Nevermore by Kelly Creagh {Review}

Publisher: Antheneum

Publish Date: August 31, 2010

Source: Library
Goodreads

Cheerleader Isobel Lanley is horrified when she is paired with Varen Nethers for an English project, which is due -- so unfair -- on the day of the rival game. Cold and aloof, sardonic and sharp-tongued, Varen makes it clear he'd rather not have anything to do with her either. But when Isobel discovers strange writing in his journal, she can't help but give this enigmatic boy with the piercing eyes another look.
Soon, Isobel finds herself making excuses to be with Varen. Steadily pulled away from her friends and her possessive boyfriend, Isobel ventures deeper and deeper into the dream world Varen has created through the pages of his notebook, a realm where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allen Poe come to life.
As her world begins to unravel around her, Isobel discovers that dreams, like words, hold more power than she ever imagined, and that the most frightening realities are those of the mind. Now she must find a way to reach Varen before he is consumed by the shadows of his own nightmares.
His life depends it.

Can I just start by asking how in the world everyone who read this when it came out has managed to wait so long for a sequel?! Seriously, that is one killer ending an I’m really not sure how everyone managed to keep it together for this long :P

I never really had want to read Nevermore since I shy away from paranormal and I’d heard some mixed reviews, but now I just kind of want to be like “be gone, naysayers!” The beginning 100ish pages were a little wordy for me with descriptions galore, but it seemed to die down after that and focus more on the story itself. Honestly, that’s my only complaint. I know with a book so large (540some pages) you may worry that it’s going to have a slow start or lag in the middle, but that’s really not the case with Nevermore. Creagh does a fantastic job of keeping you entertained and giving you just enough information at a time that you don’t get annoyed, and instead, stay interested.

Let’s talk about Isobel. When the story started, I thought I was going to end up hating her the entire time. She’s a cheerleader who is a little stuck-up and more than a little rude at times. But then she actually grows and changes throughout the course of the story becoming someone who can stand up for herself as well as others. Heck, by the end, she was making choices and doing stuff I’m not positive I’d do in her situation.

Can we just talk about Varen for a minute? He’s basically High School Jasmine’s perfect guy. He’s got the bad boy/goth look going for him, he likes to read (mostly Poe, it seems, but still :P), he writes poetry, has a lip ring (!), and is, you know, swoon-worthy ;] Yeah, it’s safe to say Varen is one of my favorite YA guys.

Shall we talk about the paranormal aspect? Instead of being all BAM paranormaly stuff is going down, the supernatural elements slowly weave their way into the story. I really liked that. It seems a lot of times you’re just moseying along and then Hey, the main character’s an angel and they spend the rest of the book being attacked by Bad Forces, making bad decisions, and learning all about angel stuff. Probably a good 3/4s of Nevermore the paranormal aspects are only sprinkled in instead of thrust upon you. Furthermore, the paranormal elements are unlike anything I’ve ever read before which kept me wanting to know more.

The Nutshell: Despite the size, Nevermore is likely to keep you enthralled the entire time. The paranormal aspect can’t be pigeonholed into the typical paranormal stuff like angels or ghosts. Creagh’s created a paranormal world that’s like nothing else I’ve read. On top of the great paranormal world, the characters are great. Isobel turns out to be more than your typical cheerleader and Varen isn’t just some mopey goth guy. Even if paranormal isn’t your thing, you should still try giving Nevermore a chance. What could a chance hurt, anyway? ;]

Pages: 543

Series: Nevermore #1
Rating: Direct Hit