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." -GoodReads.
Hardcover, 543 pages
Published August 31st 2010 by Atheneum
Source: Bought
Not too long ago I noticed that I was falling behind in my reading goal for the year. So I started browsing my bookshelves for a couple shorter books that would just be quick reads to help get me caught. Somehow I ended up reading Nevermore, which is 543 pages...not exactly what I had in mind, but once I started reading it I couldn't hardly put it down.
Normally you would say that is a good thing, right? This time I'm really not so sure. No, I couldn't put the book down, but for some reason it doesn't feel like that much happened in all of those pages.
It took a while for Isobel's life to be introduced, then she starts hanging out with Varen to complete a school project, which at first she does not want to do at all but then starts craving being around him. He is a little off kilter and doesn't really talk...at all. Which got a bit annoying to read. It seemed like every time Isobel said something to him he took way too long to answer or just ignored her.
I understand being goth and doing your own thing, and not wanting to hang out with the prissy cheerleader, but manners are manners and he really needed to get some. I'm sure that is how Isobel felt, but she ended up finding it intriguing...I just wanted to smack him.
After they got paired up in class, their English teacher tells them that their projects are due in a month all and all I could think was "Oh no...Not insta-love!" And with the way that Isobel went from being terrified of Varen and loathing being around him, to not being able to sleep or do anything without thinking about him, and sneaking around to see him...all of that taking place in about a week, I'd say I was right.
I did enjoy the play on Poe poems and stories, though. It was neat seeing how Kelly Creagh merged the worlds and brought Poe characters to life. A little more depth and detail for that part of her story would have been very welcome, but maybe there is more of that in the second book, Enshadowed (do not read the synopsis for Enshadowed if you have read Nevermore. There are spoilers).
While there were some things that rubbed me the wrong way in this book, overall it was a good story and really a quick read. I am looking forward to reading the second and third books to see how it ends. Because with an ending like this one that Nevermore has, you will most certainly be longing for the next one to see what happens.
