Published: February 3rd, 2009 | St. Martin's Griffin
Age: Young Adult
Pages: 301
Acquired: Public Library
Overall:
Review: Ever was given a second chance in life, but she doesn't quite understand how. All she knows is her parents, sister and dog are dead and she can't help but blame anyone but herself. And to top it off--she's developed psychic powers and now lives with her clueless, workaholic aunt. The only thing helping her is the aloof and possible bad boy Damen. He stops the voices and calms her to the point she becomes putty in her hands. But he isn't the new hottie in school, he may also know how to help her...one tulip at a time.
That was my poor attempt at my own summary. (^_^")
I don't know what possesed me to randomly check this out at the library, but I was in the mood for a paramormal and I like books that have a lot of mixed reviews. . . So I went for it. And I'm glad I did.
I knew from the first few pages that this book may be a little cheesy and that's exactly what I wanted. I loved that it had that darkness to it with her depression, being able to hear all the nasty things her peers are thinking and yet it still light with her quirky best friends: Haven & Miles and her undeniable attraction to Damen.
I won't lie--I was not a fan of Damen. . . I'm still not the biggest fan. One word: douche. I did not find him attractive the way Ever describes him and he was a bad influence on her, whether he knew the truth about her abilities or not, don't ask her to skip school with her all the damn time! And the tulip thing? It was interesting at first, sweet even. . . then it got irritating. And through it all, I felt Ever never really had a backbone. I wanted her to just slap him.
But yet, I loved it. I loved their constant back and forth, I loved how well he kept his (and her) secret hidden. I loved being able to go a long with the psychic ride with Ever.
Drina--the protagonist. . . What a bee with an itch! It was obvious her intentions from the beginning, taking Haven under her wing and constantly torturing Ever any chance she had? Yet I never felt like Damen acknowledged this nor cared. They've been through a lot... a lot together, but she continued to weasle her way into Ever's life any way possible.
Her best friends. I loved. And though I didn't completely get to know them, I felt like I got enough of them, like I didn't need a hige back story on their lives. Who they were in the story when they were with Ever was enough for me.
Throught the story we're taken on this journey with Ever and Damen exploring places in California and her heart that she's never been. And at times you're frustrated while other times you love it and never want the story to end. Along with Ever you're trying to figure out exactly what Damen is. With his abilities to block out her psychic powers, his ability to move faster than any normal human and the air of someone whose. . . been around for awhile.
I'll admit vampire crossed my mind a couple times--but come on--that would've been too predictable.
I'll be reading the rest of this series soon as well as the companion series about Ever's sister Riley in her ghostly world, the Riley Bloom series. (Yeah, we get some of her & she was absolutely adorable!)
There are many series you can compare this book to, but I won't. I thought only of this book and the characters in it while reading and still don't feel like I can compare them. I liked the series. I liked Alyson Noël's writing style and can't wait to read more from her. :)
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Alyson Noël was born and raised in Orange County, California, she's lived in both Mykonos and Manhattan and is now settled in Southern California where she's working on her next book. Noël is the #1 New York Times best selling, award-winning, author of FAKING 19, ART GEEKS AND PROM QUEENS, LAGUNA COVE, FLY ME TO THE MOON, KISS & BLOG, SAVING ZOË and more.
You can learn more about Alyson on the following links:
