Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Author: Alyson Noel

I think the thing to bear in mind when reviewing anything is:

a) Are you the target market?
b) Does the thing you review meet the requirements of the target market, and what are the concerns or good points that need to be considered by the target market?

For example If you are a mature person watching a Barbie movie, you may find the plot a little lacking and the characters a little shallow, but what you need to think about is "Are they suitable for young girls?" some are, and some are not. Fans of tense legal thrillers are unlikely to give a fluffy romance novel a fair chance. So when I was asked to review this book I felt I had to

a) put myself in the place of a teenage girl and
b) Would I be happy as a parent for my daughter to read it?

So, if I were a teenage girl would I enjoy it? I think so, it really is very simply written, I read the whole thing in 4 hours. If you are not looking for a great literary piece of work, just something easy and fun to read, this will do fine. It tells the story of a young girl called Ever. Her parents and younger sister, Riley are killed in a car accident and she goes to live with her aunt. The aunt is a wealthy lawyer, who provides a luxurious lifestyle, but very little emotional input. Since the car accident Ever has become psychic and is also “visited” by her sister Riley. She then meets a young, extremely handsome fellow student and they develop a relationship. It is a bit on and off, and the reasons for that I felt were a weak point in the book. What I appreciated is that although it described repeatedly how good looking he was, it didn't take up the pages and pages that Bella's absolute obsession over Edward did. I found the emotional angst of Bella very tiresome and there is only a little of that in this book. This is the first in a trilogy so it basically outlines how Damen and Ever get together and the trials and tribulations along the way. As a mother with children, I have to say reading this, I found it a little amusing, in the sense it reminded me a little of the spoof movies that take a few movies in the same genre and mix the characters up and combine them into a kind of skit, a la Lesley Nielsen's "Spy Hard" & "Scary Movie". This has a little of Bella in the Twilight series and of course a bit of Sookie Stackhouse of the True Blood series, mix them up a bit and you get Ever.

As a parent do I think it would be O.K.? Again, yes. I found Ever to be a bit vapid and uninspiring but there were no scenes in the book that were either too violent or too hot and heavy for younger teens. The only part I was not particularly happy about was when Ever started drinking as a way of blocking out all her issues and found it worked. If there is alcohol abuse in your family you don't want to be encouraging that. Yes she gives it up, but with very little negative to say about the drinking in the first place.

Overall I think it is a harmless teen read and I think that many young girls will enjoy it, with little negative side effects. It won't be inspiring anyone to change the world to a better place, but it will be fun to read on holiday or during some down time.

Review by Michelle Mostert

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