From the Bookshelf of The Book Monsters…

Nevermore (Nevermore, #1)

Kelly Creagh

Start date: August 1, 2011

Finish date: August 30, 2011

Discussion: Monthly Read-a-longs

Why we're reading this: This book was chosen for our monthly group read.
[close] This book was chosen for our monthly group read.

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Monthly Read-a-longs

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What Members Thought

Apr 28, 2011 Louisa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: re-reads

Loved reading this book again, I had such a great time with these characters, and I can't wait to read more!

*First Read May 18th, 2011*
I loved this book! I kinda read too fast, so I missed a few details, but ahh, well :) It was a good book, with good characters, and I can't wait for the next book! ...more

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Jan 09, 2010 E.J. Stevens rated it liked it

Shelves: 1st-in-series, paranormal-romance, haunting, fantasy, paranormal, ya, urban-fantasy, mystery, supernatural, 2010

Her world is unraveling...in more ways than you can imagine. Nevermore is an intriguing beginning to a paranormal young adult series. Isobel Langley has a charmed life, or so she thinks. She's popular, dating the hottest football player, and is queen of her school's cheerleading squad. Varen Nethers is the dark, brooding, intellectual goth guy in her English class. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any redeeming qualities in Isobel and found myself wishing, over and over again, that this book had b ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 20, 2011 Stephanie rated it liked it

Shelves: ya-read, read-2011, sffp, book-battle

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2010
543 pages
YA; Paranormal
3/5 stars

Source: Library

Read for YA Best Overlooked Book Battle.

I was excited about this book once I found out that it incorporated Edgar Allan Poe. Sadly the main story used was Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death," which I hadn't read before. I was hoping for a wider variety of stories and though there were some allusions to "The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Raven" as well as others, Masque was the main one. Nevermore by Kelly Creagh
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2010
543 pages
YA; Paranormal
3/5 stars

Source: Library

Read for YA Best Overlooked Book Battle.

I was excited about this book once I found out that it incorporated Edgar Allan Poe. Sadly the main story used was Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death," which I hadn't read before. I was hoping for a wider variety of stories and though there were some allusions to "The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Raven" as well as others, Masque was the main one. That's not a bad thing; I just would have preferred a different reference story that I knew better.

Second, this book is LONG. And I think some of the scenes were expanded past the point they needed to be. Luckily there are a few excerpts from the actual Poe story so that explains part of the length but I ended up skimming some scenes because they were boring and they didn't contribute to my understanding or enjoyment.

My main criticism stems from the main character Isobel-girl is not bright. She starts the story dating creepy possessive Brad, QB for their school's football team but once she is paired up with goth boy Varen for an English assignment, she becomes interested in his art and writing. Isobel is a cheerleader who had previously failed to complete an essay so she has to do well on this project. However I don't think she ever reads a Poe story despite Varen lending her a collection of Poe's work. She is a poor judge of character as her original group of friends screw her over because of her assigned association with Varen. She's not as mean as them but she's not exactly nice. Her family life was bizarre as her dad grounds her from even working on her English project because he's suspicious of Varen and in general he had some mood swings, from angry, angry man to helpful father.

Varen is somewhat of a cipher as he is constantly fleeing. The paranormal aspects of this book are a dreamworld designed by Varen and similar to what Poe accessed before his death. They were not explained until very late in the story and even then it was very imperfectly described. The mysterious Reynolds character confused me. I think he's also known as Pinfeathers or was that a typo at one point?

I did like secondary characters Gwen, a new friend Isobel makes, and Danny, her little brother who despite their sometimes combative relationship comes through for her in several ways.

Regardless of these complaints, I flew through the book and I'm eager to read the second, Enshadowed, which appears to be shorter and hopefully more cohesive.

Cover: So the actual cover does not feature Varen wearing a lip ring although the character does have one. I'm not sure where I found this picture (I merely googled the book) but I guess it's an early version? ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 14, 2011 Asenath rated it liked it

Shelves: ya-lit, fantasy

This is a very long book, and I wonder if it would have made more sense if I hadn't read it in such disjointed chunks.

I had trouble starting this book because of how closely it resembles books like Twilight and Hush, Hush. However, after assurance from a student that the story is not exactly like the ones mentioned above, I continued to read.

I liked the middle of the book--the development of the relationship between Isobel and Varen was believable and interesting. However I never understood so ...more

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Oct 09, 2010 Mare S rated it really liked it

Shelves: youngadult, fantasy-scifi, 2010-reads

I'm a huge Poe fan, so that alone and it's integration into the storyline made me quite happy. Aside from that, the book introduces two interesting main characters in Isobel and Varen, very different in many ways, and interesting to read about when they're together. The problem falls in the fact that the remainder of the characters are highly unlikeable (and I'm not talking about the scary monster sorts) and the rush at the end to establish everything that has become of Varen and what he brought ...more

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Dec 05, 2009 Robyn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-in-2011, ya-romance, favorites

I started out thinking that I might not like this one. I was like, oh great. Cheerleader. Goth. So original. But you know what, it was. Nevermore was unique, creepy, and completely captivating. I was hooked from the first page!

At first I didn't really care for the main character, Isobel. I thought she was a bitch and too caught up in her own perfect little world, but happily she began growing as a character pretty quickly. While I didn't like Isobel right of I immediately loved Varen. He ended u I started out thinking that I might not like this one. I was like, oh great. Cheerleader. Goth. So original. But you know what, it was. Nevermore was unique, creepy, and completely captivating. I was hooked from the first page!

At first I didn't really care for the main character, Isobel. I thought she was a bitch and too caught up in her own perfect little world, but happily she began growing as a character pretty quickly. While I didn't like Isobel right of I immediately loved Varen. He ended up being the character that stuck with me the most and frankly, one of the best characters that I've read about for a while. Varen made the book for me. I loved his.... Varen-ness. He was completely unlike any other character I've read before. The author did a really good job creating and developing his character. (On a side note, I read the description for the next book and I'm a little scared that his character is going to change too much). I loved the romance between Isobel and Varen. It was as intense as it was sweet. A perfect combination. I hope Kelly Craegn doesn't do anything too drastic in the following books and ruin their relationship.

As for the other characters... I liked Gwen and Stevie and Danny, and even ended up liking Brad a little, even though I thought I never would, but I could not stand Nikki. I hope she gets wrote out of the books. Maybe the author will kill her off? Do a Mean Girls and hit her with a bus? One can only hope.
The plot is the only complaint I have. It got really confusing during the last 150 pages or so. Right when things took a turn for the intense and really interesting, the writing also took a turn to the crazy. I felt that too much was happening with too little explanation. I didn't really understand what was going on until the end, which I really wasn't happy about. I kept thinking, Wait, what's happening now? Where is Isobel and what is she doing? Actually, I'm still a little foggy about some parts, which I hope will be explained in the next book, but I really think it should have been explained now. It just bothered me when things started happening and I didn't know why. I think the author went a little overboard trying to create suspense.

On a better note, while I hated the ending (partly due to the lack of explanation, partly due to Varen - I will say no more on that one) I also thought it ended perfectly. Kelly Creagh did a great job wrapping things up and leaving the reader wanting to know what happens next. ...more

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Nov 05, 2010 Shannon rated it really liked it

I enjoyed this book. Some of the characters got on my last nerve but overall I liked it. I am very grateful I'm far out of high school and all that nonsense. But for the characters that got on my last nerve there were others I just loved. This wasn't my typical read but if there is a sequel I'm in! ...more

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Dec 29, 2009 A rated it liked it

Shelves: 2010-debut-authors

I skimmed a lot. In my head, Varen was Noel Fielding as Vince Noir in The Mighty Boosh and I just couldn't take it seriously. Really like Gwen. Isobel is likeable but dude, what a ditz! Full review forthcoming. Will definitely pick up the next one, or at least have Kimberly tell me what happened. :D ...more

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