In the paranormal fiction novel, Shadowland, by Alyson Noel, the main characters Ever and Damen, soul mates, can sadly never touch each other because of Evers misguided attempts to save him in the previous novel. In the previous book of this series, Blue Moon, Ever saved Damen from dying by giving him a cure. However, due to pressure from the horrid Roman, she also put some of her blood in the cure. Somehow, this means that Damen can never touch her DNA again because it is now poison to him. Ever decides that that dreadful curse must be broken. In her desperate attempt to actually break it, she asks Roman, the person who brought about the curse, for help. However, Ever mostly relies on the help of Jude, an odd surfer, because she feels a connection with him, which shocks her and causes her to wonder whether or not Damen is truly her soulmate. Ever further wonders about her relationship with Damen when she discovers that his extremely long past was not completely noble and good. Ever has friends, such as Haven and Miles, which also cause drama. For instance, when Haven was worried about her cat dying, she turned to Ever for help. Overall, Ever's friends fade into the background and don't really contribute very much to the plot.
I very much disliked Shadowland, the third book in Noel's series. It was written fairly decently, but the characters, the plot, and the overall book annoyed me in that the characters were not well formed and were not at all interesting. I didn't agree with the choices that the characters made, such as when Damen decided to get rid of all of his expensive things. It seemed pretty pointless to do so. Above all, Ever was impulsive and silly because she did not plan things out, but rather meandered along until she thought of something to do, such as be stressed about her relationship with Damen. I did, however, like the part when Miles found out that he was going to Florence. This is a great book if you're stranded on an island, have nothing to do, and already ate all the monkeys, but not a very good as a means of entertainment. I definitely would borrow this book from the library and not buy it since it's really not worth the money.
Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Charleston, SC USA
