn’t all that bright either. I get that she is 16 and all, but the world is ending! Being thankful that you don’t have to shave your legs because you had laser hair removal isn’t something I would worry about in an apocalypse! I really didn’t connect with her whatsoever and all I really wanted to do was slap some sense into her as I turned the pages!

Part of the problem is that I built up what the plot of this book was going to be in my head before I ever read it. I really thought the focus was going to be more on Evie finding other Arcana characters in this new world. Not her wandering boringly towards one destination for 200 pages.

Turns out that Endless Knight is the book that I thought I was getting with Poison Princess. This book managed to keep my attention the entire time and actually had some plot development to it. Evie was still annoying to me, but I felt like she had some great character development so she went from “extremely annoying” to “annoying”–which is quite the leap. I also liked the romance a touch more as well–I think this is the rare case where a love triangle actually helps the story progress. But what I really think helped with this book was the addition of more characters that I found to be much more interesting to me. Reading Endless Knight made me happy I continued on with the series despite the painful drag that was Poison Princess.

Dead of Winter is probably my favourite of the 3. I quickly motored through it because the plot is fast, the action is high and–dare I say it–I actually started to like Evie as a character. I know! CrAzY! Well, it’s partly true: I liked Evie the “let’s-get-down-to-fighting” Evie, not the “I-can’t-decide-between-the-two” Evie. Evie has a true case of Bella-Swan-I-can’t-live-without-him syndrome when it comes to “dealing” with her love triangle. Man-oh-man, I don’t know why she struggles so much with just saying the full truth to these boys who constantly fawn over her! It would solve a lot of problems other than assuming shit all the time! I also don’t know why there were 50 pages dedicated to each boy giving his case for why she should pick her–let’s just get on with the story please!

The Romance:

Speaking of the romance, I think I have to mention that it borders more on the “older” scale of young adult reads. If you are someone who doesn’t like sex being mentioned in their YA reads or having it described in more detail (I’m not talking full blown erotica, merely descriptions of how the body is reacting, etc) you might not like this series. The sexual situations aren’t really a huge focus of the books but it is definitely present. (For those who have read the White Rabbit Chronicles, the sex scenes here are the same as in it)

–July 11, 2017– Book #4: Arcana Rising

This started very slowly for me and while it did pick up, I feel like it was just coasting along to get to the end. Bigger things are definitely in store for this series but this book was nothing more than a (necessary) bridge in the middle.

My Rating: 3.5/5

Poison Princess 2.5/5 | Endless Knight 3.5/5 | Dead of Winter 4/5 | Arcana Rising 3.5/5 | The Dark Calling TBR

Poison Princess lived up to its name in my opinion: it truly poisoned my views for the other books because I really struggled to read it. The series definitely gets better as you go, especially when the Arcana aspect of the plot actually comes into fruition and more characters are introduced. But the love triangle and heroine are often hard to swallow, even in the later books. It’s definitely a series that you have to invest into to enjoy

Read if You Like: slow building stories, post-apocalyptic worlds, fights to the death
Avoid if You Dislike: petty heroines, love triangles (extreme), slow starts

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa (Blood of Eden Trilogy #1)
Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter (White Rabbit Chronicles #1)
Nevermore by Kelly Creagh (Nevermore Trilogy #1)

Series Review: The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines

Series Review: Is this series worth your time? Does it get better as the novels progress? Or does it get worse? Find out below:

Synopsis for The Vincent Boys (from Goodreads):

Ashton is getting tired of being good, of impressing her parents and playing ideal girlfriend to Sawyer Vincent. Sawyer is perfect, a regular Prince Charming, but when he leaves town for the summer, it’s his cousin Beau who catches Ashton’s eye. Beau is the sexiest guy she’s ever seen, and even though he’s dangerous, Ashton is drawn to him.

Beau loves his cousin like a brother, so the last thing he wants to do is make a move on Sawyer’s girl. Ashton is off-limits, absolutely. That’s why he does his best to keep his distance, even though he’s been in love with her forever. When Ashton wants to rekindle their childhood friendship in Sawyer’s absence, Beau knows he should say no.

Ashton and Beau don’t want to hurt Sawyer. But the more they try to stay away from each other, the more intense their urges become. It’s getting way too hard to resist…

SERIESous’ Top Book Series: Fav Author
Series: The Vincent Boys
Author: Abbi Glines
# of Books: 2 (The Vincent Boys, The Vincent Brothers)

On Goodreads there is a book 3 listed called My Vincent Boys. According to Abbi Glines blog she would like to write a prequel novel for the series but she has no immediate plans to write/publish it.

Book Order: Connected but Chronological
Complete?: Technically Yes — but see note above
Genre: Young Adult/New Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Drama
Heat Rating: really warm + spicy YA
Point of View: First Person, Alternating
Publication Dates: October 2011 – June 2012

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

I feel like on this blog I have made it no secret that I detest love triangles in romance novels. If they are done right, they are great–I love sexual tension as much as the next girl–but most of the time they are taken to an extreme that does nothing for me except piss me off (ex Bella Swan in Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer). Just make up your mind! I read to escape from my stressful school life: I don’t want to be stressed waiting for the heroine to pick between the two most perfect men on earth that just happen to admit their undying love for her simultaneously–because that happens to me all the time in real life. I digress…

It is because of this frustration from love triangles that when I see a book cover with three people on it and/or read a synopsis that gives me the impression that the heroine is going to be spending the entire book torn between two guys, it’s an immediate pass. There are two exceptions: one is when it is obvious that there is really one guy the girl is truly in love with (you know those YA novels where there is one mysterious dark love interest who is evil and then the good guy); and two is when one of my favourite authors writes a novel with a love triangle. When my favourite author writes a love triangle novel, I’ll consider reading it, though my expectations might not be overly high going into it.

And this is the case here with Abbi Gline’s Vincent Boys series. Before I read my first Abbi Glines novel, I marked these books as a pass. But now that I have read two series by her and love her writing style and characters, I decided I should give this series a shot.

My Review:

But even Abbi Glines couldn’t sell me on this one. I simply don’t enjoy reading stories where one partner cheats on another and that is what happens in The Vincent Boys. I get there there is more to the situation here then simply stepping out on your partner with some random person; all three have been friends since they were kids so of course there are unrequited feelings lingering. But that almost makes the whole thing worse for me. It also didn’t help that I didn’t like Ash at all–I just didn’t understand her one bit and some of the things she did made me raise an eyebrow:

Questionable Action

Really Ash? You give your virginity to your boyfriend’s cousin and still plan to go back to said boyfriend after all is said and done? How are you going to explain that one?

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If you took Sawyer away from the equation (the “boyfriend”), I would enjoy this book a lot more and would think it was a cute, quick childhood sweetheart read.

And while I enjoyed The Vincent Brothers a lot more, a “lot more” is a bit of a stretch. I mostly enjoyed it because none of the characters cheated on each other. I found the characters to be petty, vain and selfish–and far too angsty for my tastes. Granted, the characters are 17 so I expect immaturity and teenage rebellion but wow, the angst was palpable. I just didn’t like the blend of it an the sexy times we get.

A Comment About Sexual Content:

Just a note about the sexy times: I read the uncut and extended version so I am assuming the original version isn’t as sex-orientation (please correct me if I am wrong!). This isn’t a young adult series where sex is simply alluded to–it is described in a fair amount of detail–more of what you would see in a New Adult series.

Series Rating: 3/5

The Vincent Boys 3/5 | The Vincent Brothers 3/5

This is one of those series that isn’t my personal cup of tea. It’s everything that I expect of Abbi Glines so in that sense I wasn’t disappointed; it’s just that it is too angst driven for me and I didn’t enjoy the love triangle aspect. However, if you like love triangles and don’t mind vain characters: this is a great, albeit spicy, young adult series for you to read.

Read if You Like: teenage angst, love triangles
Avoid if You: dislike cheating in your novels

Just Friends by Monica Murphy (Friends Series #1)
Rowdy by Jay Crownover (Marked Men Series #5)
Breathe by Abbi Glines (Sea Breeze Series #1)
Torn by K.A. Robinson (Torn Series #1)

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Series Review: Infinity by Layne Harper

Series Review: Is this series worth your time? Does it get better as the novels progress? Or does it get worse? Find out below:

Infinity Series

SERIESous’ Top Book Series: Most Annoying Couple 2014, Least Favourite Read (Falling into Infinity) 2014
Series: Infinity Series
Author: Layne Harper
# of Books: 4 (Falling into Infinity, From Now Until Infinity, Finding Infinity, Infinity.)
Book Order: Chronological
Complete?: Yes
Genre: New Adult, Sports, Romance, Drama, Contemporary
Heat Rating: really warm
Point of View: First Person

Thoughts on Falling Into Infinity:

PLEASE NOTE: That I did not finish the 2nd book in the series, From Now Until Infinity. Read why below…

I was SUPER excited to see this book on Amazon for free one day. It had been on my to-buy list for a very long time and it wasn’t available on Kobo so that made my day when I saw it on the Top 100 Free Reads.

Having just finished the Crash Trilogy, I was looking for something to fill the hole in my New Adult loving heart. To me, the Crash Series is the standard I compare all other New Adult books that have a sports theme to because it was the first one I read and it is one of the best that I have read. So this series seemed to fit the bill perfectly–and even better was the fact that it started right when they were in college!

I thought this book would start from the beginning of their relationship. I thought I would get to see them fall in love and the first book would end the typical way these books do: with a cliff-hanger and them at an impasse in their relationship. But that is NOT what I got at all. What we actually get is alternating flashback chapters about how the two met and got to the current point in their relationship. It was an interesting way to do it and it made me want to keep reading the book to see what happens next; but, I would have liked to have read the book all in order of the sequence of events because I think it would have let me fall in love with the characters.

Charlie was not what I expected either. I thought I would like her; that she would be a strong lead but she was a hard person to like at times (i.e. practically always). She was annoying, selfish and very immature. I didn’t get her thought process and I had a hard time respecting some of her decisions and actions. She just didn’t do it for me and because the story is told from her POV it was hard to read at times; especially when I was rolling my eyes at her.

Colin…sigh…he was a disappointment too. He started so charming and likeable. I felt so sorry for him that he was stuck with a girl like Charlie and I was confused about what he saw in her. But eventually I came to dislike him too. He also turned a little too alpha-male–which turned me off. I actually felt a little disturbed reading this story at times because their relationship was very unhealthy to me. About halfway through I thought we were going to get a relationship-gone-bad type of story because it got a little intense and not in a good, romantic, happy fun-times type of way.

I actually managed to finish Falling Into Infinity despite wanting to give up on it a few times. And at the time I was glad because it seemed like the story was going to get a lot more interesting based on the way it ended. Believe it or not, I was a little excited to see where From Now Until Infinity was going to take us. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stomach Charlie and Colin for more than a few chapters. It was boring, I still didn’t like the characters and I had other books I wanted to read so I put it and the rest of the books at the bottom of my to-read list.

Conclusion:

Knowing that there is a FOURTH book in this series made me glad I stopped reading because I wouldn’t want to feel obligated to read a series I have no interest in but feel the need to finish. This series just didn’t do it for me and it’s a shame because it had all the great makings. But alas, the plot was under utilized making the book slow, the characters came across as self-centred teenagers and everything is slightly overdramatic. Some people might enjoy the slower overdramatic plot but others will not.

Rating: 2/5

Similar Reads: Crash by Nicole Williams (Crash Trilogy #1)

Synopsis for Falling Into Infinity (from Goodreads):
Pre-med student Caroline “Charlie” Collins, a sophomore at Texas A&M, knows exactly what she wants in life and the order that it will happen: finish college, complete medical school, and then fall in love. A chance meeting with A&M’s star quarterback Colin McKinney changes everything. A friendship between the two grows over time and blossoms into a powerful love affair. Charlie and Colin must learn to cope with his transition to playing professional football, the crushing attention of the media, and constant demands of his fans. At the same time, she’s struggling with how her dream of attending medical school will fit into their already stressed relationship and Colin’s new life. Falling Into Infinity asks the question is just loving someone enough to make a relationship work?

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Series Review: Billionaire by Vanessa Waltz

Series Review: Is this series worth your time? Does it get better as the novels progress? Or does it get worse? Find out below:

Synopsis for Break (from Goodreads):

What if a handsome billionaire offered you thousands to pretend to be his girlfriend? And what if you started to believe the lie?

Jessica has never had a boyfriend, and that’s just how she likes it. She’s still trying to rebuild herself from a sexually abusive past, and a guy – no matter how gorgeous – would only mess up the fragile balance of her life.

Almost-billionaire Luke Pardini is gorgeous, that’s for sure. He’s also desperate. His dying father thinks he’s too irresponsible to inherit the family estate, and Luke needs to convince his dad that he’s grown up and ready to settle down with a girl. Any girl.

With five billion dollars at stake, Luke can’t mess this up. But as he pretends to date Jessica, he finds himself drawn to her more than he’d like to admit. He has been hurt too many times to count, but Jessica is the one person who makes him feel safe. It could have been a Cinderella story, but both of them made a promise that their relationship was just for show, and neither of them is going to step over the line.

When Jessica’s secret past emerges on the front page of the tabloids, his dad threatens to disown him if he doesn’t sever ties with her. If their relationship was only a charade, the solution would be easy. But if it’s not…

Series: Billionaire
Author: Vanessa Waltz
# of Books: 2 (Break, Crash)
Book Order: Connected
Complete?: Yes
Genre: New Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Heat Rating: warm
Point of View: –
Publication Dates: February – April 2014
Source & Format: Own–eBook

**This post was originally posted as a Standalone review of the first book of the series. It has now been updated to reflect my conclusion to DNF this series. It will not be further updated.**

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

For some reason, as soon as I picked up this book on Amazon for free one day, I just had to read it. I didn’t go in expecting a lot but I felt like there was a lot of promise and it was a free, quick read.

The Plot:

While the book was quick to read it greatly suffered from it.

The beginning, as I said, showed a lot of promise despite being extremely stereotypical of the New Adult Contemporary genre. I liked their initial connection and how they meet (it’s a good combo of the current books out there) but it just moves way too fast for me from there.

Throughout reading this novel, I just felt like pieces were missing from the plot. In one moment we were dealing with this plot issue and suddenly another issue is brought up and dealt with quickly. The dialogue was awkward and it was mostly dialogue which made reading the story equally awkward at times. The story overall could have used an editor to just build it up a bit more and make the story stand out on its own.

The Characters:

Now, the characters are another story. Jessica was just plain irritating. Honestly, grow a back bone because as a female myself, I was embarrassed by your lack of self-respect. There is a particular scene near the end that absolutely floored me because she didn’t think twice about her decision when she should have. But she truly has nothing on Luke who was a complete asshole throughout the novel. I admit, I have a huge soft spot for asshat-jerk leads but even I have a limit! He was just a complete tool and not in a loveable way. Frankly, he wasn’t worth the time Jessica spent on him but I guess they deserve each other based on their stupidity alone.

The only positive I felt from this book was their sexual tension. Before I realized what idiots they were, I enjoyed the sexual tension between them but it wasn’t enough to carry the book.

Rating: 2/5

I’m glad I got this for free because I would have had to punch myself for spending good money on this. Pass!

Marriage Bargain by Jennifer Probst (Marriage to a Billionaire Series #1)

Series Review: The Wolves of Mercy Falls by Maggie Stiefvater

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Series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls Trilogy; The Shiver Quartet
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
# of Books: 3 (Shiver, Linger Forever)

There is a companion novel that takes places after Forever called Sinner. It is Cole and Isabel’s story.

Complete?: Yes
Genre: Teen, Young Adult, Werewolves, Romance, Supernatural, Shapeshifters, Urban Fantasy
Heat Rating: lukewarm

Thoughts:

This was one of those series that seemed to be everywhere when it first came out and people seemed to be gobbling it up. I decided to pick it up and thought it was a good idea to try something that didn’t focus primarily on vampires for once.

Unfortunately, werewolves don’t do much for me. This series really helped me reach that conclusion once I finished it. I’m not sure why I don’t like them but I find series that only focus on werewolves are ones I tend to not enjoy. There are only a select few (and by that I mean like 2 series tops) that focus on werewolves and are books I actually liked. I don’t mind when there are werewolves in stories with other paranormal creatures, but on their own werewolves turn me off of a series.

Shiver didn’t do too much for me overall. It was a slower paced book and I instantly disliked Grace. She really irked me by the time I got to Linger. I just found she was a little bratty and a little too “angsty” for me to enjoy reading her POV. While I can sympathize with her situation at home and see why she may act they way she does, I just didn’t connect to her character enough to let me completely empathize with her.

So it was nice to get a break with having the POV alternate between her and Sam. Sam’s story I found a lot easier to sympathize with and overall, at least with Shiver, I liked him more than Grace. Of course that changed as the series progressed but for the most part I think Sam was the reason I stuck it out with Shiver.

To be honest, I probably wasn’t going to read Linger but based on the way Shiver ended and the promise of Isabel and Cole’s characters added to the mix, I was intrigued. I actually wish Isabel and Cole were the main characters because I enjoyed their stories a lot more than Sam and Grace’s (and my wish was granted with the release of Sinner). Linger was actually my favourite of the series because of Cole and Isabel’s presence (but seeing as how I didn’t enjoy the first or last book very much, it isn’t a surprise that book 2 was my fave).

It had been a long time since I had read the first two books so by the time I got to Forever I had kind of forgot most of the major plot. I basically skimmed the last book just to see how it ended. Unfortunately, the ending was really disappointing to me so I that soured the series for me.

I have to say that although I didn’t particularly care for werewolves, Stiefvater’s spin on lycanthropy was interesting and it made for some cool plot twists in an otherwise drab storyline. I also thought it was cool that the font colour of the published books match the overall colour of the cover–it was a nice touch.

UPDATED (Aug 4/14): Although I didn’t love the trilogy, I was actually really excited to read Sinner, the companion novel to the trilogy that is told solely from Cole and Isabel’s POV following the events of Forever. I found that there really wasn’t an overall plot to the novel like the rest of the trilogy had. Instead, it focused on character development which was good because Isabel and Cole are two of my favourite characters and I loved getting more inside their minds. However, their minds are rather dark and you kind of love to hate them because they aren’t the nicest people (and the best part is that they know it). I wish there was bit more of a plot though because it seemed like it was 50 pages too long and it dragged a bit. But I loved seeing more of Isabel and Cole so it was worth the read.

Conclusion:

This was a really disappointing series for me. I think those who want a clean, werewolf read might enjoy this series but be warned that the characters can be a little irritating and it is a lot of the typical teenage indecisiveness and angst throughout the series.

Fun fact though, apparently they are planning on making this into a movie :O I will probably pass but I am sure fans of the series will be excited.

Rating: 2.5/5

Similar Reads: The Dark Divine by Bree Despain (Dark Divine #1) and Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lyn Barnes (Raised by Wolves #1)

Synopsis for Shiver (from Goodreads):
For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without.

Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human… until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever

Series Review: Immortals by Alyson Noël

Series: The Immortals

Author: Alyson Noël

# of Books: 6 (Evermore, Blue Moon, Shadowland, Dark Flame, Night Star, Everlasting)

There is also a prequel ebook, Eternal Flame and a spin-off series, Riley Bloom (details here)

Complete?: Yes
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Soul Mates, Paranormal
Heat Rating: cool, lukewarm in later books

Thoughts:

My friend recommended that I read Evermore shortly after it came out. She told me it was better than Twilight (not a hard feat mind you, but at the time Twilight was the BIG thing) and after reading the plot synopsis I was intrigued.

Evermore was a great book. It had a little bit of everything I like in my books: romance, suspense, mystery and a heroine I actually liked. This was also the first book I read (and I would go on to read a few others) about “reincarnated soul-mates” so it was something new and exciting for me.

But I think it is important to note that I was in HIGH SCHOOL when I read this, therefore I was in the target audience range and I was expected to like it. If I read it now as someone in their 20s I’m not sure if I would enjoy it as much as I did, but I think I would still enjoy it.

The second book, Blue Moon was disappointing. I read it soon after Evermore and it followed the typical “lovers split” storyline that plagues series sequels with the same romantic leads. I guess it was just that I wanted more romance between the two and I didn’t really get it. It was interesting to read, but this was the book where I started to want to slap Ever instead of sympathize with her.

I think Shadowlands was the book where I started to lose faith in the series as a whole. Ever becomes increasingly annoying as does Damen and the best part *rolls eyes* is the introduction of a love triangle. I HATE love triangles and I think this book is part of the reason why I don’t like them. They are irritating and in this one I felt it was a little unnecessary to the story. In fact, Shadowlands turned me off the series so much that I didn’t pick up the last three books until two years later.

And even then, I finished the series more for the fact that I had bought them all and I felt compelled to read them so I could finish the series one summer. I can’t remember much from Dark Flame or Night Star other than the plot didn’t float my boat too much and the characters drove me up the wall. I pretty much sped through them.

Everlasting, the final book in the series, somewhat redeemed the series in my opinion. You finally learn why everything has been happening and the history of Ever and Damen’s story. Also, the rest of the storylines get their closure. The ending satisfied me but I think I was just happy to see the series come to a close 😛

Conclusion:

After such a promising start, the series just fell apart. Perhaps I grew up too fast to enjoy the books at the age they are meant to be read at, but this series just didn’t end up doing it for me. I wish that it was a trilogy instead or focused on one or two main plots instead of the endless number that seem to go on throughout the series (which is a hard thing for me to say because I normally like a lot happening in my books). In the end, not my favourite series but the book covers look very pretty on my book shelf 😉

Rating: 3/5

Similar Reads: The Eternal Ones by Kristen Miller (Eternal Ones, #1) and Fallen by Lauren Kate

Synopsis for Evermore (from Goodreads): After a horrible accident claims the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever Bloom can see people’s auras, hear their thoughts, and know someone’s entire life story by touching them. Going out of her way to avoid human contact to suppress her abilities, she has been branded a freak at her new high school — but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste. Damen is gorgeous, exotic and wealthy. He’s the only one who can silence the noise and random energy in her head – wielding a magic so intense, it’s as though he can peer straight into her soul. As Ever is drawn deeper into his enticing world of secrets and mystery, she’s left with more questions than answers. And she has no idea just who he really is – or what he is. The only thing she knows to be true is that she’s falling deeply and helplessly in love with him