Evermore by Alyson Noël

I LOVE EVER. Absolutely adore the character. She is so solidly written, consistent and likeable. I'm seeing a trend in the fiction that I've been reading lately in which the leading lady is written one way at the beginning of the book and by the end I'm dealing with a totally different person- a person who's usually a sniveling little piss head complaining about all the crap that's happening in her life (really sweetie, what did you expect when you hang out with non-humans?).

My heart hurts for her.

She is the only surviving member of her family after they all suffer a terrible car accident- an event that understandably alters her life (in more ways than one). She is the gray hooded outcast in the back of the class who tries her best to go unnoticed. Yet she doesn’t suffer from stereotypical teen angst, and her solitude is more for self preservation than anything else. Ever is a clairvoyant with raw, unfettered abilities that make most interactions and physical contact painful.

Until she touches Damen (swoon). He's unnaturally hawt- but you knew that- and his presence and touch give Ever a sense of calm that she hasn't experienced since the accident. Damen is also so much more to Ever than she realizes and their story is truly touching and much more involved than I ever saw coming. See, this is me trying to be good and not give anything away.

Now, is this another Twilight knock off? Well yes, of course it is- as almost anything with a black cover published recently is. But it's a good book, an excellent story, and very well told. I finished this book in like 4 hours. The sequel, Blue Moon doesn’t come out until July and I’ll be there that day to get it. Looking over Noel’s other works, though they are not in my current dark genre I’m almost tempted to read them because chick can write her toosh off.