Nevermore (Nevermore #1)

What a ride! As a Poe enthusiast, I found this book irresistible. I struggled to put it down. And, when I did, I found myself thinking about it. LOVED the excerpts from various Poe writings and how they melded into the story arc. LOVED the dark, twisted romance. LOVED the author's writing.

*le sigh*

Isobel is officially the worst decision maker I have ever encountered in any book. But, it made for great reading :) and Varen... Oh Varen...

If you like gothic stories featuring goth characters, then READ THIS BOOK.

I decided to read Nevermore mainly because I have always loved Poe's works. I thought it would be an enjoyable story with a decent enough plot and characters. I was so surprised to find that it was in fact so much more than I expected. I loved loved loved every single page I read. The story was incredible, very unique and exciting to read about, I was stunned when I got to the final 100 or so pages of the book and Isobel entered into the dreamworld that was so well crafted, terrifyingly realistic. It is just the sort of world I love reading about, not quite realistic, but that follows a set of rules, so to speak, so that despite being unrealistic it is completely believable. And it wasn't just the dreamworld that was beautifully created, the characters within it and outside of it were well-crafted, each having a distinct personality, while at first they seemed to all fall into their specific stereotypes, the cheerleader, backstabbing former best friend, the jock, cruel ex-boyfriend, and of course the main character, cheerleader who has it all, it wasn't long before the molds broke and I began to see them develop and change, and I was surprised, I had been expecting mediocre characters, not ones that actually developed. Then there was the inserting of elements from Poe's works. Definitely one of my favorite aspects of the book, I was delighted every time I picked out a small tidbit that I recognized from "The Raven", "The Cask of Amontillado", "The Masque of Red Death", etc. I couldn't help but let out a little squeal of delight and read it over again a couple times. Though towards the end, when Isobel is in dreamworld I could hardly pull myself from the story long enough to smile over the countless Poe references. It may have started slow and took a long time to build up, it was a necessary step to ensure that when Isobel finally learns part of the truth it is as satisfying and exciting. I think that the story was built up beautifully and very little could be done to make it better.