Mix one part blonde cheerleader with equal parts paranormal dreamland, deep, thoughful goth, and just a sprinkling of Poe and you've got one hell of a book. Which is exactly what Kelly Creagh brought us in her debut novel, Nevermore. Published in August of 2010 by Atheneum, Nevermore will keep you turning all 560 pages.
Synopsis: Isobel and Varen come from opposite ends of the high school social order: Isobel is a popular, blond cheerleader; Varen is a goth loner. Paired for a project on Edgar Allen Poe, their bare tolerance for each other turns to grudging respect after Isobel dumps her possessive, violent boyfriend. But as she spends more time with Varen and learns about the life and works of Poe, gruesome creatures start to stalk and threaten her. Poe's horror stories originated from his trips into the realm of dreams, and Varen's own dreams and writings have led him there, too. Now Varen is being held prisoner, and only Isobel can rescue him from his nightmares and keep the supernatural creatures from overrunning the real world.
I had extremely high hopes for this novel. Poe is one of my favorite authors thanks to all his stories my American Lit teacher made me read (like anyone has to force me to read =]). Let me just say that my hopes were not disappointed. What starts as a seemingly trite retelling of the same cliche about the paranormal (I mean a cheerleader falling in love with the goth loner, shocking!), Nevermore quickly developed into an amazing patchwork of subplots woven together with the thread of the budding relationship between Isobel and Varen. Who, by the way, are two amazing character and are not only not cliche but also deeply original. My two favorite aspects of this novel were the characters and the plot. Varen's character development was truly amazing and I actually wished that I could be in Isobel's place and receive all of his attention. This story was tragically beautiful and I am (not so) patiently awaiting the sequel. I urge you to go read this book! Kelly Creagh is an amazing writer!
That's all from me,
The Book Nook
Theresa
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