Shadowland (The Immortals, Book 3)

Ick, another lackluster installment of the Immortals series by Alyson Noel. This is the third book in the series and they should be read in order. However, that being said, the only one I remotely liked was the first one. Both the second book and this one left a lot to be desired.

At the end of the last book we found Ever and her boyfriend Damen unable to be together because of a curse (genetic mishap, etc.) that was placed on them by a rogue immortal. Now, Ever is determined to find the antidote that will fix it, but is heavily distracted by her new job, boss (who's someone from her very distant past), and the fact that her aunt is dating her history teacher. Not to mention that the twin girls from the Summerland are also stuck in her dimension and she and Damen must care for them. When the rogue immortal decides to play even more tricks, she finds herself having to make some very tough decisions.

Ever never does the right thing. Ever. And it gets kind of exasperating sometimes. For someone who's supposed to be smart and read motives she's either very dense or in such a hurry to do things she doesn't think them through correctly. Meanwhile Damen is his usual perfect self, striving to be even more perfect, and I have to agree with Ever that he is quite boring in this book. Granted, he's no longer lying to her for her own good, but he's making other decisions for her that he really shouldn't be. No wonder the girl can't make a decision correctly when he usually does it for her. The new character Jude, I couldn't figure out if I liked him or not. He has some good qualities, but there still isn't enough known about him. And Roman, well he's just as evil as ever, albeit in a charming way.

There wasn't much of a plot in this book. Little story lines yes, but not one big plot. In fact, it was so jumbled and rushed around that I had a hard time reading it and keeping my interest. Most of it was just talking but not the type that's a progression to anywhere. And really, the main goal was Ever finding a cure for Damen so she could finally sleep with him. Which for a young adult novel might be an accurate representation of what teenagers think about, but perhaps not the best goal for a book. The only saving grace of this book was the little hints of alchemy and other fantasy elements.

I can't say that I'll be seeking out the next book anytime soon. I hate leaving things unfinished, no matter how much I don't enjoy them, but maybe I'll delay reading the next in the series.

Shadowland
Copyright 2009
339 pages

Review by M. Reynard 2013

I picked up Evermore on a whim because that book seemed to follow me everywhere -- at Wal-Mart, Meijer, book stores, etc. I thought it was pretty good, so I picked up Blue Moon. Didn't think it was as good as the first but still good. so I picked up Shadowland. Usually it takes a while for me to get annoyed with something in a book. Shadowland, however, made a new record for me. In the....second(?) chapter, after Ever tells Damen why they can't have sex, he insists that it's his fault, beause he has "bad karma". Ever explains to him over and over why they can't do it, but he persists on his "it's my karma" spiel. I have no idea why that annoyed me, it just did. Maybe it was the fact that Damen was being so stubborn that it was his fault, and not Ever's, who was the true culprit.

Now, in the other books I didn't mind Ever's friends. But in this book they were just plain annoying. Haven seemed determined to "exploit" Ever. She found out that Ever got this one job at a psychic shop and just had to go there to see Ever's new boss, Jude. Why she was triumphant when Ever walked in and saw Haven and Miles talking to Jude, I'll never know. What's there to exploit? The fsct that Ever's boss is cute? And don't even get me started on Miles. He was completely uncaring about Ever until Haven told him that she worked for a cute guy, then he needed to know all the details and began paying attention to her.

Another thing that bugged me throughout this novel was that Ever seemed to have a major issue with her aunt dating one of her teachers. Why? It's not like he's a bad guy.

Damen also annoyed me to no end. Apart from blaming himself that him and Ever were not being able to "bump uglies", he comes out and tells Ever that Jude and him have been figthing over her for years, and he's always done something to prevent him from getting her, but now he's just going to sit back and watch to see who she picks. Um, okay? This is basically how that came across to me: "I love you, and I've been protecting you so no other man can have you, but now, after all these years, I'm going to let you pick. I love you and I know you love me, but we should seperate to see who you really love, even though it's me".

Basically, three major things happen in this novel: Jude enters, Haven is turned immortal, and Ever accidently binds herself to Roman. And how exactly did that happen? I didn't get it. And what exactly does that mean? I mean, I've read books that characters were bound to others, but in every book it was different. A little more explanation would've been just fine on those subjects.

In conclusion, did I like the novel? Eh, it was okay. Should you buy it or rent it from the library? Well, if you're like me and you need to own every book you read, then buy it. Otherwise, borrow it from your local library. Could you skip this book and go on to the next one? Yeah.

I really liked the first book, Ever More, and couldn't wait to read more about Ever and Damen. Book 2, Blue Moon, while not as good as the first, was still realy good. I didn't quite like the ending of the book, just the scenario seemed kinda corny. The third book definitely is not as good as the first 2, but I do still like it and want to continue reading the series. It is a bit repetitive and I definitely would change some things about Ever if I were the author. It seems like the characters have more power than they should and that seems a bit ridiculous. I can see the characters being immortal and healthy from an elixer, but for an elixer to all of a sudden make them super powerful witches like just creating a lamborgini out of thin air and have the strong/fast powers of vampires, is started to seem a bit too far fetched with me. The 2nd half of the book did get more interesting though and am glad there is a 4th book to continue the story, however at the end of the book I saw an ad showing a 5th book and I'm just thinking, how long can the author drag out this story?! So overall, I do like the series and will buy the books on sale only or at a used store, but to me, it's not worth investing $10 for a new book. (my other likes - Twilight, Hush Hush, Shiver (bk 1), Linger (bk 2), Evernight (bk 1), Stargazer (bk2). I think these are all better than the Evermore series.

Book is perfect and super fast delivery.

Totally worth it.

A fun read. I have been enjoying the series so far, very imaginative and different from a lot of young adult series

Enter the love triangle. Now that Damen and Ever can not even kiss each other without the other literally dying, Ever turns to Jude for help. He is like no one Ever met, plus she can talk to him about the things that happen with Damen. She couldn't talk to Damen because he felt so bad about what had happen. Enter Jude. Jude is a great guy who adores Ever. He tries to help her and in the process falls for her. I mean, who wouldn't fall for Ever. She is a great girl who put other people concerns before her own.

Again this book was fast paced and a easy read. The writing is great and the plot was very good. Love triangles always are! Now Ever faces a challenge, who to be with? The one who she can touch and the other who if she just touches they can both die.

Great for the fans of Twilight.

Compared to the other 2 books in the Immortals series, "Shadowland" is slow-paced. It does not feel like much of anything happens in this book, although it is a pleasant continuation in the fantastic world Noel has created.

Ever's blunder of judgment at the end of the last book caused Damen to be "allergic" to Ever's touch. One instant of skin-on-skin contact and he instantly dies. Ever, desperate to find an antidote, searches for a way to convince Roman to help -- by persuasion or magical means, if necessary. When taking a summer job at a store for the occult, Ever is instantly attracted to surfer-boy Jude, who has followed her as a love-interest in each of her previous lives.

"Shadowland" feels as a stepping stone towards the bigger story that Noel is reading. While this was slightly boring, I enjoy Noel's characters and will continue the series to see where it's headed.

I was hoping the storyline would pick up and I was wrong. Again the same problem with the veil separating Ever and Damen. Again bad choices made by Ever. I am going to just give up on this series. I am tired of reading about the veil although it did get thinner but the storyline simply isn't moving along and the characters never seem to grow.

I usually enjoy reading young adult books because I try to prescreen what my daughter reads. I enjoyed the Twilight series and some of the series by P.C. Cast. This book got on my nerves from the start. I did not get past page 54 before I just had to put it down and start reading something else. I just can't see myself getting into a series that tells the same story over and over again and never goes anywhere.