Evermore and Blue Moon by Alyson Noel

I've gotten into the bad habit of browsing the young adult section of the library and checking out books without more research than reading the summary on the back. If it looks even a little interesting I will probably check it out and read it. Unfortunately this has led to a rather developed taste for what I now call "junk food" literature: books that are stimulating while you are reading them but provide no real substance and leave you feeling empty and unfulfilled. These books, Evermore and Blue Moon, are the first two installments of what is to be (I believe) a 4-part "Immortals" series. I'll just say now that I have no desire to read the rest of the series.

Evermore is about a girl named Ever who loses her family in a car accident that leaves her with psychic powers; she can hear peoples' thoughts and can see their auras. She meets this tall, dark and handsome young man named Damen who, of course, she falls desperately in love with. It is set in a stereotypically chic southern California (Laguna Beach, actually) high school and there is the standard juvenile drama and conflict that eventually resolves itself to everyone's mutual interest. hooray.

Blue Moon picks up right where Evermore leaves off. Things are fabulous with Ever and Damen for awhile until a new kid comes to school and Damen becomes mysteriously ill and loses his memory of who he is (including his super awesome powers) and his love for Ever. It's up to Ever to figure out what's wrong with him, how the new kid is involved, and how to save her one true love. Again, things work themselves out in the end as should be predicted for this genre of junk food literature.

Fun and easy reads but they definitely left me feeling like I need to make some positive changes in my life, i.e. stop checking out books intended for 14-year-olds and read something substantial. I'm definitely on the hunt for some actually good books that are entertaining and worthwhile. I may re-read The Hunger Games if I can't find anything good. Any recommendations?

1.5 out of 5 stars

Gone by Lisa McMann

The final installment of the "Wake" trilogy. Was horrible.

And then.

It sucked some more. I wanted to die.

Dead.

Gone.

Ok, enough imitation of Lisa McMann's writing style. If the above made you want to cry and rip your hair out, that's how I felt while reading this book. We continue on Janie's story of being a dreamcatcher (see my reviews of "Wake" and "Fade" for more info) and in this book she meets her biological dad, who turns out to be a dreamcatcher too. Surprise! There was nothing new or very interesting added to this book; it was written in the same, annoying style as the first two in the series, but by this time my patience was wearing quite thin. Sentence fragments really irritate me, especially when I think the author is writing that way just to try and sound cool and fit in with all them hip teenagers out there. I enjoyed the first book of the series, Wake, even though the broken sentences were annoying; and even Fade was interesting enough to balance out my annoyance. But there wasn't a whole lot to look forward to in Gone, and I was truly happy that it was a short and fast read and that I finished it quickly. I definitely would NOT recommend this series finale.

1.5 out of 5 stars