READING: Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh


Publication Date: August 31st, 2010
Published by: Atheneum
Source: Bought
Rating: 2/5

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 Allan 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 on it.

OK I just wanna say this: you see my rating of this book?It's 2/5.If you loved this book, I don't see the point in reading this review, unless you are open to other opinions. I know how painful it is to have someone bash a book you love believe me, I know.So this small preamble was to spare you the disappointment.

So, with that out of the way, I'll start writing my review.

Friends of mine recommended Nevermore to me,people who I trust their opinion completely, mind you.I thought "Well, we can't go wrong here.It's gonna be legendary!" 

Yeah.Well, no.It wasn't.Far from it.

I did not get Nevermore.At all.I could not connect to the story, to the characters, the writing, nothing.Well, the writing was not bad, per se. I could do with a  little less adjectives and endless descriptions of eeeeevery little thing(including cheerleading routines), to be honest.But more about the story later.

The characters.Isobel and Varen.I felt no chemistry whatsoever between them.The fling they had was not believable at all,in my opinion.It came completely out of the blue.One second Isobel thinks Varen is a weirdo and disgusting, and the next he touches her hand and suddenly her whole life changes.She suddenly realised that what she was doing up until then was wrong and that her friends were a bunch of morons.I didn't buy the whole "reformed popular/evil cheerleader" situation.I believe that Varen ignoring her was what triggered the whole thing.If it wasn't for that, she wouldn't have gotten intrigued by him("But I am popular and pretty.Why doesn't he like me?I have to make him like me!") and she would still be her same old self, girlfriend to a douche and mean to unpopular kids.Varen was OK,I guess.Again, I couldn't tell from how the author chose to develop his character, that he was attracted to Isobel.I just guessed, because she was the female lead and he was the male lead.So you understand my surprise when somewhere near the end Isobel finds a letter he wrote her expressing his eternal love and that he is "hers" !!! Um, OK.Where did that come from?However, I did find Varen's dad a very interesting character,his family history a mystery, and I believe that both have a big part to play in the story.I also liked the idea of Isobel and Varen's paper presentation and how it played out.

The story.Where was it?I was struggling to find a point, somewhere that the almost 600 pages would lead to.Maybe I'm plain stupid, because I didn't find one!Not until the last 50 pages or so.Even now that I've finished the book, the plot is not very clear to me.Something about Isobel having visions,or out-of-body experiences, a guy named Reynolds, some freakish dudes who were missing body parts(they were awesome,by the way!)a goth party and then all hell broke loose!It was so chaotic, I couldn't tell if I was reading new material or re reading pages I had already read.And I still don't know what went on!I mean, I just can't get it.And most importantly: what did Poe had to do with anything...?

Nevermore exhausted me.I couldn't get into it and it took me forever to finish.I am really glad,and I mean it,that other people loved it and feel the need to "defend" it.We should all do that for things we feel passionate about.

Unfortunately, Nevermore wasn't for me.