Review: Enshadowed by Kelly Creagh

Enshadowed by Kelly Creagh
My rating: 1.5 of 5 genies
Genre: YA, Horror, Romance, Fantasy
Published: August 28, 2012
Pages: 429
Publisher: Atheneum Books
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Purchase At: TheBookDepository.com or Amazon.com

Goodreads Summary

True love takes a twisted turn in the second book of this modern gothic romance trilogy channeling the dark brilliance of Edgar Allan Poe.While Varen remains a prisoner in a perilous dream world where the terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life, Isobel travels to Baltimore to confront the dark figure known throughout the world as the Poe Toaster. This man, the same man who once appeared to Isobel in her dreams and abandoned her in Varen’s nightmare world, holds the key to saving Varen.

But when Isobel discovers a way to return to this dream world, she finds herself swept up in a realm that not only holds remnants of Edgar Allan Poe’s presence, but has also now taken on the characteristics of Varen’s innermost self. It is a dark world of fear, terror, and anger.

When Isobel once more encounters Varen, she finds him changed. And now Isobel must face a new adversary—one who also happens to be her greatest love.

The Review

Enshadowed by Kelly Creagh strikes me as being an utterly absurd book. In some cases, it brings new meaning to the word, "filler," solidifying my idea that there really is such a thing as "curse of the second" in terms of book series and their sequels.

The book, following the preface, begins with a dream. Isobel, being in the middle of practising for Nationals with her cheer squad, is interrupted when none other than Mr. Nethers appears. They go off together, only to have a strange interaction, and before Varen leaves, he imparts a very eerie message, one I will NOT spoil. As the dream closes to an end, Isobel wakes to...life without Varen. Christmas is around the corner, we even have snow but where I'm from, that white stuff is all annual, and it is revealed that nothing much has happened since we last left off. Like nothing. I use the word very literally because aside from inheriting the Dark One's moodiness, Isobel really isn't on a set path to finding Varen, let alone bringing him home. She has an idea of what could happen, providing that her very concerned parents do not lock her up in asylum before said plans materialize. Still, she isn't 100% on the exact details for Operation:Bust Varen from Clutches of Evil Demoness. Nope, we're still working out the bugs on that one.

Now, if I was Varen - or anyone trapped with Lilith, for that matter - I would be more than a little pissed. Maybe it was the overall pacing or the fact that the word "development" wasn't relative to Enshadowed's story-line at all. Isobel looked like a pouty, angsty, teenager; whining, but doing nothing about the problems in terms of solving them.

Yeah...



Listen up, I get that you miss Varen, I've missed him more probably these past months, but...can you LIVE a little?! Seriously, Isobel has a loving family, the most adorable little brother, and while they'd all give the world for her; she just cuts them out of her life completely.

Isobel : "Ah, life is so meaningless without Varen!

Very Confused Readers of Nevermore and now Enshadowed : *blinks* Were you always this annoying? Tell me you weren't always this annoying.



Yep, the death of one of my favourite characters just happened!

Her dad and mom kept trying for her to connect. Danny tried. Isobel wouldn't budge. And while I used to adore this coupling, hers and Varen, their relationship started to look a lot like every other PRN/YA out there where the lead heroine loses the love of her pubescent life, consequently slipping into manic depression. I couldn't stand this happening, not with Isobel and certainly not because of Varen. Because they were both better than this, or at least I thought so.

The only thing this book gets points for are its side-characters, Brad (believe it or not), Danny, Gwen, and Isobel's mom and her dad. The writing was pretty, but ultimately didn't take the reader anywhere. I could handle reading about a depressed protagonist if being inside her head did not make me feel depressed also. The only thing that got our little cheerleader acting lively was Varen, any mention or memory of him and she gained about a zap's worth of energy. Not that she did anything useful with this energy, mind you.

And as you can imagine, this source of restoration got old pretty fast. Isobel's perception of Varen suddenly took a turn for the worse; he became the 'tortured artist' and 'misunderstood,' giving the whole thing an awkward hero-worship quality. I became sceptical of him, disliking Varen to an extent when ordinarily I wouldn't have. The whole mess with Lilith...it was his fault.

Varen failed to connect appropriately with humanity, and hence, he sought the understanding companionship of a soul-sucking banshee. Go figure! The problem here is not that he is being made to face the consequences of his actions, but rather that Isobel seems utterly blind to him being at fault at all. She wants to stop Lilith from hurting anyone ever again, but what if they, like Varen, want her summoned? What then!?

Isobel : "Varen was tricked, and Lilith, she corrupted him!"

Every Reader, and I, who read Enshadowed and head-desked on a grand scale post-and during-the read. : "Sure, sweetheart. Hey, show me that pretty somersault of yours. Yes?"

This was absolutely unbelievable. That my intelligent, witty, Isobel would put aside rational thought, reason, to defend the Great Varen Nethers; there was just no point to it, like none at all. Whichever way you look at it, he is responsible for whatever's happening to him. Her denial of his involvement, more than anything, made her look stupid. You cannot seek to resolve anything by hiding or avoiding the truth; someone should have told Isobel.

Now...to his Darkship: what the hell happened to you?? Frick, man, you were on a roll; people loved you, America's ovaries were in your favour!! And then you went and ruined it. I don't know/care if the tool committing that heinous act at the end of this book was you or just a Noc, but, that my friend was absolutely unacceptable. NO OVARIES FOR YOU. I am kind of royally ticked off about this, Kelly Creagh would have been better off never writing you (Varen) into this sequel and just sticking with the endless - and somehow elegant - prose of description.





Listen up Varen, you should file a character-complaint or something in the underworld's court of justice - that is, if Lilith will allow you - because you, my friend, have officially been victim to a total massacre. It will take a lot to win back this reader, I feel let down by this series. Maybe I should have just stuck to re-reading Nevermore and foregone Enshadowed, I would have been happier.

Major Problems

- The writing was endless, almost 430 pages worth, but there wasn't an actual story, nor substance.
- Somebody mentioned that Gwen almost became a plot device, but luckily I stopped reading before then. At first she was my Batman, saving the world/reading experience of this book for the masses, until I realized that Isobel's role was being greatly overshadowed by Gwen. Isobel is the main protagonist, and while she is there, her presence failed to accomplish anything by me.
- A chunk of pages at the beginning should have been sacrificed, if only to start the book off rightly, preferably when the action begins in Baltimore.

Final Thoughts

I leave Enshadowed thinking badly of both Isobel and Varen, even considering if the final instalment in this series will be worth the anticipation wasted on this second novel. This was a hard review to write, but if the next book is anything like this one, I'm thinking that maybe placing a hold for it at the library instead of pre-ordering a copy might be a better decision. I am safely disappointed, and I have said it before, but I'll say it again, this was not the sequel I waited almost a year for.

Verdict: Something saved this book from completely sucking. Otherwise, it would be forgettable at the very best, and yet, there were redeemable qualities somewhere. 1.5/5 genies.

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!