Thursday, October 28, 2010

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh - Book Review #104

Thursday, October 28, 2010
Nevermore
by Kelly Creagh

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.
From goodreads.com

Have you ever met a person who was so enthusiastic about some subject at which you never even look twice before? And more you talk to that person, read that person’s works, more you are getting infected by the enthusiasm towards that particular topic. And after a while you are starting to research the subject yourself and getting more and more involved into something that you were sure you would never be interested in. I have met such people and not once. Kelly Creagh – the author of Nevermore – turned out to be on f these people for me.

I have picked up Nevermore not expecting anything more than another cheesy, predictable, boring, full of clichés, one of a very long line of YA paranormal romances. I was in a mood for something like that. Yeah, I know, it is weird, but I can sometimes be in a mood for something that I know is going to be bad from the beginning.

Fortunately (because it is always a good thing when something is better than you thought it would be) or unfortunately (because I was in a mood for something else) – there is always two sides to everything – Nevermore was something completely different from what I was expecting.

I’m not even sure what made this book a good one. Maybe Kelly Creagh is a good writer. I really enjoyed her writing style. Her descriptions were superb: on one hand she didn’t overdo them, going into unnecessary details; on the other hand, she gave enough to the reader to build in the imagination a personal picture, unique to each reader, based on the author’s details.

Maybe the worlds of Edgar Allan Poe made this book so unique and compelling. I’m not an expert or a big fun of Poe’s works, so I can’t really judge if Creagh did a good job on recreating his worlds or not. The only thing I can tell is that these worlds got into me and under my skin – after reading Nevermore and turning off the light at night, I began to imagine black shadows around the room.

Maybe it was a great cast of likable, fully flashed and interesting characters that made Nevermore a good book. Varen had so much more in himself than your usual – “I’m mysterious, bad guy and I love you for no good reason eternally.” And Isobel was so much more than you regular brainless, boring, “I have no life and no friends” and “my parents let me do anything and anyone” cheerleader.

Maybe it was a spectacular ending that made this book a good one. Yes, I loved the ending. I know that there are a lot of people who are angry at such a cliffhanger, but I, myself, consider it a very good, logical and interesting one.

Maybe it is something else. Maybe it is a sum of all the factors. I really don’t know what made Nevermore a good book. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it and I also enjoyed “meeting” Kelly Creagh. I’m grateful for her enthusiasm towards Edgar Allan Poe and his works. She made me interested in him and “look” at him again. Maybe I will read more of his stories. After all, so many people think that he was a genius. However, the thing that I’m sure about is that I’m planning to read second book in Nevermore series.

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