Review: Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

Nevermore by Kelly Creagh
My rating: 5 of 5 genies
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Horror, Romance
Published: August 31, 2010
Pages: 543
Publisher: Atheneum
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Purchase At: TheBookDepository.com or Amazon.com

Goodreads Summary

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.

My Thoughts

Um can you say Perfect? Believe me when I say I am in love - with Kelly and VAREN. He is officially my new fictional boyfriend/biggest crush of the year. I thought the days until 'Beautiful Chaos's' release would never come soon enough, but for the day and a half it took me to read it, Nevermore became my everything.

Go ahead and say I'm obsessive, you'd be 100% perfect right. I am, because this book is gold-perfect and Ms. Creagh has a gift. With that said I hold the giddiness still to continue writing somewhat-sensibly. On to business:

At the start of this book I didn't believe it was possible for me to favor a cheerleader protagonist, basically because they're usually self-conceited or obsessed with their hair/make-up/perfect life, and almost ALWAYS go for the Beef-Head jock. I picked up Nevermore because of the summary and way before I read any reviews on the book. I loved the idea and cover, but I wasn't really expecting a whole lot since it has been a while since I've read something truly and wholly GOOD. BIG SURPRISE. Isobel was a treat.

She was utterly delightful in every way that counted. She is a refreshingly intelligent character who is easily likable and very cute, and most of all she took no shiz from her creepy-possessive boyfriend or unreasonably catty friends who all had severe cases of extensive Bi-polar disorder. Seriously I found them close and bubbly one chapter, and the next, complete jerks! In this situation I could see so many other female protagonists bending and conforming to the New Order.

'How is it possible to go one without my crew?' female protagonist would ask. 'I need an effing table and ATTENTION.'

Lol so maybe not exactly like that but you get what I mean. Bottom line, Isobel stood up for the guy she liked. She had a backbone and I found myself rooting for her all the way!

She deserved a happy ending. One WITH Varen, but I'll get to that later.

I felt the characters were well-fleshed out and chillingly realistic, I loved that I could relate with them without having to sit on my chair for hours trying to piece them together in my mind. They came quickly and the affection I have for them is one firmly rooted. Everything was right for me. Did I have a few qualms with her father and his bro-crush on her ex-boyfriend? Yes. But by the end I almost forgot about his unfair-judgement of Varen, he was goofy and a Parent.

I find that very important to add because the amount of uninvolved parents in YA fiction is highly disheartening. Who cares if she's running off chasing some vampire, or better yet involved with a totally abusive fallen angel?

Nah. She'll be fine, and if worst comes to worse? Let her run fast, that windpipe has to do some good right? I'll just disappear every 250 pages or so, and come back at the end when social services calls. Yes officer, I'm always home. NO, Nevermore had none of that, the parents were real. Her brother was adorable and oh so sweet! He reminded me of my own, cute little chipmunk. He loved his sister, and who wouldn't? She was brave and had a will of her own. When I'm not rooting for Team Varen I'm donning a bright pink tank for Isobel. Hear me world, I want more characters like this!

But enough of the gushing, I want to get down to Varen; aka Mr. Hot stuff - Smexy Eyes - McJaggatron. Yes, him. *Sigh*. He was deep and intriguing and everything I needed him to be, believe me when I attest to having felt my heart jump at the mere mention of him. Maybe I'm clinically insane but I like my fictional men 3 dimensional, I like depth and I love it when an author appreciates my intelligence. She created a sensitive male with a brain, a male APPEALING and who LISTENS to the girl he's with. Varen was all that and so much more. He made me feel for him on numerous accounts and he made me want to jump into the book and take him for myself.

Buh-bye Queen of Sheba, Isobel I'm sorry to do this to you, but he's mine. You'll find someone better...Reynolds? But despite my desire to claim him I found my attempts stilted. It appears that sadly technology hasn't evolved to that level. *Frowns*. Why can't Science do what I want. Ever? I had to gaze at my unofficial boyfriend from afar but Kelly appeased me by making it bearable, what isn't is the wait until the next book! The six months are going to be Torture. Period. I'm a bad waiter, I'm not designed to WAIT. Please book nymphs, Move the date closer. I believe in you, happy now?

Sadly I do not believe that'll do the trick, but hey I tried. I just wish the cliffhanger wasn't so HUGE. I don't want to give much away, but holy smokies that was massive! My heart wrenched and I just fell to the ground in turmoil. FML, there is absolutely no way the world can end in 2012 now because I will finish this series. Everyone will just have to live with it. Get it? Because if the world ended we would die?!

Haha...So I tried okay! Lol, so I'm ending with a final note of fantastic. This book was flipping fantastic. Read it and Buy it. It was surely worth my money!