Evermore and Blue Moon: The Immortals

I’ve recently listened to the first two books in the Immortals series by Alyson Noel, courtesy of MacMillan Audio. It’s obvious that these books are being published to give Twilight-obsessed teens (and adults??) some new reading fodder. Though I haven’t read the Twilight books, I understand that they have universal appeal. I would think that this series would appeal more to teens. Sometimes when I read teen fiction, I remember my own teen years (stop cringing, they weren’t that bad). However, Evermore is so modern with Vitamin water, ipods, and hoodies that it simply reminded me that my teen years are long (long) gone.

However, this fact will make them even more appealing to teens. The voices are true, and for parents wanting a glimpse into the teen scene so that they can better understand their high schooler, this series might fit the bill for that as well (which is the other reason I like to read teen and tween fiction).

In Evermore author Alyson Noel introduces the characters and the plotline. Ever has recently lost her family in a car accident where she was the only survivor. She’s had to move from Oregon to California to move in with her young, single (and wealthy) aunt who furnishes up a cool teen pad suite for her. Obviously she misses her family, but her pesky younger sister Riley makes appearances to keep her company. Ever is the only one who can see her, and that’s not the only weird thing. Since the accident, she can read people. She sees their auras and knows exactly what they’ve felt and experienced. As cool as this sounds, she resorts to wearing her ipod to drown out the noise.

When new-kid Damen comes to the school, there’s something different about him. Not only is he teen-model gorgeous, but she can’t read him like she can the others. And he seems to know her.

This novel sets up the story — who is Damen, why is he different, and what has happened to Ever since her accident that makes her so different?

Honestly, unlike Ever and every other teen girl in the story, I wasn’t head over heels with Damen, so when it seemed to me at the end of Evermore that it wouldn’t feature Damon so much, I was excited to see where the story went. Blue Moon delves a bit more into Ever’s backstory, and gives even more interesting details about her current state. A new villain is introduced along with new supporting characters that fill in information about Summerland, the surreal place in between this world and the next that Ever has come to love.

The story ends with a huge twist that will affect Ever and Damen’s fate forever, and nicely sets up the third book, which comes out in January. I will definitely tune in to see what happens.

I like that each book has wrapped up nicely, while also giving the reader a hint about where the story will turn next (and of course a burning desire to keep reading!).

Content note for parents: These novels are fairly clean, with a few curse words, but they do deal with teen themes. There is a fair amount of “yearning and burning” but as yet, the characters remain chaste. There is some drinking, but it’s not portrayed in a positive light.

Audio notes: The reader, Katie Schorr, does a great job narrating as the teen girl Ever. She becomes this character, and has a voice that is smooth and easy to listen to. The other characters are subtly nuanced as well, making this a very enjoyable listen.

Managing Editor Jennifer Donovan loves to read. She has also fallen in love with the audiobook as a way to “read” even more books.

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