“Blue Moon” by Alyson Noël

I’m not sure what I expected from this second book in Alyson Noël’s series, The Immortals, as I’d been a bit underwhelmed but the first one which I felt was predictable and derivative, although reasonably enjoyable. I have to admit though, I was pleasantly surprised. The plot took a slightly different direction from the first book with Ever taking more control of her destiny as she is faced with more peril watching Damen weaken and distance himself from her. This meant Ever’s character developed into a more independent and strong individual. There were some unexpected developments in some of the other characters and some who I’d expected to have a larger role in the story were sidelined, allowing the focus on the heroine to remain the centre of the story.

There is still a problem in that the book is still firmly standing in the shadow of Twilight, but for an easy Sunday read, it was entertaining enough, and it looks as though I’ll be coming back for the next instalment of the story.

“Evermore” by Alyson Noël

After seventeen-year-old Ever survives the car crash that kills the rest of her family, not only is she is left with psychic abilities that torment her daily, but also haunted by the ghost of her twelve-year-old sister, Riley. Now living with her aunt in a new state, she’s changed from the popular, outgoing teenager she was before the accident, to an outsider who hides behind hoodies and drowns out the psychic noise with her iPod. When the unbelievably gorgeous, intelligent and altogether too good to be true new boy, Damen, starts paying attention, Ever finds herself drawn to him but soon suspects all is not as it seems.

There is a prevalence of teenage supernatural books being published in the wake of the success of the Twilight series, and this is another one to add to the list. Parallels with Twilight repeatedly crop up throughout, with a young teenage heroine who is new in town, drawn to the incredibly beautiful, mysterious, intelligent male lead, who leaves subtle (and some not so subtle) clues that all is not as it should be.

To be honest, while it was entertaining enough, there was nothing particularly original about the story and certainly nothing that makes it stand out from the crowd. While I will look out for the next instalment in the series which is due out later this year, I certainly won’t be rushing out to buy it as soon as it’s published, and will probably just get it from the library.

I think it you like this sort of book then you’ll probably read it and it will be diverting enough, but it you’re looking for a new perspective then you’re likely to be disappointed.