Review Detail

Ugh. Finally.

Sorry, I just had to say it. I loved Evermore, enjoyed Blue Moon, and then this series just went downhill for me. In Everlasting we finally have the completely predictable finale to the Immortals series. First, let me point out that the entire premise of the book is centred around Ever and Damen finding the antidote to Ever's poisonous DNA so that they can finally have sex. Don't believe me? It's even in the summary!

"..and experience the passionate night they've been longing for."

Ugh, so terrible.

So Ever and Damen embark on a journey, inspired by the ramblings of a seemingly crazy old lady that they find in Summerland. Here's what did not make sense to me:

Lotus (crazy old lady), is desperate for Ever to embark on her destiny's journey, as it will lead to her soul's redemption. Instead of putting it in layman's terms, so that Ever understands why its so important that she embarks on this journey, Lotus chooses to be mysterious and vague, which only adds to Damen's argument that she's just senile. We could have saved several chapters of Ever exclaiming that she feels "deep down" that Lotus is speaking the truth and Damen arguing that Ever is just unwilling to move on and be happy had Lotus just been a little clearer from the start. If this is something that she wants so desperately, why is she being so elusive about everything?

Lotus explicitly states that this journey is Ever's, and Ever's alone. She is the ONLY person who can embark on this journey. Then she lets Jude go with Ever. The Damen shows up and its now a 3-person journey. And then Lotus shows up and says that their paths are entwined, but that each has their own journey to follow. WTF? Again, had she just explained things in layman's terms...anyways, moving on.

We "get" to revisit Ever and Damen's first lives together, as Adelina and Alrik. I actually really enjoyed those chapters, but I couldn't help but think, what does this have to do with anything? Other then provide us with a semi-steamy sex scene, I didn't get much out of it.

After their first step on the journey is complete, Damen admits that Ever was right and that Lotus is not crazy - that she has been right all along. But later, when Lotus asks that Ever continue her journey to the Tree of Life, Damen's back on the Lotus-is-crazy-train and can't understand why Ever would want to complete her destiny. Unnecessary conflict to create suspense.

Damen is adamant about refusing to give up his immortality, even if it means restoring his karmic balance and restoring his true immortality, his soul's immortality. He goes to great lengths to make this point known. Noel goes to great lengths to give Ever lengthy speeches to convince him otherwise (where each speech starts with, "Damen, please hear me out"). Ever is about to walk away, and out of nowhere, Damen has changed his mind?! No speech to explain why, no emotional breakdown to explain his hesitance and then reluctant acceptance (other then he's scared of losing his "physical perfection and eternal youth" - so shallow). Just a hastily thrown together moment so we can get to the good stuff - the "passionate night" they've both been waiting for.

I think the thing that bothered me the most about Everlasting (and this series in general) is that I read every book in the series, and to be honest, I didn't have to! Noel spends so much time catching us up with the previous 5 books (not that much happened between books 3-5) that this book would probably be cut in half if you removed everything that was in reference to what had happened previously. I really wish this series had been a trilogy, because I think then I could have enjoyed it better.